UN says Syria must account for thousands of deaths in custody
geneva — UN war crimes investigators called on Syria on Wednesday to tell families what happened to their relatives who disappeared and provide the medical records and remains of those who died or were executed in custody.
No progress can be made towards a lasting peace to end the nearly eight-year-old war without justice, the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said.
After years of government silence, Syrian authorities this year released “thousands or tens of thousands” of names of detainees alleged to have died, mostly between 2011 and 2014, it said in a report released before delivery to the UN Security Council.
“Most custodial deaths are thought to have occurred in places of detention run by Syrian intelligence or military agencies. The Commission has not documented any instance, however, where bodies or personal belongings of the deceased were returned,” it said.
In nearly every case, death certificates for prisoners that were provided to families recorded the cause of death as a “heart attack” or “stroke”, the independent panel led by Paulo Pinheiro said.
“Some individuals from the same geographic area share common death dates, possibly indicating group executions,” it said.
In most cases, the place of death was stated as Tishreen military hospital or Mujtahid hospital, both near Damascus, but the place of detention was not named, it said.
“Pro-government forces and primarily the Syrian state should reveal publicly the fates of those detained, disappeared and/or missing without delay,” the report said, noting this meant Syrian government forces, Russian forces and affiliated militia.
Families had the right to know the truth about their loved one’s deaths and be able to retrieve their remains, it said. In a 2016 report, the panel found that the scale of deaths in prisons indicated that the government of President Bashar Al Assad was responsible for “extermination
as a crime against humanity”. In Syria, a family member must register a death within a month after receiving a death notification, the report said. — amman — The UN children’s fund warned on Tuesday that a funding gap and the start of winter could leave nearly one million children “out in the cold” in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena).
“Years of conflict, displacement and unemployment have reduced families’ financial resources to almost nothing. Staying warm has simply become unaffordable,” said Geert Cappelaere, Unicef regional director for the Middle East and North Africa.
The UN agency said it was facing a $33-million funding gap — two thirds of its total allocation — for assistance to children across the region this winter.
Cold and rainy weather would hit those living in extremely basic conditions, especially camps or crowded shelters with little protection.
“With cold and rainy weather sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa, nearly one million children affected by crises in the region risk being left out in the cold,” Cappelaere said in a statement. “With little nutritious food and healthcare, children have grown weak, becoming prone to hypothermia and dangerous respiratory diseases,” he said. —