The United Nations created a body to clarify the fate of missing people in Syria. With the decision, the UN General Assembly overrode objections from the Syrian government, which speaks of interference.
The General Assembly of the United Nations has created a new institution that will deal with the whereabouts of thousands of people missing from the civil war in Syria. It’s about tracking down survivors as well as clarifying the fate of victims. In doing so, the UN complied with the demands of families and human rights groups.
“After 12 years of conflict and violence” in Syria, “little progress has been made to alleviate the suffering of families by providing answers about the fate and whereabouts of all those missing,” the resolution said. It was passed with 83 votes in favour, 11 countries voted against and 62 abstained.
The UN member states specifically decided to form the “Independent Institution for Disappeared Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic”. This will “clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons” in the country and “provide victims, survivors and the families of the missing with appropriate support”.
Syria sees resolution as “interference”
In Syria, an uprising against the dictatorial President Bashar al-Assad began in 2011, which turned into a war. According to non-governmental organizations, around 100,000 people have disappeared since the protests against Assad’s regime and the brutal crackdown began. More than half a million people were killed.
Syria, along with Russia, China and Iran, opposed the new body, saying it had not been consulted. The draft means “shameless interference in our internal affairs” and provides “new evidence of the hostile actions of some western states against Syria,” said UN Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh, referring in particular to the USA.