Civil society letter – Syria missing persons institution – SIGNATORIES

Civil Society Organizations Urge UN Member States to Vote in Favor of Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria

At the end of June, the UN General Assembly will be called to vote on a resolution to establish an independent institution to clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing people in the Syrian Arab Republic, a milestone in the international community’s response to the Syrian conflict.

 

Since 2011, more than 100,000 individuals have gone missing or been forcibly disappeared by Syrian authorities and other parties to the conflict, including armed groups such as ISIL. In 2021, Syrian families and survivors called for the creation of a new independent, humanitarian institution that will focus on victims’ inalienable right to know the truth about their loved ones.

 

The call to establish such a new institution is supported by the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

 

The independent institution will be the first-ever response to the Syrian conflict to be entirely imagined and developed by Syrian victims and survivors of enforced disappearance and families of missing persons. The efforts made by Syrian families need the broadest and strongest support possible.

 

We, therefore, call on UN member states to support the families’ right to truth by voting in favor of the resolution. Voting for the resolution will constitute a major step towards bringing long-awaited answers to thousands of families who have been suffering loss and uncertainty.

 

Progress on this issue is fundamental to families, communities and society as a whole. The international community must extend a hand of practical support and assistance to families and victims in need. The people of Syria deserve no less.

 

 

Signatories

 

Truth and Justice Charter Group

 

1. Association of Detainees and Missing Persons in Sednaya Prison
2. Caesar Families Association
3. Coalition of Families of Persons Kidnapped by ISIS (Massar)
4. Families for Freedom
5. Ta’afi Initiative
6. General Union of Internees and Detainees
7. Release Me
8. Hevdesti-Synergy Association for Victims
9. Adra Detainees Association
10. Families of Truth and Justice

 

Civil Society Organizations

 

1. Afrin Platform
2. Afro-Middle East Centre
3. Ali Mourad (Academic & Legal Researcher)
4. Amnesty International
5. Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial Brussels
6. Austausch – For a European Civil Society, Berlin
7. Avaaz
8. Association de Parents et Amis de Disparus au Maroc
9. Building Blocks for Peace Foundation
10. Budapest Centre for Dialogue and Mass Atrocities Prevention
11. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
12. Cameroon O’Bosso
13. CCFD-Terre Solidaire
14. Center for Civilians in Conflict
15. Center for Victims of Torture
16. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)
17. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
18. Civic Assistance Committee
19. Collectif des Familles de Disparu.e.s en Algérie (CFDA)
20. Committee of the Families of the Kidnapped and Disappeared in Lebanon (CFKDL)
21. Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights
22. Dawlaty
23. Democracia Global
24. Denis Hurley Peace Institute
25. Donde Estan?-Où sont-ils? France
26. Dozana
27. Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
28. Euro-mediterranean federation against enforced disappearances
29. FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights
30. Finjan
31. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
32. Global Justice Center
33. Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP)
34. HAKI Africa
35. Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
36. Human Rights Center “Viasna”
37. Human Rights Solidarity Organisation
38. Human Rights Watch
39. Hurras Network
40. Impunity Watch
41. Independent human rights and media project OVD-Info
42. International Alert
43. Institute for Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention
44. International Center for Transitional Justice
45. International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR)
46. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
47. Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights
48. Justice and rehabilitation
49. Justice for life
50. Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
51. Khulumani Support Group
52. Khwendo jirga
53. Legal Action Worldwide
54. Lelun Association for Victims
55. Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan
56. Middle East and North Africa Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (MENAPPAC)
57. Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Right Studies
58. Movement for Democracy, Development and Transparency Cameroon
59. Network of independent Commission for Human rights in North Africa.
60. Nobel Women’s Initiative
61. PAX for Peace
62. Peace Direct
63. Permanent Peace Movement
64. Ras-ALAIN platform
65. Russi contro la guerra
66. Salam For Yemen
67. Solidarity 2020 and Beyond
68. Stand with Syria Japan (SSJ)
69. Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS)
70. Syrian Lawyers Aggregation
71. Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) سوريون من أجل الحقيقة والعدالة
72. Syrian Memory Institution (SMI)
73. Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)
74. Syrian Welsh Society
75. TERRE ET LIBERTE POUR ARAUCO
76. The association Syrian Sweden
77. The Syrian Swedish Democratic Network (SSDF)
78. The Day After
79. The Syria Campaign
80. The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
81. The Syrian Legal Development Programme (SLDP)
82. Truth Hounds
83. VDSH
84. VSI Action4life
85. WANEP NIGER
86. Wheat Olive Platform
87. WILDAF
88. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
89. Women Now for Development
90. Women’s Refugee Commission
91. World Uyghur Congress
92. World Federalist Movement – Canada
93. YouthHubAfrica