Latest news with #MohammedRedaJalkhi
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Up to 300,000 Syrians possibly missing under Assad family rule
dpa Damascus A Syrian commission for missing persons estimated that between 120,000 and 300,000 people have gone missing during more than five decades of authoritarian rule by the Al Assad family. Mohammed Reda Jalkhi, the head of the National Commission for Missing Persons, said on Monday evening that between 120,000 and 300,000 people have gone missing since 1970. 'But the actual number may be much higher,' he told state news agency SANA. He said that the governmental commission mandate covers the period from 1970 until now. Hafez Al Assad served as president of Syria from 1971 till his death in 2000, after which his son, Bashar Al Assad, took over until he was overthrown by an rebel alliance in December. Jalkhi said that the commission, which was formed in May, has so far documented 63 mass graves and they have received information about other locations that are yet to be verified. Tens of thousands of people disappeared after the 2011 pro-democracy protests against Al Assad's regime escalated into a full-scale civil war, displacing some 14 million people and killing more than 300,000 civilians, according to UN estimates. The Syrian Network for Human Rights has previously said that around 157,000 went missing since March 2011. Since Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow in December, the country has been ruled by a transitional administration led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
L'Orient-Le Jour
a day ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Syria commission says more than 300,000 may have gone missing since 1970s
The head of Syria's commission for missing persons said Monday the number of people who went missing during decades of Assad family rule and the civil war may have exceeded 300,000. Mohammed Reda Jalkhi, head of the commission created in May, said the body's mandate ranged from 1970, the year Hafez al-Assad took power, to the present day and had no timeframe for completing its work. "Our estimates of the number of missing range between 120,000 and 300,000 people, and it could be more," he told state news agency SANA. Tens of thousands of people were detained or disappeared during the Syrian Civil War alone, which erupted in 2011 after a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests by former president Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted in December. During the war, all sides were accused of atrocities, including the Islamic State group, which seized large swathes of Syria and neighboring Iraq, enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law and committing widespread abuses, including executions. Bashar al-Assad ruled with an iron fist, like his predecessor, his father Hafez, who took power in a bloodless military coup. The family's rule was among the most brutal in the region and its prison system, including feared sites such as Sednaya, was notorious for disappearing people without a trace. "We have a map that includes more than 63 documented mass graves in Syria," he said, without providing details on where they were located, who dug them or who was thought to be buried there. He said work was underway to establish a data bank for missing persons. Syria's new authorities have pledged justice for victims of atrocities committed under Assad's rule. In January, the president of the International Committee for the Red Cross said determining the fate of those who went missing during the war would be a massive task likely to take years. Jalkhi said his commission's work was "essential to the process of transitional justice and civil peace," calling the issue of missing persons "one of the most complicated and painful in Syria."
