Comprehensive Periodic Review: Syrian Arab Republic Third Session Summary Report Families for Freedom To The Comprehensive Periodic Review Team June 2021
The full report is available below
General Context and Latest Developments
1. Despite recent decreases in the intensity of the armed conflict raging since 2012 in many areas of Syria, violations against the civilian population continue to be perpetrated by parties to the conflict. Meanwhile, Syrian authorities bear first the responsibility for the largest proportion of these violations, and secondly the primary legal responsibility for investigation and accountability for these violations.
2. Not all political tracks have led to a significant improvement in human rights conditions as pertains to cases of arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killing. Despite the formation of the Working Group on Detainees and Missing Persons by the so-called Astana Process, this only led to some prisoner exchanges between conflict parties without any clear plan or effective involvement of the families of the detainees and disappeared persons. The Geneva negotiation process also failed to achieve any progress as relates to this context.
3. Syrian authorities have not made any significant progress on the issue of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, despite their acceptance of a number of recommendations in this regard during the second session. On the contrary, it imposed some laws, procedures, and measures that have increased the severity of these violations and their impact on families, including issuing arbitrary death certificates without actually addressing the root of the problem
