In her interview to the Swiss news outlet, Dr Baranowska explains that without cooperation from the Syrian authorities, the task of the UN institution will be extremely difficult.
Dr Grażyna Baranowska, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Hertie School’s Centre for Fundamental Rights and member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, was interviewed by Swissinfo for her expert insights into the new institution on missing persons in Syria, that will be created by the UN.
Since the beginning of the conflict over 100,000 people have disappeared, many of them due to the actions of the Syrian governmental authorities. On 29 June 2023, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/77/L.79 to create an Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic. This will be the first institution that aims at clarifying the fate of missing persons without having any access to the territory where the persons disappeared. As such, Dr Baranowska assessed the task of the new institution as ‘very difficult’.
The fate and whereabouts of missing persons could be determined through various ways, including if Syrian authorities or various non-state actors that are detaining persons in Syria, cooperate with the institution. Testimonies are also one of the elements that can lead to clarifying the fate of missing persons. However, the institution will need to guarantee safety to those in Syria.
"Without access to land, without access to the records of the detention centers, without access to even see where the mass graves are, to be able to speak with the families, this makes the process extremely difficult," she concluded.
Read the full interview on the Swissinfo website here (in Spanish).