Statement by Ms. Mariana Karkoutly at the UN Security Council Open Debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict

This statement was made by Ms. Mariana Karkoutly, Syrian civil society activist and Co-Founder of Huquqyat, at the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Sexual Violence in Conflict.

Mr. President, Excellencies, civil society colleagues,

My name is Mariana Karkoutly, and I am a legal investigator and co-founder of Huquqyat, a membership-based organization of women lawyers and legal practitioners advocating for accountability in Syria. Thank you for the opportunity to deliver this statement today.

Mr. President, let me start by saying that what drove me to study law was not love of the law, but the experience of injustice. While studying law under a dictatorship did not teach me much, witnessing women in Syria fighting for their rights did.

Accountability, the theme of this open debate, is a difficult word to say in the Syrian context. We have experienced all sorts of atrocities for over a decade, with more than 350,000 people killed, tens of thousands arbitrarily detained or disappeared, nearly 13 million displaced, and another 14 million in need of humanitarian assistance.[1] Parties to the conflict have blatantly violated international human rights and humanitarian law, used chemical weapons and committed acts that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.[2] Government forces and armed groups continue to murder, torture and use sexual and gender-based violence against civilians as a matter of policy.[3]

Yet despite discussing Syria for more than a decade, this Council has failed to take actions to hold perpetrators accountable. The Syrian government has systematically violated not only international law, but many of the Security Council’s own resolutions. Meanwhile, members of this Council have blocked urgent action on Syria, shielded the Syrian regime from accountability, and vetoed resolutions on humanitarian assistance and investigating the use of chemical weapons against civilians 16 times.[4]

My statement today will focus on three issues:

  • The use of sexual violence against women,
  • Entrenched gender discrimination in Syria, and
  • Next steps for the international community to ensure accountability.

Sexual violence in detention settings

As documented by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria, sexual and gender-based violence has been used against civilians during ground operations, at checkpoints and in detention, across the country since 2011, primarily by Government forces and associated militia, but also other armed groups.[5] It has been called a “devastating and pervasive feature” of the Syrian conflict and part of a widespread and systematic attack against civilians, amounting to crimes against humanity.[6] Sexual violence, which has disproportionately affected women and girls, continues as we speak.[7]

I have worked as an independent investigator with the support of the Center for Justice and Accountability since 2020 on case-building against members of the Assad regime responsible for crimes against civilians. To date, we have documented 54 testimonies, including of survivors of sexual violence. These are just some of the hundreds that have been documented by human rights groups, out of tens of thousands of survivors.[8]

Over the last decade, at least 150,000 people in Syria are estimated to have been arbitrarily arrested, detained or disappeared; at least 9,700 women still are.[9] These women—lawyers, journalists, activists and others—have been detained for opposing the regime, or often, to punish or threaten male relatives who have.[10] In places of detention, sexual violence is used to humiliate them, to punish them for rebelling, to force confessions, and to deter future opposition.[11] Women in detention have been subject to all kinds of sexual violence, including rape, torture, sexual harassment, electric shocks directed at genital areas, intimate searches, forced abortions, and forced nudity.[12] The violations have occurred in the course of being arrested, while en route to detention facilities, upon admission, and during detention.[13]

Survivors of rape and sexual violence in detention, estimated to number in the thousands, have largely been unable to report these crimes for fear of marginalization or further retaliation.[14] Discrimination and violence against women and girls who have been detained, or who have faced sexual violence, have resulted in abandonment, divorce, so-called “honour killings,” and suicide.[15]

The Syrian regime has taken advantage of this: they knew that by targeting women in this way, they were in fact targeting their families and communities as a whole. This is why arresting and detaining women, leaving their families with no information about their fate, has been a key tool used to suppress Syrian dissent since 2011. The systematic occurrence of these crimes across the country provides reasonable grounds to assert that the regime has weaponized gender-based violence as a matter of state policy.[16]

Pervasive gender discrimination

The Syrian regime’s actions have been possible because of a corrupt legal system and entrenched discrimination against women and girls in Syria, which impacts their access to housing, land, property rights, custody of their children, as well as their protection.[17] For instance, laws in Syria do not criminalize sexual or gender-based violence against women or marital rape.[18] Syria is one of just twenty-five countries in the world that prevents women from passing their nationality to their children.[19] Until 2019, Syria’s Personal Status Law restricted freedom of movement of women with minor children unless approved by the child’s father, trapping women in dangerous situations with no means to escape.[20] And even where laws have changed, social practice has not. To socialize change in gender norms, Syrian civil society must be able to fully and freely function and engage with their own government, something that is currently impossible under the Assad regime.

