HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL HOLDS A HIGH-LEVEL PANEL DISCUSSION ON ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES AND ARBITRARY DETENTION IN SYRIA
The Human Rights Council this morning held a high-level panel discussion on the situation of human rights in Syria, focusing on the issue of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, and the need for accountability for related violations and abuses.
Opening statements were delivered by Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic; and Kevin Kennedy, United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syrian Crisis.
The moderator of the panel was Arwa Damon, journalist and senior international correspondent for CNN. The panellists were Fadel Abdul Ghani, Executive Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights; Joumana Seif, lawyer actively engaged with the Syrian Women’s Network; Noura Aljizawi, activist and former Vice-President of the Syrian National Coalition; Sarmad Al-Jilane, co-founder of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently” and researcher on extremist groups in the Middle East; and Mazen Darwish, lawyer and free speech advocate, Director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression.
In his opening statement, High Commissioner Zeid reviewed the history of the six-year conflict in Syria, adding that nowadays the entire country had become a torture chamber. As the conflict entered its seventh year, Syria was the worst man-made disaster the world had seen since the Second World War. Ensuring accountability, establishing the truth and providing reparations had to happen if the Syrian people were ever to find reconciliation and peace. Urging all parties to end torture, to stop executions and cease unfair trials by special and ad hoc courts, the High Commissioner also urged all parties holding detainees or captives to release them or at least provide the names and localities of those in detention and the place of burial of those who had died.
Mr. Pinheiro said the Council was gathered to hear directly from witnesses and victims of the conflict in Syria and to draw attention to the need for accountability for violations and abuses committed during the conflict, including on the issues of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention. The Commission of Inquiry had investigated and produced over 20 reports and special thematic papers. In each report, the Commission had called for a political solution that also ensured credible and comprehensive accountability, and called for the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court or to create an ad hoc tribunal. The Commission therefore welcomed continued efforts to ensure accountability.
Mr. Kennedy said humanitarian agencies were too often unable to deliver life-saving assistance and protection services in a timely and sustained basis to the 4.7 million people who lived in besieged and hard to reach areas, which included 1.3 million people in areas controlled by ISIS. Not a single inter-agency cross-line convoy of the 20 requested ones had been accomplished. As part of the whole of Syria approach, during 2016 humanitarian partners reached a combined 11.2 million people in Syria with multi-sectoral assistance. The majority of humanitarian assistance was provided by a wide array of non-governmental partners on the ground. Mr. Kennedy urged Member States and the United Nations agencies to consider how they could ensure the safety, security and freedom from arbitrary detention and future well-being of humanitarian personnel.
Opening the panel, Ms. Damon, the moderator, said that the most shocking thing about Syria was that it was not shocking enough to galvanize into action those who had enough power to stop the violence. The families of the missing needed the support of the international community, and there needed to be accountability for violations of international human rights law. A lot of responsibility lay with the Syrian Government and its backers. Concrete steps were needed to show the people of Syria that the international community would not continue to fail them.
Mr. Abdul Ghani said 106,000 persons were still detained, out of which 92,000 by the regime, adding that the situation in the country had become fragmented due to the systematic plan to detain people. As for enforced disappearances, all parties to the conflict had denied that they had held detainees. However, detention was only one aspect of the Syrian crisis and could not be addressed without addressing the issue of the entire conflict in Syria. Until now no country had championed the cause of detainees and no State had provided material, media and political support for detainees. Imposing harsher sanctions on States sponsoring the Syrian regime would have a significant effect.
Ms. Seif said that in 1996, her brother aged 21 had disappeared and until today, his whereabouts were unknown. Also describing the disappearance of other family members, she said hers was the story of one family in Syria, and thousands of families had been affected by enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture of their loved ones. All those crimes were being perpetrated by the Assads, both the father and son. Until transitional justice was assured, there would be no peace.
Ms. Aljizawi said thousands of Syrian women were detained because they belonged to a region whose population had taken part in action against the regime, and that women had also been detained only to be tortured in front of their husbands. She herself had been detained, and released only thanks to solidarity and human rights defenders who provided support, so the regime was put under pressure not to kill her as it killed other women under torture.
