The SNHR Holds an online event to shed light on the issue of detainees
the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) held an online event entitled ‘Advancing the Cause of Detainees and Forcibly Disappeared Persons Is Our Collective Responsibility’ in cooperation and coordination with the founders of the Truth and Justice Charter, with the participation of the Families for Freedom movement, the Caesar Families Association, the Ta’afi Initiative, the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison, the Massar organization and the Syrian Network for Human Rights, the session was broadcast on Zoom and social media platforms.
Ms. Amina Khoulani, a human rights activist, talked about the launch of the ‘Truth and Justice Charter’ by a group of victims’ associations, saying: “The charter constitutes a common umbrella for victims’ organizations and their families, and is considered a road map that advances our vision and demands regarding the issue of detainees. It is also intended to be a reference and strategic vision available to all stakeholders, human rights organizations, policymakers and actor decision-makers involved in this issue.”
Mr. Diab Serriya, a member in the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sydnaya prison, referred to the issue of financial blackmail, to which the families of detainees are subjected in order to obtain information about their loved ones. Mr. Serriya said: “We were shocked by the huge amount of money that these organized networks earn, including security men, army officers, shabiha, militias and their collaborators. There are lawyers and judges who are also involved in the blackmail of victims’ families, who were only seeking information which is a legitimate right for them.”
Ms. Fadwa Mahmoud In her address during the event, Ms. Fadwa Mahmoud indicated that arrest has been a standard practice of Syria’s repressive regime for decades, and spoke about her experience, saying: “I was arrested during the reign of Hafez al Assad and kept away from my children for two years; my son Maher was then seven years old, and he is now detained. I always say that I fear that my grandchildren will also be arrested in the future, and that is why we are working to end this system and this tyranny.”
Ms. Mahmoud added that families have a right to know the truth and obtain information about their missing children. She concluded: “Sometimes I feel tired and frustrated, and I cry, as is the case with the rest of the Syrians, but I must continue to work, because our children desperately need us, and they desperately need a voice to say, “These are the ones who deserve life, not authoritarian regimes.”
The Syrian Network demanded that one of the countries in the world adopt the file of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons, including the UN call to create a mechanism to reveal the fate of the disappeared, and thus this country would be responsible for following up on the details of this file legally and legally, providing aid and assistance to the families of the forcibly disappeared, and rehabilitating the survivors in a manner Especially women, and support for civil society organizations working in this file, most notably the organizations founding the Charter for Truth and Justice, and to completely distance the issue of detainees from the Astana track, and not to politicize this file, and to engage in consultations with civil society organizations working in this file.