Furthermore, sexual and gender-based violence against women does not end inside Syria, but continues in the camps, settlements and cities throughout the region where millions of Syrian refugees face discrimination, poverty and lack of access to healthcare and education, all while experiencing pressure to return to a country that is not yet safe.[21] For example, in Al-Hol camp in northeast Syria, 80% of the 60,000 people living there are women and children who face persistent violence, restrictions on their movement, and limited access to services.[22] Today, rates of forced child and early marriage of girls living in refugee camps are four times higher than before the war, with families marrying off their young daughters in order to meet financial needs and cope with precarious living conditions.[23] These marriages often result in girls as young as 13 being abandoned, dropping out of school, and living in situations of isolation and poverty.[24] They are unable to exercise their rights to health or bodily autonomy, which can lead to situations of forced labor.

Steps toward accountability and ending impunity

Accountability efforts are critical for Syrians, who are desperate for justice after more than a decade of war. Domestic accountability is impossible as long as the Assad regime remains in power. While today, multiple European countries are pursuing universal jurisdiction cases against suspects allegedly involved in crimes committed in Syria, we are also learning the limitations of such efforts, including the need to take into account the realities of the local context in Syria, such as fear of retaliation for reporting to local authorities, and the trauma and stigmatization of survivors of sexual violence, both of which affect the ability and willingness of victims to come forward.

Mr. President, Syrians can no longer wait for justice. We encourage all UN Member States to continue to pursue accountability under universal jurisdiction. But we are also looking to you, the Security Council, for help, by referring the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

Despite 14 years of this Council’s condemnation of the use of sexual violence in conflict, impunity prevails, not only in Syria but in many other conflicts on this Council’s agenda. This is often not because sexual violence has been inadequately criminalized, or because perpetrators are unknown, but due to a lack of political courage.

The Security Council must call on the Syrian government to:

  • Respect international law, end attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and ensure an immediate, permanent nationwide ceasefire to allow the country to address its ongoing health and humanitarian crises, including growing food insecurity.
  • Immediately end torture, inhumane treatment and sexual violence, including in places of arrest and detention.
  • Release all arbitrarily detained persons. Allow unconditional access to all places of detention by international humanitarian and medical organizations so that they may immediately deliver food and medical aid. Release the names, statuses and locations of all detainees, and a timetable for their release.

To you, the Security Council, Member States and the UN, I urge you to:

  • Refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
  • Adopt a resolution on the situation of detainees and missing persons that underlines the Syrian government’s obligations under international law, and reflects the priorities outlined by associations representing victims, survivors and their families, such as the Truth and Justice Charter, including support for the creation of a mechanism to clarify the fate of missing persons and support their families.[25]
  • Investigate and prosecute all perpetrators of sexual violence. Ensure that any efforts to secure accountability, including the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), place women’s rights and gender equality at their core.
  • Ensure women’s full, equal and meaningful participation in all ongoing and future political, peace or reconciliation processes, including a new constitution.
  • Prioritize prevention and mitigation of gender-based violence, and ensure women and girls in Syria have access to survivor-centered, non-discriminatory and comprehensive services, including by providing access to national social and healthcare systems, safe accommodation and economic opportunities by ensuring the legal right to work and equal pay, protection of all human rights, and access to justice.
  • Ensure that the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict reports regularly to the Security Council on use of conflict-related sexual violence against women and girls in Syria, including in places of detention, and that any efforts to address these issues are developed in consultation with women’s groups in Syria.
  • Ensure that the Special Envoy for Syria prioritizes human rights and international humanitarian law, including arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and gender-based violence in political discussions, that he convenes Syrian civil society on how to address these issues, and regularly briefs the Security Council on these efforts.
  • Renew the cross-border mechanism for at least twelve months and reauthorize access via all original crossing points so that the humanitarian response is able to meet the rapidly growing needs across northeast and northwest Syria. Cross-border access is an indispensable lifeline for millions of people in Syria, the majority of whom are women and children.
  • Pressure arms-exporting countries to stop arms proliferation, and prevent the use of weapons against all civilians.

When people in Syria watch conflicts rage in Ukraine and other parts of the world today, we are reminded of our own suffering, and the abject failure of this body to stop the violence. I join my voice with those of the millions of girls and women from Syria who are not here with me today, and call on you to take action. There can be no peace without justice.

Thank you.