Mr. Al-Jilane spoke of the experience of detainees in Syria, underlining that 3 million civilians had been killed and detained at the hands of the Syrian regime or extremist groups. The prisons of ISIS were not the only ones; there were also camps with children, as well as those operated by the Al-Nusra Front. The Syrian Democratic Forces had undertaken ethnic cleansing, detaining men, women and children. As for seeking accountability, there was a need to start working at the top of the pyramid and to identify those who had unleashed all those extremist groups back in 2011.
Mr. Darwish said lack of evidence of torture was not the problem; the tragedy of Syria was that there was no political will to stop this. The question should not be asked whether those atrocities were illegal, but whether they were moral. People in Syria and the Middle East no longer believed in human rights. What must be avoided was a total civil war that would irrevocably destroy all that was Syrian. The Middle East and Syria needed a comprehensive political solution based on human rights and democracy in order to guarantee peace and fight terrorism.
During the ensuing discussion, delegations reiterated the importance of implementing United Nations Security Council resolution 2254, which included a call for the immediate release of any arbitrarily detained persons, particularly women and children. Roundly expressing deep alarm and frustration at the horrors of the conflict over the past six years, delegations underscored the importance of addressing accountability. To that end, support was expressed for the Commission of Inquiry and the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism whose work was seen as crucial for accountability for those who committed crimes. Some delegations called into question the panel’s usefulness, saying it was a one-sided and biased initiative; others said that the same States that had created extremist groups and provided them with weapons and logistics had convened today’s panel discussion.
Speaking during the discussion were United Kingdom (on behalf of a group of States), Bahrain (on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council), European Union, Norway (on behalf of the Nordic countries), United Kingdom, Australia, Spain, New Zealand, Uruguay, Germany, Israel, Belgium, Qatar, Slovenia, Liechtenstein, Iran, Venezuela, France, Bolivia, Maldives, Netherlands, United States, Russian Federation, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal and Iraq.
Also taking the floor were the following civil society organizations: Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Human Rights Watch, Conseil International pour le soutien à des procès equitables et aux Droits de l’Homme, World Council of Arameans (Syriacs), Africa Culture Internationale and International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The Council has a full day of meetings scheduled today, and will at noon hold an interactive dialogue with the Commission of Inquiry on Syria.
Keynote Statements
ZEID RA’AD AL HUSSEIN, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, reminded that countless people had suffered arbitrary detention, torture, kidnap and enforced disappearances in Syria. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Commission of Inquiry had been refused access to the country, and no international human rights observers were admitted to the places where very probably tens of thousands of people were being held. Those were places of torture. Indeed, the entire conflict had begun with torture: the detention and torture by security officers of a group of children in Daraa who had daubed anti-Government graffiti on a school wall. As protests had swelled, the Government had attacked and waged war on its own people, spawning rebel movements, fuelling violent extremists and setting the stage for a regional and proxy war. Nowadays the entire country had become a torture chamber. As the conflict entered its seventh year, Syria was the worst man-made disaster the world had seen since the Second World War. Atrocities committed against the Yazidi community by the extremist group Da’esh, including the abduction and sale of girls and women as sexual slaves, had not led to swift, decisive action to ensure accountability. Vetoes had repeatedly pushed back hope for an end to that senseless carnage and for referral of alleged international crimes to the International Criminal Court. The General Assembly’s adoption of resolution 71/248 in December 2016 had thus been a significant step forward. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was moving as fast as possible to set up the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism, which would work alongside the Commission of Inquiry to collect and analyse evidence and prepare detailed files on individual suspects, building up the basis for criminal proceedings against individual perpetrators. Ensuring accountability, establishing the truth and providing reparations had to happen if the Syrian people were ever to find reconciliation and peace. That could not be negotiable. Detention remained a central issue for many in Syria, one which could determine the fate of any political agreement. High Commissioner Zeid urged all parties to end torture, to stop executions and cease unfair trials by special and ad hoc courts. Humanitarian actors and international monitors had to be given access to all detention centres. He urged all parties holding detainees or captives to release them or at least provide the names and localities of those in detention and the place of burial of those who had died.
