A former detainee in Sednaya prison seeks to achieve justice for the missing in Syria

Today – with the support of the United Nations – one of these former detainees, the Syrian human rights defender, Riyad Awar, works to reveal the fate of those who were unable to go out – and seek to achieve justice for the disappeared.

In an interview with United Nations news, Riyad remembers the reaction of a mothers when he told her about the death of her son in the detention, saying: “I accept this, but I did not lose hope. My son will one day return.”

Riad – who was imprisoned for more than two decades after his arrest in 1996, at the age of 19 – confirms that her words reflect the steadfastness of families who continue to search for truth and justice after years of mystery.

Maintaining the truth

For Riyadh, his struggle for justice did not end with his release in 2017. Before his appointment to the first consultant council The Independent International Foundation for missing persons in SyriaRiyad devoted his experience to support the survivors of detention and their families through “Sidnaya Prison and Missing Association.”

Among the founders of the association are former detainees such as Riad Awar, and the League has become an important source of documentation, support and advocacy. Riad explains: “Our mission is to empower the survivors and the families of the missing persons to be active in transitional justice, accountability and compensation in Syria.”

Since its establishment, the League has created two data bases: the first testimonies of the survivors from Sednaya, since 2021, from the detention centers throughout Syria. These certificates determine the perpetrators of violations, the latest views of the detainees, and the patterns of abuse.

The second database collects information from families looking for their loved ones, and often provides them with the first reliable confirmation of what happened.

Protect the families of the disappeared

Riad Awar explains: “Every face interview is conducted, while paying careful attention to avoiding the repetition of the shock.”

In addition to documentation, the association runs a center that provides psychotherapy, physical therapy, and group therapy for survivors and families who suffer from the shock of disappearance.

Families also protect against extortion by individuals who sell lies about the fate of their missing relatives by helping them to verify what they were told.

Persistent fear

Awar’s tragic story started when he left his rural village in Türkiye to continue his studies in Syria. The Assad regime arrested him in 1996 and was not twenty years old, then he was reserved in isolation from the outside world for 15 years. His family did not know that he was still alive only thanks to the intervention of a friend of his friend.

During his detention, Awar was subjected to solitary confinement, torture, and almost complete isolation. Remember his experience by saying: “For more than two decades, I saw my brother twice, for 15 minutes every time. When I was released, my mother embraced me and inhaled my smell; she wanted to remember the smell of her son. Later, when my son was a year and a half, I finally realized why my mother clung to me like this.”

Riad Awar was deprived of a fair trial and charged him with spilled charges, and he lived in constant fear of execution. He says that these experiences are what drives them to ensure that the voices of the survivors are the path of seeking to achieve accountability and justice.

Everyone suffers in his own way

In addition to the atrocities committed against the disappeared in Syria, there is another common denominator, which is the severe suffering that kills their families. Riad explains that mothers live years without answers, while wives and children face stigma, harassment, and exile.

And he says: “Every family member suffers differently. But what unites them is the right to know.”

A global mandate for justice

Riad Awar today works in the consulting council of the independent institution for missing persons in Syria, which was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2023 to address one of the most painful conflict.

The council, whose members are chosen 11 of more than 250 applicants, consists of representatives of the families of the victims, the Syrian civil society, and the international experts. His mandate is to clarify the fate of missing persons, support families, and contribute to accountability.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, at least 181,312 people are still arbitrary or forcibly disappeared, including 5,332 children and 9,201 women.

Mr. Riad Olaar says to the United Nations news from his home in Türkiye: “The task is enormous. But in cooperation between the Syrian organizations and the international community, the Foundation can put clear protocols for notification, psychological support, and recognition of the missing.”

Heavy responsibility

Riad Awar sends a message of solidarity to the survivors of detention: “We must raise our voices and demand justice, not revenge, but accountability and compensation. We are alive, and this is a responsibility.”

He continues, saying: “When I was arrested, the phones were pressing buttons. When I went out, I saw phones touching it with your finger … I was surprised by the great change in life. The village that left it was very late (from progress), but now they had paved roads, and people owned cars; and homes became water taps and even a sewage system.”

Then he adds: “Little by little, I adapted. I decided that I had to go ahead in my life, because after such a long absence – 20 years – it was as if someone froze me in a refrigerator, then suddenly, I was released in the film of my science fantasy.”

Riyad stresses that the families of the missing people should never leave without answers, and for each Syrian family “the right to know the fate of their loved ones, to bury them in dignity and start the recovery process.” And he affirms that the truth is the cornerstone of the future of Syria, as well as transitional justice, with the need for survivors and families to play a pivotal role in forming the future.