 

[1] OHCHR: Oral update on the extent of conflict-related deaths in the Syrian Arab Republic, Statement, 24 September 2021, https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2021/09/oral-update-extent-conflict-related-deaths-syrian-arab-republic

OHCHR: Disappearance and detention to suppress dissent a hallmark of a decade of conflict in Syria – UN report, Press Release, 1 March 2021, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2021/02/disappearance-and-detention-suppress-dissent-hallmark-decade-conflict-syria?LangID=E&NewsID=26811

UNHCR: UNHCR statement on the return of displaced Syrians, 26 July 2021, https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/latest/2021/7/60fefeff4/unhcr-statement-return-displaced-syrians.html

OCHA: Syrian Arab Republic, 2022, https://gho.unocha.org/syrian-arab-republic

[2] OPCW: OPCW issues Fact-Finding Mission report on chemical weapons use allegation in Marea, Syria, in September 2015, Press release, 26 January 2022, https://www.opcw.org/media-centre/news/2022/01/opcw-issues-fact-finding-mission-report-chemical-weapons-use-allegation

Amnesty International: Syria: ‘Death everywhere’ – war crimes and human rights abuses in Aleppo, Syria, Report, 5 May 2015, https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde24/1370/2015/en/

Amnesty International: Germany/Syria: Conviction of Syrian official for crimes against humanity a historic win for justice, Press release, 13 January 2022, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/01/germany-syria-conviction-of-syrian-official-for-crimes-against-humanity-a-historic-win-for-justice/

[3] Human Rights Council: Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/46/55, 11 March 2021;

Human Rights Council: “I lost my dignity”: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/37/CRP.3, 8 March 2018, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/A-HRC-37-CRP-3.pdf;

OHCHR: UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria: Sexual and gender-based violence against women, girls, men, and boys a devastating and pervasive feature of the conflict and must end now, Press release, 18 March 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/03/un-commission-inquiry-syria-sexual-and-gender-based-violence-against-women;

Global Justice Center, Submission to the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review – 26th Session, Syrian Arab Republic, https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=3112&file=EnglishTranslation, p. 2.

[4] Nichols, M.: Russia, backed by China, casts 14th U.N. veto on Syria to block cross-border aid, Reuters, 20 December 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-security-un-idUSKBN1YO23V

Amnesty International: Syria: Russian threat to veto renewal of last aid corridor leaves millions at risk of humanitarian catastrophe, 25 June 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/06/syria-russian-threat-to-veto-renewal-of-last-aid-corridor-leaves-millions-at-risk-of-humanitarian-catastrophe/

Barber, R.: Syria: the disgraceful stain left by the UN Security Council veto, The Interpreter, 24 September 2019, https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/syria-disgraceful-stain-left-un-security-council-veto

Benarbia, S.: Syria and the UN Security Council: A Decade Of Abysmal Failures, Opinio Juris, 28 April 2021, http://opiniojuris.org/2021/04/28/syria-and-the-un-security-council-a-decade-of-abysmal-failures/

Resolutions on which vetoes were used: S/2020/667, S/2020/654, S/2019/961, S/2019/756, S/2018/321, S/2017/970, S/2017/962, S/2017/884, S/2017/315, S/2017/172, S/2016/1026, S/2016/846, S/2014/348, S/2012/538, S/2012/77, S/2011/612

[5] Human Rights Council: Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/46/55, 11 March 2021, http://undocs.org/A/HRC/46/54; Human Rights Council: “I lost my dignity”: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/37/CRP.3, 8 March 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A-HRC-37-CRP-3.pdf; Syrian network for Human Rights: International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women: Tenth Annual Report on Violations against Females in Syria Mostly at the Hands of the Syrian Regime, 25 November 2021, https://snhr.org/blog/2021/11/25/57072/

[6] OHCHR: UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria: Sexual and gender-based violence against women, girls, men, and boys a devastating and pervasive feature of the conflict and must end now, Press Release, 15 March 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/03/un-commission-inquiry-syria-sexual-and-gender-based-violence-against-women

[7] Human Rights Council: Report of the Independent International Commission of

Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/49/77, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/49/77;

Amnesty International: Syria: Former refugees tortured, raped, disappeared after returning home, 7 September 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/09/syria-former-refugees-tortured-raped-disappeared-after-returning-home;

Human Rights Watch: Syria: Returning Refugees Face Grave Abuse, 20 October 2021, https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/10/20/syria-returning-refugees-face-grave-abuse.

