US pushes Assad for answers on tens of thousands of Syria’s ‘disappeared’

The US is pressing the government of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to come clean about the “tens of thousands” of opponents in prisons, where they face torture, sexual violence and inhuman conditions.

Washington’s envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the Syrian government detained thousands of doctors, journalists, activists and others during a 10-year campaign.

Ms Thomas-Greenfield demanded details of their whereabouts.

On March 15, Syrians will mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the uprising against Mr Al Assad, which quickly turned into a civil war between government loyalists, rebels, extremists and foreign forces.

“At least 14,000 Syrians have reportedly been tortured and tens of thousands forcibly disappeared,” Ms Thomas-Greenfield told a UN General Assembly meeting.

“We demand that the status of all those detained be made public and we demand that the bodies of the deceased be returned to their loved ones with the time, place and cause of death.”

Many of those in regime jails are at “grave risk of being exposed” to the coronavirus, which has claimed at least 1,000 lives in Syria, she said.

In a report released on Monday, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria said tens of thousands of civilians had been arbitrarily detained and that the fate of many remained unknown.

The UN document, which is based on thousands of interviews about more than 100 detentions, said Syria’s government committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Thousands more people were tortured or faced sexual violence, offences that can amount to war crimes, the report said.

Other armed groups in Syria committed similar crimes, it said.

“It is far past time to finally put Syrians first, and expend every effort to support a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict and to help place Syria on a path toward a stable, prosperous and just future,” the commission’s chairman, Paulo Pinheiro, said on Tuesday.

“Though justice delayed is justice denied, justice must come, and it must come in all its forms.

“Victims’ demands for justice and accountability are a central component of any durable peace.”

Millions of people have left Syria and millions more have been internally displaced by the war.

The UN said thousands of civilians had been arbitrarily detained and that the fate of many remained unknown