Geneva - The Human Rights Council should adopt and implement the recommendation of the United Nations Secretary-General to establish an independent international mechanism for missing persons in Syria, as well as additional mechanisms to combat this crime in other conflict countries, particularly Yemen.

In a joint statement to the UN Human Rights Council’s 51^st session, Euro-Med Monitor and IRDG said, “Conflict parties in Syria and Yemen continue to practice large-scale enforced disappearances in violation of international humanitarian law, with sheer impunity and evasion of accountability and transparency”.

Delivering his statement to the Council, Euro-Med Monitor’s Outreach and Advocacy Officer Ahmed Alnaouq said: “After over 11 years of conflict, more than 111,000 people [have been] forcibly disappeared in Syria, including 10,000 women and children, mostly by Syrian government forces and allied militias”.

“The Syrian government refuses to recognise these cases, leaving thousands of families with unanswered questions about the fate of their loved ones”, Alnaouq added.

Last August, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres released a study he had prepared on missing people in Syria, emphasising the urgent need to establish a mechanism for an independent international entity that works “to clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing people in the Syrian Arab Republic, identify human remains and provide support to their families”.

Concerning enforced disappearances in Yemen, Alnaouq stated that conflict parties practiced enforced disappearances against hundreds of civilians over the last seven years. In almost all cases, perpetrators were not held accountable, and conflicting parties did not conduct serious investigations to determine the fate of victims.

The international community is responsible for supporting and strengthening efforts to uncover the fate of the forcibly disappeared in Syria, Yemen, and other conflict-ridden countries, as well as for holding accountable those responsible for crimes of enforced disappearance.

Full statement

Mr President,

Conflict parties in Syria and Yemen continue to practice large-scale enforced disappearances in violation of international humanitarian law, with sheer impunity and evasion of accountability and transparency.

After over 11 years of conflict, more than 111,000 people have been forcibly disappeared in Syria, including 10,000 women and children, mostly by Syrian government forces and allied militias. Despite this, the Syrian government refuses to recognise these cases, leaving thousands of families with unanswered questions about the fate of their loved ones.

In Yemen, hundreds of civilians have been forcibly disappeared during the past seven years of war. As usual, perpetrators escape accountability, and conflict parties refuse to investigate these cases.

The Secretary-General called for an independent international mechanism to reveal the fate of the forcibly disappeared in Syria. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor and IRDG urge [the adoption and implementation of] this initiative as soon as possible. We also call for establishing other mechanisms to address this dangerous phenomenon prevalent in other conflict-affected countries, particularly Yemen.

We believe that the international community can do much to help these vulnerable people and hope that no country will obstruct efforts to uncover the fate of the forcibly disappeared in Syria and Yemen, or to hold those responsible accountable.

Thank you.