PAULO SÉRGIO PINHEIRO, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, said the Council was gathered to hear directly from witnesses and victims of the conflict in Syria and to draw attention to the need for accountability for violations and abuses committed during the conflict, including on the issues of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention. The Commission of Inquiry had investigated and produced over 20 reports and special thematic papers, including its report from February 2016 which concluded that the mass scale of deaths of detainees suggested the Government was responsible for acts that amounted to extermination as a crime against humanity. Designated terrorist groups Da’esh and Jabhat Al-Nusra had used makeshift courts to execute prisoners. In each report, the Commission had called for a political solution that also ensured credible and comprehensive accountability, and called for the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court or to create an ad hoc tribunal. The Commission therefore welcomed continued efforts to ensure accountability and reiterated its readiness to cooperate with the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism within the framework of General Assembly resolution 71/248 and the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the resolution. The Commission on Inquiry would continue to make recommendations to Member States and to all parties to the conflict to protect, respect, and fulfil the human rights of the Syrian people, including through ensuring pathways to justice for victims.
KEVIN KENNEDY, United Nations Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syrian Crisis, reminded that 13.5 million Syrians required protection and assistance. Since 2011, more than half of all Syrians had been forced to flee their homes, 6.3 million of whom were internally displaced. At the end of January 2017, nearly 650,000 people had been living in 13 areas under siege without benefit of regular assistance and with no freedom of movement. Indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools and medical facilities, by all parties had been extensively documented. In 2016, the United Nations had verified 38 attacks on education facilities and personnel, while from January to August 2016 there had been 101 attacks on hospitals and health centres killing 14 heath care workers. The protection of civilians was a central concern in all humanitarian operations in Syria. However, preventing and responding to violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law in such a context was uniquely challenging. Humanitarian agencies were too often unable to deliver life-saving assistance and protection services in a timely and sustained basis to the 4.7 million people who lived in besieged and hard to reach areas, which included 1.3 million people in areas controlled by ISIS. Not a single inter-agency cross-line convoy of the 20 requested ones had been accomplished.
Mr. Kennedy said he was appalled by reports of the murder, torture and inhuman treatment of Syrians by all sides. Neutral and impartial international humanitarian agencies, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, had to be given immediate and unhindered access to detainees and detention facilities in order to prevent further abuses, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances. As part of the whole of Syria approach, during 2016 humanitarian partners reached a combined 11.2 million people in Syria with multi-sectoral assistance. Cross-border assistance from Turkey and Jordan continued to represent a core element of the humanitarian response. The majority of humanitarian assistance was provided by a wide array of non-governmental partners on the ground. They had also suffered hundreds of casualties along the way. At least 66 humanitarian workers had been killed and 114 wounded in the first nine months of 2016 alone. The Commission of Inquiry continued to document cases of arbitrary arrests of humanitarian workers suspected of supporting armed groups. Mr. Kennedy urged Member States and the United Nations agencies to consider how they could ensure the safety, security, freedom from arbitrary detention, and future well-being of humanitarian personnel.
Statements by the Panel Moderator and the Panellists
ARWA DAMON, Journalist and Senior International Correspondent for CNN and moderator of the panel, said that the most shocking thing about Syria was that it was not shocking enough to galvanize into action those who had enough power to stop the violence. In preparing for the panel, she had searched through her footage from 2011 for anything, any story that might have changed the course of the war, but found nothing. One of the first stories she had covered in Syria was that of a woman documenting human rights violations, who had said it was her responsibility to do so. She also related the story of having spoken to a woman in Greece who had spent years trawling detention facilities looking for her husband. The families of the missing needed the support of the international community, and there needed to be accountability for violations of international human rights law. A lot of responsibility lay with the Syrian Government and its backers. Concrete steps were needed to show the people of Syria that the international community would not continue to fail them. The tragedy of Syria was that the international community knew, but had done nothing.
