This joint report from the National Agenda for the Future of Syria Programme (NAFS) at UN ESCWA and the Center on International Cooperation (CIC) provides key policy recommendations and proposes a way forward for local and international actors seeking to preventing the reemergence of violent extremism in this region. Authored by CIC’s Hanny Megally and lead researcher Jasmine M. El-Gamal, this report takes a historical look at the NE, why it became a target for IS to control, the “post-IS” landscape, and the current vulnerabilities that exist on the ground—social, economic, military, and political—that may lead to violent extremism or a reemergence of IS. The failure to address the core issues that gave rise to violent extremism will undermine the enduring defeat of IS and other extremist groups and lead to the continued suffering of the people of northeast 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.
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.
