Regional Focus: Middle East and Northern Africa
Country-focus: Syria
With the appointment in 2017 of Hanny Megally, CIC’s lead for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) program, to the UN Syria Commission of Inquiry (CoI), CIC’s MENA program has focused on providing supportive analysis on how to improve justice outcomes for victims and survivors in Syria. This work has included an ongoing partnership with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ).
Research and advocacy on Syria by CIC, ICTJ, and the CoI have focused on several issues—the impact of the pandemic; the humanitarian situation and aid modalities; the challenges of obtaining or renewing civil documentation; internment and repatriation of families of suspected ISIL fighter—and in particular the issue of the missing/disappeared in Syria.
Over 2021-22, the focus has been on the issue of the missing/disappeared through participation in consultations—many organized by the Families Associations supported by member states; meeting and advocating with key UN officials and diplomats; addressing the Third Committee of the General Assembly on the issue in October 2021 and publishing a policy paper with the CoI in June 2022.
Results have been as follows:
- Advocacy was instrumental in the passage of an UNGA resolution in December 2021 that resulted in a study released by the UN secretary-general in August 2022. The study calls for the establishment of an international mechanism to assist in the search for the missing/disappeared in Syria. The CIC lead had been involved in several consultations, including at Glion in February 2022, informing the drafting of the study.
- More recently, as a member of the CoI, the CIC lead has focused on efforts at the UN General Assembly to implement the recommendations of the secretary-general’s study, including by addressing the Third Committee, eliciting the support of the President of the General Assembly, and exploring with a number of key member states the process for establishing the mechanism. As part of this advocacy, several Op-Eds were also published in English, Arabic, Spanish, and German-based media such as Al Jazeera, The New Arab, Página 12, and Tagesspiegel.
Featured Media
Further Reading
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An Unexpected Reprieve in Idlib: COVID-19 and the Syrian Ceasefire
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Do or Die: COVID-19 and Imprisonment in Syria
The COVID-19 pandemic poses a dire risk to the tens of thousands of people imprisoned in Syria’s archipelago of prisons and detention facilities, many in conditions so ghastly that they constitute crimes against humanity. These facilities function as overcrowded torture chambers by design. Thousands have already died in detention due to such circumstances, and those still living are especially vulnerable to the spread of coronavirus.
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Gone Without a Trace: Syria's Detained, Abducted, and Forcibly Disappeared
This joint report from the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) and the Center on International Cooperation (CIC) recommends a set of urgent steps that should be taken to assist families in obtaining information about the whereabouts of their loved ones, gaining access to them, and achieving their prompt release. Authored by CIC's Hanny Megally and ICTJ's Elena Naughton, the report details the scope of the detention crisis and argues that answers and coordinated action are needed now. Time is of the essence, as the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be accelerating in Syria, putting those detained in overcrowded and unsanitary prisons at further risk.
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Tunisia as a Pathfinder for Peace, Justice and Inclusion: Progress, challenges and contributions to solutions
Tunisia has important positive lessons on solutions to contribute to other Pathfinder countries in political inclusion, gender equality, voice and accountability, and aspects of justice reform. It has launched innovative programs to support youth entrepreneurship. It also faces challenges common to other members in on-going reforms: including the politics of pro-equity fiscal reform; youth employment; bridging with populations in lagging regions; and broader administrative reform to improve citizen security, access to justice and government effectiveness.
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Death Notifications in the Syrian Arab Republic
In the wake of recent information released in bulk by the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic on the deaths of numerous detained and/or missing persons, the Commission of Inquiry[1] stresses the need to account for the fate and whereabouts of detained and missing individuals countrywide.
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Detention in the Syrian Arab Republic: A Way Forward
Government forces and affiliated militias are arbitrarily or unlawfully detaining tens of thousands of individuals in official and makeshift detention centres throughout the Syrian Arab Republic.
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Tackling the Impunity Gap in Syria: Detainees and Disappearances
Tens of thousands of individuals have been arbitrarily or unlawfully detained in Syria, and in many cases forcibly disappeared, since civil war broke out in 2011. In recent months, while some of their families have come to know of their deaths, many questions remain unanswered. This article warns of the “impunity gap” that is likely to arise from this situation, and gives practical recommendations for obtaining justice for victims and survivors.
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The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy Review
In June 2018, the United Nations (UN) Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy—adopted by the General Assembly in 2006 and reviewed every two years—underwent its sixth biennial review in New York. It took place with lots of raised expectations—particularly around strengthening obligations to comply with human rights law while countering terrorism, and increasing the inclusion of women and civil society organizations in policymaking and programming in this area. Sadly, the results fell short. Here is what happened.
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What Could Victim-Centered Justice Look Like in Syria?
Hanny Megally
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