FADEL ABDUL GHANI, Executive Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, recalled the sixth anniversary of the popular action towards democracy and freedom in Syria. He noted that 106,000 persons were still detained, out of which 92,000 by the regime. Some 13,000 had died due to torture. That data had been gathered over six years thanks to daily meticulous work despite unprecedented challenges and secret work. The data was collected locally. Many people had been forcibly disappeared. The situation in the country had become fragmented due to the systematic plan to detain people. Torture had been used systematically and had resulted in death as those tortured had been denied medical care. As for enforced disappearances, there was no information on who had abducted people and where they had disappeared. All parties to the conflict had denied that they had held detainees. An effort could be made to release detainees. However, detention was only one aspect of the Syrian crisis and it had become an extremely thorny and complex issue. Detention could not be addressed without addressing the issue of the entire conflict in Syria. Despite the Ankara Ceasefire Agreement many were still killed, tortured and arbitrarily arrested. It was the responsibility of politicians to explain that failure. International humanitarian law had been completely flouted in Syria. Three resolutions had been adopted on Syria, mentioning and referring to the issue of detention, but nothing had been done to end detention. The Security Council and decision makers had been completely complacent. Nevertheless, certain achievements could be made. Until now no country had championed the cause of detainees and no State had provided material, media and political support for detainees. Imposing harsher sanctions on States sponsoring the Syrian regime would have a significant effect.
JOUMANA SEIF, Lawyer actively engaged with the Syrian Women’s Network, said that in 1980 her uncle had been arrested in front of his family and disappeared. The life of the family had been one of waiting until recently when they had found out that he had been executed. In 1996, her brother aged 21 had disappeared and until today, his whereabouts were unknown. Ms. Seif’s father had been a member of the Parliament who had been working on uncovering corruption but had decided to remain silent because of fear of retribution. Another cousin had been arrested by the police and had disappeared for 10 days; he had been tortured and released because the family paid. This was the story of one family in Syria, and thousands of families had been affected by enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture of their loved ones. Those who survived described detention centres as hell. All those crimes were being perpetrated by the Assads, both the father and son. Therefore, the recent Amnesty International report on the slaughterhouse should come as no surprise. Ms. Seif called for justice, peaceful coexistence between the people of Syria, and for the return of refugees to Syria and their participation in reconstruction. Until transitional justice was assured, there would be no peace.
NOURA ALJIZAWI, Activist and former Vice-President of the Syrian National Coalition, described the conditions of her disappearance and said her story was the story of thousands of Syrian women who were detained not just because they carried out humanitarian assistance, it was enough for the women to belong to a region whose population had taken part in action against the regime. That was why they would be detained. Women might also be detained in order to use them as a pressure tool or to extract information under torture. Scores of women had testified that they had been detained only to be tortured in front of their husbands. Arrest without charge usually took place through abduction. Gender violence was used as a means of torturing women, which also took place in secret detention centres. Scores of women were detained with their children, who remained with their mothers. One woman detained in 2012 had disappeared with six of her children. There were also scores of women detained by terrorist organizations. She noted that she was always asked why she had been released, and told the assembled delegates that being released and not having died under torture was not due to humanitarian feeling on the part of her captors. It was thanks to solidarity and human rights defenders who provided support, undertaking a large solidarity campaign that reached “that horrible place” so the regime was put under pressure not to kill her as it had killed other women under torture. That was what had led to her release, she said, adding that even if the mechanisms were slow, the international community had to persevere.
SARMAD AL-JILANE, Co-Founder of “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently” and Researcher on Extremist Groups in the Middle East, spoke of the experience of detainees in Syria, underlining that 3 million civilians had been killed and detained at the hands of the Syrian regime or extremist groups. Extremist groups had taken control of Raqqa and had begun spreading terror among citizens. Not a single family in eastern Syria had been free from ISIS’ oppression. Detainees held by ISIS had undergone daily torture. Even those who had been caught smoking on the street had been detained. The prisons of ISIS were not the only ones. There were also camps with children, as well as those operated by the Al-Nusra Front. The Syrian Democratic Forces had undertaken ethnic cleansing, detaining men, women and children. Militias had made people choose between forced recruitment and enforced disappearances. As for seeking accountability, there was a need to start working at the top of the pyramid and to identify those who had unleashed all those extremist groups back in 2011.
