7 May 2024

The Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) held on Tuesday an event supported by the UK FCDO aimed at fleshing out legal and human rights files related to the full and strict implementation of UNSCR 2254. During the event held in its Geneva office, the SNC offered the recommendations of two policy papers which the SNC has prepared on reparations for victims of detention and enforced disappearance as well as truth commissions and their role in transitional justice after reaching a political solution.

The event was attended by several representatives of diplomatic missions including the UK, USA, the Netherlands, France, Türkiye, Qatar and Italy as well as representatives of international organizations including the office of the UN Special Envoy, the Commission of Inquiry, the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria, Swiss Peace and representatives of Syrian civil society organizations including Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya (ADMSP), Local Administration Councils Unit (LACU), the Syrian Women Political Movement (SWPM), Syrian National Dome among others.
These policy papers have been prepared in the framework of SNC’s endeavors to complete legal and human rights files related to the implementation of UNSCR 2254 which offers an internationally-agreed road map for a political solution.

These papers are the outcome of studies and consultations which have continued for months under the supervision of the SNC’s Legal Office and Committee on Detainees and Forcibly Disappeared Persons. Many Syrian experts and human rights activists and civil society organizations have taken part in these consultations including representatives of families of victims in order to put together an outline of transitional justice and reparation programs.

The SNC views the issues of detainees and missing persons as a crucial humanitarian priority and believes that no political solution may be accepted unless this issue is addressed as a non-negotiable question. The SNC stresses the importance of developing transitional justice mechanisms for the post-political solution era.