[8] Amnesty International: Germany/Syria: Conviction of Syrian official for crimes against humanity a historic win for justice, 13 January 2022, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/01/germany-syria-conviction-of-syrian-official-for-crimes-against-humanity-a-historic-win-for-justice/; Human Rights Watch: Torture Archipelago – Arbitrary Arrests, Torture, and Enforced Disappearances in Syria’s Underground Prisons since March 2011, 3 July 2012, ttps://www.hrw.org/report/2012/07/03/torture-archipelago/arbitrary-arrests-torture-and-enforced-disappearances-syrias; Human Rights Watch: Seeking Justice for Syria- How an Alleged Syrian Intelligence Officer

was Put on Trial in Germany, 6 January 2022, https://www.hrw.org/feature/2022/01/06/seeking-justice-for-syria/how-an-alleged-intelligence-officer-was-put-on-trial-in-germany.

[9] Syrian Network for Human Rights: On the 11th Anniversary of the Popular Uprising: 228,647 Syrian Civilians Documented Killed, including 14,664 by Torture, with 151,462 Arbitrarily Detained/Forsibly Disappered, and 14 Million Others Displaced, 15 March 2022, https://snhr.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/R220307E.pdf, p. 12-15. 

Syrian Network for Human Rights: On International Women’s Day: Multiple Violations Committed by Various Parties to the Conflict in Syria, 8 March 2022, https://snhr.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/R220306E-1.pdf, p. 6.

Syrian Network for Human Rights: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women: Tenth Annual Report on Violations against Females in Syria mostly at the hands of teh Syrian Regime, 25 November 2021, https://snhr.org/wp-content/pdf/english/International_Day_for_the_Elimination_of_Violence_Against_Women_Tenth_Annual_Report_on_Violations_en.pdf, p. 8. 

[10] Syrian Network for Human Rights: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women: Tenth Annual Report on Violations against Females in Syria mostly at the hands of teh Syrian Regime, 25 November 2021, https://snhr.org/wp-content/pdf/english/International_Day_for_the_Elimination_of_Violence_Against_Women_Tenth_Annual_Report_on_Violations_en.pdf, p. 16.

[11] OHCHR: UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria: Sexual and gender-based violence against women, girls, men, and boys a devastating and pervasive feature of the conflict and must end now, Press release, 18 March 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2018/03/un-commission-inquiry-syria-sexual-and-gender-based-violence-against-women;

Ellis, L.: Can Syrian sexual violence survivors get justice in Germany?, Deutsche Welle, 19 June 2020, https://www.dw.com/en/can-syrian-sexual-violence-survivors-get-justice-in-germany/a-53875140;

Amnesty International: “You’re Going to Your Death” – Violations against Syrian Refugees Returning to Syria, 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/MDE2445832021ENGLISH.pdf, p. 5, 6;

Human Rights Council: “I lost my dignity”: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/37/CRP.3, 8 March 2018,

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A-HRC-37-CRP-3.pdf, p. 10, 21; European Asylum Support Office: Syria – Situation of women, February 2020, https://euaa.europa.eu/sites/default/files/publications/easo-coi-report-syria-situation-women.pdf, p. 15.

[12] Amnesty International: “You’re Going to Your Death” – Violations against Syrian Refugees Returning to Syria, 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/MDE2445832021ENGLISH.pdf;

Human Rights Council: “I lost my dignity”: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/37/CRP.3, 8 March 2018, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/A-HRC-37-CRP-3.pdf,

[13] Human Rights Council: “I lost my dignity”: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/37/CRP.3, 8 March 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A-HRC-37-CRP-3.pdf

[14] Seif, J. and Nassif, W : Words Against Silence. Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, 2020, , https://sl-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/WORDS-AGAINST-SILENCE.pdf;

UN Security Council: Conflict-related sexual violence – Report of the Secretary-General, S/2021/312, 30 March 2021,

http://undocs.org/S/2021/312.

Human Rights Council: “I lost my dignity”: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/37/CRP.3, 8 March 2018,

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A-HRC-37-CRP-3.pdf, p. 4, 7;

Dawlaty and WILPF: Sexual violence by force of arms against women in Syria, 2020,

https://www.wilpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Sexual-violence-by-force-of-arms-against-women-in-Syria-t.pdf, p. 19-20; Global Justice Center, Submission to the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review – 26th Session, Syrian Arab Republic, https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=3112&file=EnglishTranslation, p. 2.