MAZEN DARWISH, Lawyer and free speech advocate, Director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, said that in various regions of Syria, de facto authorities detained and tortured: government forces, opposition, Al-Nussra and ISIS. In addition to those, there were also militias who detained and imprisoned people; some were directly related to the Government, others were confessional, and some were cross-border units. The Commission of Inquiry had thousands and thousands of testimonies and lack of evidence of torture was not the problem; the tragedy of Syria was that there was no political will to stop this. The question should not be asked whether those atrocities were illegal, but whether they were moral. Genocide was ongoing in Syria. Those atrocities had been ongoing for six years – today, there were millions of civilians, women, and children, killed and tortured. It was a continued practice, and yet there was no real movement, no real effort to stop it. People in Syria and the Middle East no longer believed in human rights. Often, questions were asked how extremism came about, why young people joined criminal gangs, and terrorists groups – the answer was clear – it was because of Syrian prisons. The dream of the Syrians was for the war to come to an end, but did anyone believe that peace and political solution could be achieved without true accountability for the crimes? Referring to the political negotiations, Mr. Darwish warned that the transfer of the issue of detainees from Geneva to Astana was a very bad move because detainees became a negotiating chip between warlords who only cared for the interests of combatants held prisoners, and not about detained artists, lawyers, and activists. This was ongoing under the auspices of the United Nations. What must be avoided was a total civil war that would irrevocably destroy all that was Syrian. The Middle East and Syria needed a comprehensive political solution based on human rights and democracy in order to guarantee peace and fight terrorism.
Discussion
United Kingdom, speaking on behalf of a group of States, condemned in the strongest possible terms all human rights violations and abuses and violations of international humanitarian law that continued to take place in Syria. The international community could not rest until a long-term political solution to the conflict was found. Bahrain, speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, expressed concern about crimes perpetrated in Syria, regardless of their sources, and concern at the fate of tens of thousands of detainees in the prisons of the regime. The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council underscored the importance of implementing relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. European Union called for the immediate release of any arbitrarily detained persons, particularly women and children, as requested by United Nations Security Council resolution 2254, and urged the Syrian regime to cooperate with the Commission of Inquiry and grant it unhindered access to the country.
Norway, speaking on behalf of the Nordic countries, expressed deep alarm and frustration at the “brutal horrors” the international community had witnessed in Syria for six years, adding that it was key for the parties to the conflict to commit to the process under the framework of Security Council resolution 2254. Addressing accountability was integral to ensuring reconciliation. United Kingdom said arbitrary detention was an inhuman, senseless tactic of repression, and that in Syria, the Assad regime was the main perpetrator. The United Kingdom would continue to support the Commission of Inquiry and the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism in their crucial work on accountability for those who committed those crimes. Australia said enforced disappearances, kidnappings, illegal detention, torture and summary executions by all parties in Syria were unacceptable, and urged all parties to the conflict to respect human rights, uphold the ceasefire, negotiate constructively and achieve a political solution that could ease the suffering of all Syrians.
Spain noted that all perpetrators of crimes in Syria should be held to account. It was vital to focus on mass and systematic human rights violations, and to ensure accountability as a key part of a successful political process to achieve peace in Syria. New Zealand stated that the conflict in Syria had been waged against civilians, whose continuing suffering was unacceptable. New Zealand condemned all forms of torture and extrajudicial killings, and called for the respect of human rights, which was essential for lasting peace. Uruguay vehemently denounced grave human rights violations in Syria. It regretted that all efforts had failed to bring peace to that country, and deplored the lack of access of humanitarian aid to civilians. Uruguay called for the effective implementation of the General Assembly resolution 71/248.
Germany stressed that it was important to raise awareness about the gross human rights violations in Syria, noting that the Syrian regime bore the greatest responsibility for those crimes. The international community had a duty to support post-conflict Syria to the best of its abilities. Israel deplored the suffering of so many in Syria and was shocked by the terror imposed by the Syrian regime on its own people. Furthermore, the crimes committed in Syria by Iran and Hezbollah should not be overlooked. Belgium said that the adoption of the General Assembly resolution 71/248 was an important step towards ending impunity in Syria. Action on accountability was urgent, even though the current situation on the ground might not be conducive to judicial procedures.
