28 January 2025 - Brussels, Belgium
Buenos días, Good morning, Sabah al-Khayr,
It is a privilege to appear before the Subcommittee on Human Rights of the European Parliament to discuss the current situation in Syria.
The Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP) is a humanitarian body established thanks to the tireless efforts of the families of the missing, civil society, and the international community. Its mission is to uncover the fate and whereabouts of thousands of persons whose destinies remain unknown while offering support to their families and survivors.
The European Union—led by countries such as Luxembourg and Belgium—played a pivotal role in securing its approval at the United Nations General Assembly in June 2023. The IIMP is a groundbreaking institution, unique in its nature. It complements the Commission of Inquiry established in 2011 and the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) created in 2016. While those institutions focus on justice, our mission is truth: Noreed al hakeeka.
Since December 8, just 51 days ago, the world has been confronted with the severe and brutal human rights violations and breaches of international law that Syrians have endured for 53 years under the regime, including nearly 14 years of war or conflict.
The images of persons emerging from prisons, the deplorable conditions they endured, the systematic torture, and the discovery of both known and unknown mass graves provide but a glimpse of the magnitude of the challenge before us. This, coupled with the disappearance of persons in migratory contexts and those missing as a result of military operations, highlights the enormity of what must be addressed by the international community.
The search for missing persons is not only an ethical and humanitarian imperative but also a cornerstone for rebuilding a wounded country and a society that now sees a glimmer of hope. Truth and memory are essential to any process that seeks to lay the foundation for democratic structures. They are also fundamental for those contemplating a return to their places of origin, for starting anew, and for rebuilding lives. Ultimately, truth, justice, and memory are a collective endeavor. No one can undertake this journey alone, and no one should have to do it alone.
To uncover the truth, we must first determine who is missing. Although even one missing person should be enough to provoke collective indignation, we know from the families that the numbers in Syria are staggering—at least tens of thousands, maybe much more. Yet, as of today, we still lack definitive knowledge of who and how many they are. The estimates we have come from the vital work of civil society over the past 13 years.
The IIMP’s critical mandate is to answer the questions: Who are we searching for? Who are they?
We also lack full clarity of the contexts and reasons behind these disappearances. However, we are beginning to understand some of them. It is crucial to emphasize that our mandate is to search for everyone, regardless of the circumstances of their disappearance: whether they were victims of enforced disappearances, abductions by non-state actors, human trafficking, recruitment, migratory contexts, arbitrary detention, or other scenarios. We search for everyone, irrespective of their ethnicity, religion, or nationality. Ayna hom? Where are they? ¿Dónde están?
When the IIMP was established, the possibility of conducting searches within Syria seemed remote. Today, the reality has changed dramatically, opening up a space of hope but also presenting significant challenges, some of which I would like to share with you.
The search for missing persons requires human, financial, material, technological, scientific, and political resources. As the High Commissioner for Human Rights stated yesterday, we must move from rhetoric to action and investment. We must invest to uncover the truth, build and rebuild memory, and help Syrians reconstruct their country and their future.
In countries like Colombia or Mexico, where searches are underway for over 100,000 missing persons, there are approximately 500 and 240 searchers, respectively, in their mechanisms. Yet even these numbers are insufficient. Due to the UN’s current financial situation, we can only expand our team to just over thirty members in the near term. While this number may have sufficed under the circumstances prior to December 8, it is now completely inadequate—even considering our mandate to coordinate with other institutions.
I intend to travel to Syria in the coming weeks to present our humanitarian mandate to the caretaker authorities. I am confident there will be openness to collaboration.
To meet the needs of the Syrian people in the short, medium, and long term, we require international cooperation. In this regard, I see five key areas for joint efforts:
1. Expanding the IIMP’s personnel. We will eventually request an increase in the regular budget for 2026, but we cannot afford to wait. Given recent global developments, including the discussion on lifting sanctions on Syria, there may be opportunities to improve the situation. I will personally work to secure voluntary funding to expand our team.
2. Coordinating work with international forensic experts, contracted directly by Member States and coordinated by the IIMP, alongside existing on-the-ground teams.
3. Collaborating with Member States to provide psychological assistance to diaspora communities in host countries. The EU member states have local and regional institutions that could serve as first points of contact for these communities.
4. Utilizing human resources and laboratories in Member States. Many EU countries have highly skilled professionals and institutions that could support various stages of the search process.
5. Establishing an office in Damascus as soon as conditions allow. The search cannot proceed without a presence on the ground. While information analysis is a critical component, direct engagement with families, authorities, and local groups is essential.
As Mr. Mazen Darwish just said, there is likely no Syrian who does not have a missing acquaintance, friend, or relative. This is a debt owed by all of us, by all of humanity. I cannot stress enough that this institution was created by families and for Syrian society. The IIMP was always envisioned as a transitional body, paving the way for a hybrid or national institution when circumstances permit.
A few days ago, Irene Vallejo quoted Albert Camus in reflecting on hope, emphasizing the importance of first accepting painful truths. I would add that we must first know those truths—however deeply painful and infuriating they may be, as is the case with disappearances—before we can start transforming them. As an international community, we have already taken significant steps: first, recognizing the need for an institution like the IIMP and then creating it. But we must continue forward. The search for truth is dynamic.
The cry of Ayna hom?¿Dónde están? Where are they? Compelled the international community to establish this institution, which I have the honor of leading. Today, that same cry must propel us swiftly into concrete action, centering families and Syrian society in all we do. Time is of the essence. While the journey ahead will not be easy or quick, the hope of many, combined with our collective commitment, will guide this effort to success. As Mr. Mazen Darwish just said, there is no option to failure.
In “Death is Hard Work,” one of his masterful works, the Syrian writer Khaled Khalifa lamented that one of the worst aspects of war in his country was that “The exceptional had become habitual, and tragedies were simply mundane.” We have both the opportunity and the obligation to change this reality.
As Ms. Yasmine Al Mashaan just said, Syria is a subject that concerns all of us, and we are obliged to seek truth and justice together. Noreed al hakeeka.
Thank you very much, Shukran, Gracias
****
To watch the full statement, please visit this link.