The 50th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council

13 June – 8 July 2022

Item 6: Interactive Dialogue with Commission of Inquiry of the Syrian Arab Republic

Statement of Association Ma’onah for Human Rights and Immigration and Geneva International Centre for Justice

30 June 2022

Delivered by Amal Bushara / GICJ

Thank you President.

Although the exact number is unknown, since the start of the conflict in Syria in 2011, at least tens of thousands of Syrians have been forcibly detained, abducted, or disappeared at the hands of the government, armed opposition groups, and terror organisations operating in the country. Victims of enforced disappearances are effectively striped of all their rights, including the rights to a fair trial and due process of law, while their relatives experience ongoing violations of their rights, such as having an unclear legal status, facing discrimination and social stigma, and not having access to a standard of living or education that is adequate. Women make up a fraction of those who have vanished in Syria, but they face intensified economic, social, and psychological hardships as a result of the loss of their male counterparts. A woman's claim to estate in the absence of her male family members is often tenuous, leaving the family in a state of a legal and socio-economic limbo. Association

Ma’onah and Geneva International Centre for Justice support calls for the establishment of a  consolidated body that efficiently tracks and identify those missing and assists their families. Such a mechanism should remain accessible and confidential in the sense that it protects the identities of those seeking assistance as well as assist family’s regardless of where they reside, as they too are victims.

Thank you.