Syria’s Heavy Legacy of Enforced Disappearance Resurfaces Post-Assad, UN Warns

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned that abductions, arrests, and enforced disappearances continue to plague Syria, nearly a year after the fall of the Assad regime and the formation of new authorities in Damascus.

The Missing: A Legacy of the Past, A Concern for the Present

• 100,000 Missing from the Past: The fate of over 100,000 people missing since the Assad era remains unknown today.

• 100 New Cases: Since the beginning of this year, the Commission has received around 100 new reports of disappearances across the country, with the UN suggesting the real number is likely much higher due to documentation difficulties.

• Urgent Necessity: UN Commission spokesperson Thameen Al Khaitan stressed that clarifying the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons—both before and after the fall of the previous government—"is now an urgent necessity."

Hamza Al Ammarin: A Symbolic Case of the New Missing

• Symbolic Case: The Commission highlighted the case of Syrian Civil Defence volunteer Hamza Al Ammarin, who vanished on July 16 this year while on a humanitarian evacuation mission during violence in Suweida.

• Cycle of Disappearance: The UN describes Al Ammarin's case as "symbolic" of the continuing cycle of enforced disappearance, emphasizing that any political transition will not be complete unless "the fate of the missing is revealed."

New Authorities’ Prisons and Arbitrary Detention

• Continuing Arbitrary Arrests: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), along with other rights organizations, points to the continuation of arbitrary detention in several prisons under the control of the new Syrian government.

• Documented Violations: SOHR reports that security authorities are detaining thousands of people for months without clear charges or presentation to a judge, amidst reports of ill-treatment, food shortages, and financial extortion of families.

• Un-eradicated Culture: These reports amplify UN fears that the "culture of arbitrary detention" entrenched during the Assad era has not been fully eradicated, and the absence of independent judicial oversight opens the door to new violations.

The Case of Disappearing Women in the Syrian Coast

• Conflicting Reports: The issue of disappearing women and girls in the Alawite-majority Syrian coast has also resurfaced. While the Syrian Interior Ministry claimed only one genuine kidnapping case out of 42 reviewed, attributing the rest to "voluntary escape... or temporary absence,"

• UN Concern: UN human rights experts expressed grave concern over reports of at least 38 Alawite women and girls being abducted, noting a pattern of gender-based violence and forced marriages in the absence of an effective state response.

Heavy Legacy and International Remediation Efforts

• Scale of the Disaster: UN and human rights bodies estimate that the number of people missing in Syria since 2011 ranges between 120,000 and 300,000, mostly during the previous regime.

• New Authorities' Steps: The new authorities in Syria announced the creation of a "National Commission for the Missing and a Transitional Justice Committee" in May to investigate crimes and collect data—a step welcomed by the UN, provided it includes "violations committed by all parties."

• Independent Institution: In 2023, the UN General Assembly established the "Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria" to work towards clarifying the fate of the missing and supporting their families, in a bid to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of thousands of families waiting for an answer to one question: "Where are our loved ones?"