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies said that the six-year war against the people daring to ask for their rights continued to devastate the lives and dignity of millions of people. The United Nations Member States must move beyond simply monitoring the situation and expressing moral outrage; the Council should mandate a study to identify what Governments could do to strengthen and improve the use of national and universal jurisdictions in relation to crimes committed in Syria. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom recalled that the Families for Freedom asked the international community to pressure the Syrian Government to immediately release lists of names and locations of all detainees, to allow access for humanitarian organizations, to abolish special courts and to guarantee fair trials. Human Rights Watch recalled that since the beginning of the uprising in Syria, security forces had arbitrarily arrested, unlawfully detained, forcibly disappeared, ill-treated, tortured and killed thousands of people, and stressed that negotiations toward achieving a peace and transition agreement must prioritize the human rights situation, including the rights of detainees. Any transition agreement should include a commitment to release political detainees, journalists, aid workers and human rights activists and to grant independent monitors access to detention facilities.
Qatar said that there was no need to further document crimes committed in Syria; the world knew exactly where prisons and detention facilities were and who were responsible. What was needed was action to stop what was turning to be a shame on humanity. Slovenia reiterated the importance of the work of the Commission of Inquiry and fully supported an extension of its mandate, and also welcomed the establishment of the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism and its complementary role in ensuring accountability for the most serious crimes under international law. Liechtenstein said that the Syrian voices heard today showed the need for urgent and meaningful action to end the mass atrocities and ensure accountability for them, and encouraged all States to contribute to the $30 million dollar annual budget of the General Assembly’s Accountability Mechanism for Syria.
Iran asked the panellists their reaction to the Israeli policy of terrorism and occupation of part of Syria. Venezuela said there was no added value from the one-sided and biased initiative, saying the path to lasting peace could have been debated, and holding the panel was misplaced. Double standards drove some delegations’ moves against the Syrian Government. France said as had been emphasized, the Commission of Inquiry had shown that all parties were guilty, condemning all who had committed crimes. The crimes of Da’esh were indescribable but the Government was the primary culprit, and the panel allowed victims to testify. Bolivia deplored the downturn in the humanitarian situation in Syria and violations of humanitarian law, saying the situation was the result of neo-colonial empires. Nothing had been said of transnational corporations in the context of Syria, and Bolivia deplored crimes against humanity regardless of by whom they had been committed.
Maldives said the panellists’ stories were deeply moving and disturbing, and that the international community needed to act now; Maldives joined the call for an immediate end to the violence, the release of political prisoners, accountability and justice. Netherlands said achieving justice might take longer than the international community might like, yet it had to keep pushing for that. Describing a meeting organized by the Netherlands with that ultimate aim, it was underlined that there was a need for follow-up discussions.
United States reiterated its call on all parties in Syria, particularly on the regime, to stop summary executions, to grant unhindered access by an impartial international organization to detention centres, to evacuate sick detainees to civilian hospitals, and to notify families of the status of their family members. Russian Federation reminded that the same States that had created extremist groups and provided them with weapons and logistics had convened today’s panel discussion. It was worth asking who provided military, political and intelligence support to the extremists in Syria. Switzerland noted that the end goal should be the release of all arbitrarily detained persons in Syria. It called on all parties to support the dialogue on Syria, adding that the Syrian civil society representatives should also be part of that process.
Italy underlined the importance of hearing the voices of Syrian civil society, and of seeking accountability for all human rights violations and abuses. Portugal asked the panellists to share their views about how to find ways to better protect and to have access to persons who were subjected to torture, detention and enforced disappearances in Syria. Iraq condemned the recent terrorist attack in Damascus by criminal terrorist organizations and called on the international community to take a firm stance on such organizations. The solution to the conflict in Syria had to be Syrian-led and there should be no interference into its internal affairs.
Conseil International pour le soutien à des procès equitables at aux Droits de l’Homme said that the killing and detention of the Syrian people continued, adding that many countries aimed to undermine the peace process. This Council and the international community must work on achieving peace and justice for the people of Syria. World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) urged the international community to prioritize the defeat of ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria and Iraq, as it was only then that peace and security could return and efforts to rebuild the destroyed home countries and societies could finally begin. No sustainable peace could exist with violence still ongoing in some parts of Syria. Africa Culture Internationale stood in solidarity with Syrian civilians who had been victims of inhuman acts of violence for six years now. The international community bore the main responsibility to stop the bloodshed, provide shelter and food to the civilians, and find a sustainable solution to the crisis. International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination said that the future of Syria depended on the ability of the international community to acknowledge that the pretext of fighting terrorism could not be used to indiscriminately hit civilian-inhabited areas and deploy weapons of mass destruction.
