Opening Detention Centers Has Revealed the Still-Going Humanitarian Catastrophe: Over 112,414 Individuals Are Still Forcibly Disappeared at the Hands of the Assad Regime

The Hague – Syrian Network for Human Rights:

December 28, 2024 – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) released a new statement that sheds light on still-going humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Assad regime’s arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance practices even after all the former regime’s detention centers were opened. The statement stresses that, as SNHR’s database shows, at least 112,414 individuals of the people forcibly disappeared by the Assad regime are still missing, even with the release of thousands of detainees in recent weeks.

The statement alludes to the releases that took place as soon as the major cities were captured in the course of Operation Deter Aggression that was launched by the Military Operations Command. The offensive led to the capture of the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Damascus. As such, with all prisons and detention centers opened, all the detainees had been released. SNHR’s teams in Syria closely monitored these releases, and have, in fact, been in contact with hundreds of released detainees and their families in order to document recent developments and collect more information.

SNHR’s systematic efforts in documenting arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearance

Since 2011, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has spared no effort to document cases of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearance. To that end, a dedicated team within SNHR has been assigned specifically to working solely on this issue, drawing upon accounts from survivors and victims’ families, as well as other documents and evidence. SNHR successfully developed an advanced and comprehensive database containing accurate information about detainees and forcibly disappeared persons, including their potential fate, while ensuring that the data was continuously updated in order to ensure the publication of reliable and accurate figures and reports.

Evidence proving systematic crimes

Despite the release of thousands of detainees, the statement notes that the overwhelming majority of forcibly disappeared persons died under torture, or due to the brutal detention conditions, or were summarily executed. In reaching this conclusion, SNHR has relied on definitive items of evidence, including:

1. Forcibly disappeared persons had been registered as dead in the civil registry records: From 2018 onwards, the Assad regime registered thousands of forcibly disappeared persons as dead without returning their bodies to their families or properly informing their families of the details of their death.
2. Mass death sentences: The report reveals that verified data shows that mass death sentences were issued against thousands of forcibly disappeared persons, especially in detention centers such as Sednaya Military Prison.
3. The number of those released: After the prisons were opened, an estimated 24,200 individuals were freed. Still, as SNHR’s database attest, the number of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons classified as being imprisoned in the Assad regime’s detention centers as of August 2024 was 136,614, meaning that 112,414 individuals are still missing.
4. Mass graves were found: In recent weeks, a number of mass graves were found containing the bodies/remains of thousands of victims who were extrajudicially executed, reflecting the systematic and staggering crimes committed by the Assad regime.

SNHR must stress, however, that these individuals are still classified as forcibly disappeared persons since their bodies have not been returned to their families, and their fates have not been conclusively clarified. It will take intensive and continuous efforts to reveal the full truth about the fate of each of these victims. This should be done in the framework of holding those responsible for these crimes accountable, while the victims and their families must be fairly and properly compensated.

Urgent recommendations to address this issue

The statement stresses that urgent and practical steps must be taken to address this humanitarian issue, most notably:

• Fully reveal the fate of forcibly disappeared persons: Independent and transparent investigation must be launched to ascertain the details of these disappearances and identify those responsible for these crimes.
• Hold the perpetrators accountable: Ensure that all of those responsible, whether at the political or security level, are held to account.
• Provide psychological and social support for families: Provide social and psychological rehabilitation programs to the families who lost their loved ones.
• Respect international treaties: The statement calls on the new Syrian government to respect international treaties, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Call to the international community

SNHR calls on the international community to intensify its efforts to ensure accountability and justice for the victims and their families, as well as to promote human rights protection in Syria.