The UN General Assembly has established an independent body to investigate and uncover the fate of the thousands of missing individuals in Syria since the start of the war in 2011, despite objections from Syria, Russia, China, and Iran.
The UN General Assembly on Thursday created an independent body to “clarify” the fate of thousands of people who remain missing in Syria since war broke out in 2011, overriding objections from Damascus.
Caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdallah Bou Habib announced that Lebanon, along with most Arab countries, will abstain from voting on a draft resolution to establish an international body tasked with clarifying the fate of missing individuals in Syria, a decision criticized by human rights organizations, Lebanese politicians, and a former prisoner from the Assad regime.
According to the UN General Assembly vote, most Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia, abstained from voting on the draft resolution. However, Kuwait and Qatar voted in favor.
According to non-governmental groups, some 100,000 people have disappeared since a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests started. More than half a million people have been killed.
The Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic will “clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons” and “provide adequate support to victims, survivors, and the families of those missing.”
But Syria, Russia, China, and Iran objected to the new body, saying it had not been consulted on the resolution.
The resolution calls for the UN secretary-general, the UN high commissioner for human rights and other relevant parties to define the new organization’s mandate in the next 80 days.
Human Rights Watch said the new organization needs to have the right tools at its disposal to do its job.
Thursday’s vote came after UN chief Antonio Guterres called for forming such a body in a report in August, saying families should not have to go through the trauma of investigating the whereabouts of missing relatives.
Miroslava Salazar with AFP
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