Arria-formula Meeting on Transitional Justice and Missing Persons in Syria
This afternoon (21 July), Security Council members will hold an Arria-formula meeting on transitional justice and missing persons in Syria. The meeting is being organised by Colombia and Denmark, along with non-Council members Luxembourg and Syria. The expected briefers are UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk; Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP) Karla Quintana; Abdulbaset Abdullatif, the Head of Syria’s National Commission for Transitional Justice (NCTJ); and Mohammad Reda Jalkhi, the Head of Syria’s National Commission for the Missing (NCMP).
The meeting, which will start at 3 pm EDT in the Trusteeship Council Chamber at UN Headquarters, will be broadcast on UNTV.
The co-organisers have prepared a concept note for today’s meeting. It says that the rule of the Assad family in Syria, which lasted 53 years, was marked by widespread human rights abuses and violations, including systematic repression, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances. The concept note further argues that human rights should be the guiding principle as the current Syrian authorities, which came to power after the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, work “to reform the very institutions that once carried out and legitimised gross violations”.
The concept note outlines several objectives for today’s meeting. These include examining the progress on and challenges to transitional justice in Syria, with particular emphasis on missing persons, and exploring options to enhance support for the Syrian authorities in their work on transitional justice and truth seeking, including drawing on capacities within Syrian civil society, victims’ and families’ associations, and from relevant international institutions.
The concept note proposes three questions to help guide the discussion:
- What can member states do to support the Syrian national authorities in advancing a credible, victim-centred, inclusive, and rights-based transitional justice process, while addressing the scale, complexity, and resource needs of this work?
- How can UN entities currently present in Syria, along with any future configuration, best support the missing persons and transitional justice files, as well as broader efforts to ensure non-recurrence?
- What is needed for Syrian victims and survivors, families of the missing and disappeared, and civil society, including women-led organisations, to participate meaningfully and safely in transitional justice processes?
Background
Transitional justice in Syria has been at the heart of several UN initiatives since soon after the start of the civil war in the country. On 22 August 2011, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) created the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Syria, to establish the facts and circumstances of violations and crimes committed since March 2011 and, where possible, to identify those responsible so that they can be held accountable. However, the COI was denied access to Syria until December 2024, hampering its ability to comprehensively investigate all alleged violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL).
Through resolution A/71/248 of 21 December 2016, the General Assembly established the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIM) to assist in the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes under international law committed in Syria since March 2011. The General Assembly also created the IIMP through resolution 77/301 of 29 June 2023, giving it a mandate to clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons in the country and to provide adequate support to victims, survivors, and the families of those missing.
Following Assad’s ouster in 2024, Syria has made efforts to address the legacy of human rights violations and the unresolved fate of the forcibly disappeared and missing, especially as the country navigates its political transition after years of conflict. As part of these efforts, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa established the NCTJ and the NCMP by a presidential decree in May 2025. The NCTJ is tasked with investigating grave violations committed by the former authorities, while the NCMP is mandated with investigating the fate of the missing and forcibly disappeared, documenting cases and establishing a national database of the cases, and providing legal and humanitarian support to affected families.
Nevertheless, challenges related to transitional justice continue to persist in the country. For instance, between 13 and 16 June, demonstrations demanding accountability for Assad-era crimes took place across several cities, some of which coincided with a rise in mob violence against groups linked to the former government, vigilante attacks, and identity-based incitement. (For more information, see the brief on Syria in our July 2026 Monthly Forecast.) On 17 June, the Syrian Ministry of the Interior reportedly confirmed the detention of several officials of the Assad regime who were accused of having committed crimes and abuses. Syria’s security landscape also remains fraught, compounded by intercommunal tensions, the ongoing threat of terrorism, and external interference. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has cited reports of human rights violations and abuses in the country, including killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, and deportation of detainees.
Despite their progress, the NCTJ and the NCMP also face several challenges—including limited resources, political constraints, and public mistrust—and have struggled to ensure that their processes are victim-centred and inclusive. In the case of the NCTJ, some analysts have argued that the mechanism’s mandate is too narrow since it only focuses on crimes committed by the Assad government and excludes victims of abuses by non-state actors.
Today’s Meeting
At today’s meeting, Türk is likely to acknowledge the interim authorities’ efforts to promote transitional justice and to address the issue of missing persons. In this regard, he may stress the importance of comprehensive, transparent, and inclusive transitional justice processes for achieving accountability, restoring dignity for survivors, and rebuilding trust in national institutions and the rule of law.
At the same time, Türk might also raise concerns regarding alleged IHL and IHRL violations across the country, including in the context of and following the July 2025 escalation of inter-communal violence in Suweida governorate. In this respect, he may underscore the need for accountability to extend to all parties that have committed serious violations and abuses in the country. He might further urge the interim authorities to accelerate concrete efforts to resolve key human rights issues.
Quintana may highlight the IIMP’s progress towards clarifying the fate and whereabouts of missing persons in Syria. In this context, she may describe how the IIMP has continued to invest in its cooperation with the Syrian authorities, international stakeholders, and civil society organisations across all areas of its mandate, both in the search for the missing and in the provision of support to their families. Quintana might also express concern at continued reports of cases of enforced disappearances in the country, stressing the need for sustained work towards the clarification of the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons in Syria.
Abdullatif and Jalkhi are expected to describe the work of their respective commissions. For instance, Abdullatif may highlight the draft transitional justice law, which the NCTJ is preparing together with the Syrian Ministry of Justice. Both speakers may also discuss the commissions’ cooperation with international mechanisms. For instance, in November 2025, the IIMP, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) signed a joint declaration in Damascus with the NCMP on cooperation principles to support Syria’s national efforts to clarify the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons and support their families. More recently, in March, the NCMP also signed a memorandum of understanding with the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
Council members, particularly European and other likeminded members, believe that transitional justice lies at the centre of Syria’s political transition, with some viewing it as essential for fostering a genuine process of national reconciliation and accountability as well as for consolidating peace and stability in the country. As such, at today’s meeting, these members are likely to call on the Syrian authorities to place greater attention on this issue and argue that it merits sustained attention from the international community, including the Security Council.
Some Council members may urge Damascus to strengthen Syria’s national accountability mechanisms—including through cooperation with existing international mechanisms on Syria, such as the COI, the IIMP, and the IIM—while also meaningfully engaging with victims and civil society on transitional justice and reconciliation. These members might also call on member states to contribute to further capacity-building efforts towards Syria’s justice system as well as encourage the exchange of information among all relevant actors for the benefit of the families of the missing.
In addition, some Council members may acknowledge the transitional justice efforts undertaken by victims, survivors, and Syrian civil society groups, especially women-led groups. These members are expected to note the integral role of these groups in preserving memory, documenting violations, recording testimonies, and advancing calls for truth, justice, accountability, and reparations.
Some member states are also likely to echo Türk’s messages by underscoring that transitional justice should be applied to both pre- and post-Assad violations and stressing that the current government has a responsibility to address these violations and pursue accountability for such crimes.