SDC says ISIS trial in NE Syria contributes to reveal fate of missing
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) called for the international community to support the initiative launched by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) to try Islamic State (ISIS) militants that can contribute to reveal facts and among them the fate of missing.
The SDC, in a statement, welcomed the decision of the UN General Assembly to establish an independent institution tasked with revealing the fate of people missing or forcibly disappeared in Syria.
On June 29, the UN General Assembly adopted a draft resolution to establish a first-of-its-kind institution that will work to reveal the fate of an estimated 100,000 people missing or forcibly disappeared in Syria.
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 83 in favor to 11 against, with 62 abstentions.
The decision, according to the SDC statement, coincided with an Arab move to solve the Syrian crisis.
The statement praised the decision “that resulted from strenuous efforts by human rights and humanitarian institutions that had worked over the years of the Syrian crisis to reveal the fate of more than 100,000 missing people according to NGOs.”
The decision “is a step on the right track even if belated,” the statement read.
It also called for providing all support to all initiatives and efforts for ending the Syrian crisis and alleviating Syrians’ sufferings, including the one launched by the AANES to try ISIS militants.
On June 10, the AANES announced that it would begin the trial of foreign ISIS fighters held in its prisons in line with international and local terrorism laws.
On June 11, Badran Chia Kurd, co-chair of the Foreign Relations Department of the AANES, revealed to al-Arabiya TV channel, no support has been provided to the AANES to try foreign “ISIS terrorists,” and the AANES would establish the courts and the needed facilities alone.
Since March 2019, when the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) liberated Baghouz, the last ISIS stronghold, the AANES has been calling on the international community to take responsibility for finding solutions for the detained ISIS fighters. It has proposed initiatives to establish an international court or one with an international mandate.
The issue of foreign ISIS fighters constitutes a major burden and challenge for the AANES, as their continued detention without trial violates the international law. Furthermore, the security situation is increasingly precarious due to their continued presence, in addition to the presence of the tens of thousands of their family members, mostly women and children, living in camps of North and East Syria.
The SDC linked the issue of revealing the fate of the people missing or forcibly disappeared in Syria to solving the ISIS dilemma at all levels and securing a dignified return for the forcibly displaced Syrians, stressing that “it [UN General Assembly resolution] will not work unless the ISIS issue is solved.”
The SDC is the political wing of SDF and AANES. It was founded in 2015 and includes all the communities of North and East Syria