HRW calls for establishing body tasked with finding Missing Syrians
DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) – Human Rights Watch (HRW) and over 100 Syrian and international organizations demanded on Friday that UN General Assembly establishes a “humanitarian body” tasked with revealing fate of missing people in Syria.
In a joint letter to the UN General Assembly’s 193 member countries, the HRW called for the establishment of a humanitarian body that will seek to provide “Syrians with long-overdue answers about their long-missing loved ones.”
A vote on the resolution to establish the new UN body is expected on June 29, according to HRW.
Louis Charbonneau, UN director at HRW, said, “The idea of a humanitarian institution tasked with finding out what happened to their missing loved ones was conceived and developed by the desperate families of those missing in Syria.”
Charbonneau added, “UN member countries, including the Syrian government and its ally Russia, owe it to thousands of suffering Syrian families to vote in favor of this crucial initiative.”
Supporting its creation in the General Assembly vote, UN member countries should ensure that it is fully funded out of the UN’s regular budget and has all the support and resources necessary to fulfill its mission, according to HRW.
Since 2011, more than 100,000 individuals have gone missing or been forcibly disappeared by Syrian authorities and other parties to the conflict, the joint letter read.