21 January 2025 – Geneva, Switzerland 

Last week, I officially assumed my role as Head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP), an organization of a unique and unprecedented nature, and the first United Nations body focused on missing persons in a specific and current context. 

The IIMP came to life thanks to years of tireless advocacy and mobilization by Syrian families and survivors striving to uncover the whereabouts of their loved ones. The IIMP exists because of them. I recall the words of Ms. Fadwa Mahmoud, Co-Founder of Families for Freedom, from our recent panel at the World Congress on Enforced Disappearances that “families are partners in the establishment and work of IIMP, in every step of the way. Because families are the primary source of any information or knowledge related to uncovering the fate of the disappeared.” 

Our mission is clear: to clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons in Syria and to provide adequate support to the families of the missing.

It is important to underscore that all missing persons in Syria fall under the mandate of the IIMP, regardless of their nationality, group, ethnicity, political affiliation, or the reasons and circumstances surrounding their disappearance. This includes persons missing due to abductions, enforced disappearances, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, as well as those missing due to displacement, migration, or military operations. We are mandated to account for all of them, adhering to the Committee on Enforced Disappearances’ Guiding Principles for the Search for Disappeared Persons: initially presuming they are alive, while also acknowledging cases of others who may have died. It is crucial to see the search as a process, and that human identification is part of this process.

Unfortunately, disappearances are not new globally, nor are the approaches taken to address them. While each situation is different, there are important lessons we must learn from these prior experiences. The search for the missing is, above all, a quest for truth and a pressing humanitarian imperative.

Recent events in the country mark a pivotal moment in its history and in Syrians’ relentless pursuit of truth and justice, as well as a Syria for all Syrians. Many families have been reunited with loved ones who, for years, languished in detention sites and endured torture and other horrors. Yet countless families remain without answers regarding their missing relatives. We will employ all available means to uncover their fate and whereabouts, working hand in hand with people in Syria.

There are opportunities that, until a few weeks ago, seemed inconceivable. While the expertise and resources of all key partners are vital, effective coordination and complementarity, the implementation of specific and standardized technical methodologies, data collection, protection and analysis, registries, a digital forensic landscape, and political will are all essential to enhancing the chances of success in the search and delivering answers to Syrians.

The IIMP is committed to working and coordinating with all relevant actors in line with our mandate and nature. This includes the caretaker authorities, Member States, international organizations, and most crucially families and civil society. We are uniquely designed to evolve into a hybrid or Syrian national institution in the future, when circumstances allow. This collaborative approach will strengthen the IIMP’s development and contribute to building inclusive and local Syrian capacities.

I strongly emphasize the need to protect and preserve records, information, data, and sites of significance, such as burial locations. Even well-intentioned actions can inadvertently damage these critical resources, ultimately jeopardizing the ability of families and society to uncover the truth about the missing. Securing the necessary support to promptly coordinate and implement a search plan, as well as a forensic strategy, is of utmost importance.

The right to truth and memory are not only individual rights but also collective ones. Knowing the fate and whereabouts of the missing in Syria forms part of that truth and memory and represents a crucial first step in realizing sustainable peace.

Just as challenges appear to be monumental, so is hope. Our duty at the IIMP is to work tirelessly to transform hope into a reparative process, one that brings answers, truth, and peace.

The plight of missing persons anywhere is a collective responsibility of humanity. 

I echo the United Nations Secretary-General’s call for the international community to massively support the humanitarian response in Syria and the efforts to determine the fate of missing persons. I also endorse his appeal for all parties to fully cooperate with the IIMP, following their obligations under international law. Time is of the essence.

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For more information and media requests: 

Please contact: iimp-syria@un.org 

Please visit and follow: IIMP Website – Facebook – LinkedIn