To Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the UN Human Rights Council
Geneva, 4 March, 2016
Re: Strengthening UN action towards the release of all arbitrarily detained persons and ensuring accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria
Your Excellency,
We, the under-signed non-governmental organizations, write to reiterate the calls made by a group of civil society organizations1 prior to the 30th session of the Human Rights Council. On 8 February, the Syria Commission of Inquiry (CoI) released its latest thematic report: ‘’Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in Detention in the Syrian Arab Republic2’’ detailing how thousands of civilians in Syria have been arbitrarily arrested, unlawfully detained, taken hostage or kidnapped between March 2011 and November 2015. The CoI report also describes the systematic torture and inhumane and degrading treatment resulting in many occasions in the death of the detainees.
We call on your delegation to support action by the Human Rights Council towards ensuring that accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity is realized and that all persons who are being arbitrarily or unlawfully deprived of liberty are released from official and informal or secret prisons and detention centers run by the Government and non-state armed groups.
March 2016 will mark the 5th anniversary of the conflict in Syria. In 2011, the Syrian people protested against a four-decade dictatorship to demand freedom and justice. The Syrian Government crushed the peaceful uprising triggering one of the worst conflicts in our modern history, with more than a quarter million deaths and millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees.