2023-06-29 21:04:21
Guerre
The UN wants to “clarify” the fate of the disappeared in Syria
NGOs estimate that around 100,000 people have disappeared since the start of the war in Syria in 2011.
PostedJune 29, 2023, 11:04 PM
Syria, but also Russia or China, have expressed their frank opposition to this decision of the General Assembly, ensuring that they have not been consulted on the resolution.
Despite opposition from Damascus, the UN General Assembly on Thursday created an “independent institution” to “clarify” the fate of thousands of people who have disappeared in Syria for 12 years, responding to requests from families and defenders of the human rights.
According to NGOs, some 100,000 people have disappeared since the outbreak of the popular uprising in 2011, victims of repression or kidnapped by factions fighting once morest the regime. And “following 12 years of conflict and violence” in Syria, “little progress has been made to alleviate the suffering of the families” of the disappeared, notes the resolution adopted by the General Assembly by 83 votes in favor, 11 once morest and 62 abstentions .
Member States therefore decided to establish, “under the aegis of the United Nations, the Independent Institution on Missing Persons of the Syrian Arab Republic, to clarify the fate and whereregardings of all missing persons” in Syria.
“Blatant interference”
The text does not specify the operating methods of this institution, for which the UN Secretary General will have to develop the “frame of reference” within 80 days in cooperation with the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The High Commission’s Twitter account hailed “a much-needed initiative!”: “Families have the right to know the fate and whereregardings of their loved ones, to help heal the wounds of society as a whole” .
“UN member states must ensure that this new institution has the necessary staff and resources,” said Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch. “The Syrian people deserve nothing less.” The text also calls on states and “all parties to the conflict” in Syria to “cooperate fully” with the new body.
“Politicization” of human rights
But Syria expressed its frank opposition, ensuring that it had not been consulted on the resolution. This resolution “reflects a flagrant interference in our internal affairs and provides new proof of the hostile approach of certain Western countries once morest Syria”, declared its ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, pointing the finger at the United States.
He also warned once morest the “risk” that this “bizarre and mysterious mechanism, without a precise definition of the concept of missing person or time or geographical limits”, might “create a precedent for attacking any Member State of the United Nations, especially developing countries”.
An argument echoed by China, which like Russia, North Korea, Cuba or Iran, voted once morest the resolution. “This is a new example of countries politicizing and instrumentalizing human rights and humanitarian issues to suppress and hinder developing countries,” denounced the Chinese representative.
“Mourning”
This vote follows in particular a report by Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who last August recommended the creation of such a body. “At present, the families undertake the research themselves, which aggravates their trauma and puts them in danger”, underlined the report.
“As one person representing a family association put it, just imagine having to watch leaked videos of massacres over and over once more. [sur les médias sociaux] to see if your loved ones are among the decapitated and mutilated bodies, and desperately carry out your own search,” he continued.
“According to estimates, the whereregardings and fate of 100,000 Syrians remain unknown,” Guterres insisted in March, calling on member states to act. “The victims here are not just those who have been imprisoned, tortured and killed,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Thursday. “The victims are also their families and loved ones”, she underlined, referring to the disappearance of “more than 155,000 people” whose families deserve to “mourn”.
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