[15]  Human Rights Council: “I lost my dignity”: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/37/CRP.3, 8 March 2018,https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A-HRC-37-CRP-3.pdf, p. 5, 20-21, 23

[16] Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/46/55, 11 March 2021, http://undocs.org/A/HRC/46/55, p. 22;

Human Rights Council, Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/21/50, 16 August 2012, Human Rights Council, Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/21/50, 16 August 2012, http://undocs.org/A/HRC/21/50, p. 21;

Human Rights Council, Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/22/59, 5 February 2013, http://undocs.org/A/HRC/22/59, p. 16-17;

UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,Commmittee against Torture, Consideration by the Committee against Torture of the implementation of the Convention in the Syrian Arab Republic in the absence of a special report requested

pursuant to article 19, paragraph 1, in fine, CAT/C/SYR/CO/1/Add.2, 29 June 2012,  http://undocs.org/CAT/C/SYR/CO/1/Add.2, p. 4;

UN General Assembly Security Council, Sexual violence in conflict –  Report of the Secretary-General, A/67/792–S/2013/149, 14 March 2013,

http://undocs.org/S/2013/149, p. 18-19;

Human Rights Council, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Deaths in Detention in the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/31/CRP.1, Advance Version, 3 February 2016, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/A-HRC-31-CRP1_en.pdf, p. 16;

Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic: Detention in the Syrian Arab Republic – A Way Forward, 8 March 2018, https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoISyria/AWayForward_DetentionInSyria.pdf, p. 4.

[17] Human Rights Watch: Syria: Criminal Justice for Serious Crimes under International Law, 17 December 2013, https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/12/17/syria-criminal-justice-serious-crimes-under-international-law#_ftn86

Dawlaty and WILPF, The human rights of women in Syria, 2020, https://www.wilpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/The-human-rights-of-women-in-Syria-single-pages.pdf, p. 7-8;  

Human Rights and Gender Justice (HRGJ) Clinic, MADRE and WILPF: Human Rights Violations Against Women and Girls in Syria

Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of The Syrian Arab Republic, 24 March 2016,

https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=3048&file=EnglishTranslation

[18] Human Rights and Gender Justice (HRGJ) Clinic, MADRE and WILPF: Human Rights Violations Against Women and Girls in Syria

Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of The Syrian Arab Republic, 25 July 2016, https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=3048&file=EnglishTranslation, p. 2, 8; Mousa, D., Syrian Personal Status Laws, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2018, http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/beirut/14969.pdf, p. 2-3.

[19] Dawlaty and WILPF, The human rights of women in Syria, 2020, https://www.wilpf.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/The-human-rights-of-women-in-Syria-single-pages.pdf, p. 8;

Human Rights and Gender Justice (HRGJ) Clinic, MADRE and WILPF: Human Rights Violations Against Women and Girls in Syria

Submission to the United Nations Universal Periodic Review of The Syrian Arab Republic, 25 July 2016, https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=3048&file=EnglishTranslation, p. 5-6.

[20] Badael Foundation et. al., Universal Periodic Review of the Syrian Arab Republic, Submission to the Human Rights Council, Violations against Women and the Disproportionate Impact of the Conflict on them, 2016, https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=2912&file=EnglishTranslation, p. 7.

[21] Global Justice Center, Submission to the UN Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review – 26th Session, Syrian Arab Republic, https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=3112&file=EnglishTranslation, p. 1.

[22] UN News, UNICEF urges repatriation of all children in Syria’s Al-Hol camp following deadly fire, 28 February 2021, https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/02/1085982

Amnesty International, Syria: Repatriate at least 27,000 children held in dire conditions in north-east Syria, 20 November 2021

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/11/syria-repatriate-at-least-27000-children-held-in-dire-conditions-in-north-east-syria/#:~:text=Tens%20of%20thousands%20of%20children,willingness%20to%20repatriate%20them%2C%20Amnesty

[23] UNFPA, New study finds child marriage rising among most vulnerable Syrian refugees, 31 January 2017, https://www.unfpa.org/news/new-study-finds-child-marriage-rising-among-most-vulnerable-syrian-refugees

[24] El Daoi, R. and Høvring, R., Syrian refugee girls: Married at the age of 13,  https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/syrian-refugee-girls—married-at-the-age-of-13/index.html

[25]  Caesar Families Association, The Truth and Justice Charter by Syrian Victims and Family Members, February 2021,

https://www.caesarfamilies.org/the-truth-and-justice-charter-by-syrian-victims-and-family-members/.

OHCHR, Interim oral update to the General Assembly on the UNSG Study on Missing Persons in Syria, 8 April 2022, https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/04/interim-oral-update-general-assembly-unsg-study-missing-persons-syria.