Concluding Remarks
ARWA DAMON, Journalist and Senior International Correspondent for CNN, asked the panellists to comment on the questions raised during the discussion and, noting the absence of Syria from the discussion today, asked what could be the next steps? Was there space to start talking about accountability and which would be first steps to take in this regard? What was the ideal scenario for Syria to emerge from the challenges it was facing?
JOUMANA SEIF, Lawyer actively engaged with the Syrian Women’s Network, said that soldiers of the Syrian army were the sons of Syria and it was the regime that made Syrians kill each other. This was extremely painful and sad. The International Committee of the Red Cross should continue to attempt to visit places of detention.
FADEL ABDUL GHANI, Executive Director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, said Russia had to stop the air strikes and war crimes. Iran was part of many crimes, the Iranian intervention in Syria came prior to the entry of Al Qaida and Islamic terrorist groups in Syria. It was not believed that Russia or Iran were paying the price they deserved for backing the regime, he said. As for cross-border militias, he said the Security Council was discriminating in its classification, and that all global movements must be called terrorists. As for the “Turkish PKK” it was also a terrorist organization killing Syrians, he said, noting that all must be classified using the same terms as classifying one organization and not others was a form of support. Support for survivors was extremely important, he said, referring to survivors of detention and torture.
SARMAD AL-JILANE, Co-Founder of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, Researcher on Extremist Groups in the Middle East, said he was referring to the Russian delegation and added that it had started with the Assad regime. Terrorism in Syria was a fact and the perpetrator was Bashar al Assad. To fight terrorism, one had to fight the initiator. As for the Iraqi delegation, he said Iraq had a long history of counter-terrorism. Five thousand members of the Free Syrian Army elements had been killed even though they were fighting terrorist gangs. Real Syrians on the ground were being killed by all parties.
NOURA ALJIZAWI, former detainee, activist and former Vice-President of the Syrian National Coalition, said that sieges had been used as total punishments for the population since the beginning of the uprising in 2011, including in the city of Darayya. Those trying to lift the siege or provide humanitarian assistance were punished. Since 2011 there had been an increase in the complete closure of towns, and targeted attacks on hospitals, markets and schools. Those activists opposing enforced disappearances and seeking good achievements with all parties were killed or disappeared. The United Nations should establish committees to establish the property of Syrians; who would guarantee the right to property rights when the reconstruction of the country started?
ARWA DAMON, Journalist and Senior International Correspondent for CNN, asked what would be the pressure points right now, to move things forward.
MAZEN DARWISH, Lawyer and free speech advocate, Director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, stressed the need to include civil society in accountability mechanisms and for a real partnership between civil society organizations and the United Nations. Syrian civil society organizations should not only be used as a source of information, but must be genuine partners in all accountability initiatives. There must be a real mechanism, with a Chairperson and rules of procedure to ensure justice for Syria, including in national jurisdictions. People in Syria mourned the bloodshed and every drop of blood; every civilian, every Syrian citizen must have safety for themselves and their families. Syria was for all citizens, regardless of ethnicity, religion, and race. There must also be full accountability without any selectivity; there must be transitional justice and not selective justice. In terms of action to address the issue of detainees, a mechanism had been proposed through the peace negotiations for all parties to declare a moratorium on the death penalty and to commit to stopping executions. There were some 15,000 detainees who were at risk of execution. Also, the United Nations and other monitoring bodies must be allowed to visit places of detention and facilitate improvement of conditions there – it was not necessary to wait for the end of the war to come. Furthermore, all parties must release lists of names of those killed and disappeared. The occupied Syrian Golan was Syrian territory and Syrians would continue to demand that it was restored from the Israeli occupied power.
ARWA DAMON, Journalist and Senior International Correspondent for CNN and panel moderator, said what the Council had heard today was not necessarily new in terms of atrocities nor were the calls for accountability and justice in Syria new. But it was still something that the issues were being talked about at such a high level, she said, and because of that there was still a belief that there could be a genuine will to stop what was happening. The international community owed it to Syria. There were small steps that could be taken, she said, noting that every single country had some way to pressure a key actor or a side actor to bring about some suggested preliminary steps such as allowing access.
For use of the information media; not an official record
HRC17/037E