SBC participates in the Arria-formula Security Council meeting about the enforced disappearance in Syria
On the 3rd of June, the Security Council held an Arria-formula meeting under the title "Voices of Syrian Women’s Voices on Detainees and the Disappeared in Syria", which was co-convened by a the Syrian Negotiation Committee and a number of victims’ associations in Syria. During this meeting, Ms. Maryam Al-Hallaq, Ms. Najah Malik, and Ms. Alise Mofrej, spoke about their personal experiences and the experiences of their families regarding arbitrary detention, torture, field executions and enforced disappearances in the official and secret prisons of the Assad regime. The women speakers conveyed the demands of the victims’ associations and their families about the necessity of establishing an independent and comprehensive international mechanism to reveal the fate of the missing and the forcibly disappeared persons in Syria.
At the conclusion of the session, Dr. Haytham Alhamwi, chairman of the Syrian British Council (SBC), shared his own personal experience of being detained and forcibly disappeared in the prisons of the Syrian regime. He also spoke about the enforced disappearance of members of his family, whose fate is not yet known. During his speech, Dr. Alhamwi explained that, for decades, enforced disappearance is a method adopted by the Syrian regime to spread a culture of fear, even before the start of the Syrian uprising. He also emphasised the SBC’s support of the demands of the families of the victims in establishing an international mechanism to reveal the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared, considering it an inherent right of all Syrians, because Syrian mothers have the immediate right to know the fate of their children.
To watch the full speech of Dr. Haytham Alhamwi (in Arabic), please click on the link below:
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