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OHCHR / SYRIAN CONFLICT
STORY: OHCHR / SYRIAN CONFLICT
TRT: 2:51
SOURCE: OHCHR / OPEN MEDIA HUB
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 11 MARCH 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
FILE - OPEN MEDIA HUB - 13 MARCH 2019, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
1. Traveling shot, Demonstrators holding photos of relatives
11 MARCH 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Rasha Al-Kaisy, Head of Monitoring and Reporting Unit - UN Human Rights Office for Syria, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Well the priorities, is of course remain for the office (OHCHR) the protection of the civilians in the conduct of hostilities and the on-going violence in Syria.”
FILE - OPEN MEDIA HUB - 13 MARCH 2019, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
3. Wide shot, Freedom Bus, an itinerant demonstration organized Syrian NGO’s demanding freedom and justice for Syria’s disappeared
11 MARCH 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Rasha Al-Kaisy, Head of Monitoring and Reporting Unit - UN Human Rights Office for Syria, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“So, any person who goes missing in the custody of the government forces security apparatus and not accounted for or there is a refusal to account for their fate and whereabouts is considered as missing.”
FILE - OPEN MEDIA HUB - 13 MARCH 2019, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
5. Med shot, Demonstrators holding pictures of relatives
11 MARCH 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Rasha Al-Kaisy, Head of Monitoring and Reporting Unit - UN Human Rights Office for Syria, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“This is, of course, if we speak about detention facilities. But there are also a lot of Syrians, unfortunately, who continue to be missing under the rubble because of the hostilities, because of various military operations that have been conducted across the country.”
FILE - OPEN MEDIA HUB - 13 MARCH 2019, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
7. Med shot, Demonstrators holding pictures of relatives
11 MARCH 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Rasha Al-Kaisy, Head of Monitoring and Reporting Unit - UN Human Rights Office for Syria, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“First, the families along the process of searching for their missing relatives, they continue to suffer their absence, and the repercussions because of their absence. They are trapped between hope and despair, not knowing whether the victim is still alive or not.”
FILE - OPEN MEDIA HUB - 13 MARCH 2019, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
9. Pan right, Mother of missing son in demonstration
11 MARCH 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Rasha Al-Kaisy, Head of Monitoring and Reporting Unit - UN Human Rights Office for Syria, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Because if we speak about those who disappeared often, they are often the main breadwinners of the family.”
FILE - OPEN MEDIA HUB - 13 MARCH 2019, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
11. Traveling shot, Demonstrators holding photos of relatives
11 MARCH 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Rasha Al-Kaisy, Head of Monitoring and Reporting Unit - UN Human Rights Office for Syria, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“Then usually the women in the family take the new roles. So, for instance, requirements for civil documentations may become challenging, if not impossible, in the absence of death certificates because they don't know whether they are alive or dead.”
FILE - OPEN MEDIA HUB - 13 MARCH 2019, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
13. Wide shot, Demonstrators standing on the freedom bus
11 MARCH 2021, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Dimiter Chalev Representative, UN Human Rights Office for Syria, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):
“So, what we hear is that they want to know the truth. They want to have the proper documentations, to live their lives. And we know that they also want to know who the perpetrators, they will seek some accountability, but this is something that is more in the future.”
FILE - OPEN MEDIA HUB - 13 MARCH 2019, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
15. Wide shot, Freedom Bus, an itinerant demonstration organized Syrian NGO’s demanding freedom and justice for Syria’s disappeared
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said the violence that spiralled into an armed conflict in Syria has left hundreds of thousands of Syrians dead, millions displaced both within and outside the country, and many Syrian families struggling to establish the truth of what happened to their loved ones.
OHCHR said with Syria about to enter its 11th year of violence and conflict, the recent conviction of a former Syrian intelligence officer by a German trial court for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity was an important step forward on the path to justice. This decision follows a series of criminal judgments in recent years in national courts outside Syria addressing cases of grave criminality committed over the last decade of conflict. OHCHR added that the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism established by the General Assembly has also played a key role in bolstering such proceedings.
Rasha Al-Kaisy, Head of Monitoring and Reporting Unit at UN Human Rights Office for Syria, said OHCHR’s priorities remain “the protection of the civilians in the conduct of hostilities and the on-going violence in Syria.”
She said any person who goes missing “in the custody of the government forces security apparatus and not accounted for or there is a refusal to account for their fate and whereabouts is considered as missing.”
The missing includes those forcibly disappeared and detained in official and makeshift facilities run by Government forces across Syria, as well as victims of detention and enforced disappearances by non-State armed groups.
Al-Kaisy said a lot of Syrians continue to be missing “under the rubble because of the hostilities, because of various military operations that have been conducted across the country.”
She said families searching for their missing relatives continue to suffer their absence, “and the repercussions because of their absence, they are trapped between hope and despair, not knowing whether the victim is still alive or not.”
With the overwhelming majority of victims being men, families’ daily existence can become a huge struggle. Women can face practical, financial, legal and emotional challenges in supporting themselves and their children. They often take on the responsibility of searching for the missing relative, potentially exposing themselves to risk when they seek information from officials. Individuals also prey on families, offering to supply information about the relative or secure his or her release in exchange for money.
Al-Kaisy said usually the women in the family take “the new roles.” She said requirements for civil documentations may become challenging, “if not impossible, in the absence of death certificates because they don't know whether they are alive or dead.”
Dimiter Chalev, Representative at the UN Human Rights Office for Syria, said families want to know the truth. HE added, “They want to have the proper documentations, to live their lives. And we know that they also know who the perpetrators, they will seek some accountability, but this is something that is more in the future.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called for the creation of an independent mechanism with an international mandate to clarify the fate and whereabouts of missing people, identify human remains, and provide support to their families.
Bachelet also called on the Syrian Government to disclose all places of detention, official and unofficial, provide complete lists of names and ensure formal registration of all those held in these facilities. She stressed that those detained should be allowed to communicate with their families.
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