UNITED NATIONS — The UN agency that helps investigate the most serious crimes in Syria said Monday that the country’s new authorities were “very receptive” to the request for cooperation during a just-concluded visit to Damascus, and that the country is preparing for deployment.
The visit led by Robert Petit, head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria, was the first since the organization was established by the UN General Assembly in 2016. It was established to assist in the collection of evidence and prosecution of individuals responsible for possible war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.
Petit emphasized the urgency of preserving documents and other evidence before it is lost.
Since the rebel overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad and… the opening of prisons by the rebels and detention centers, there have been increasing demands from Syrians for the prosecution of those responsible for atrocities and killings while he was in power.
“The fall of the Assad regime is an important opportunity for us to fulfill our mandate on the ground,” Petit said. “Time is running out. There is a small window of opportunity to secure these sites and the material they contain.”
U.N. spokesman Stephane Tremblay said Monday that the investigative team “is preparing for an operational deployment as soon as possible and as soon as it is authorized to conduct activities on Syrian soil.”
The spokesman for the organization known as the IIIM, which was traveling with Petit, went further, telling The Associated Press: “We are preparing for deployment with the expectation that we will receive clearance.”
“The representatives of the interim authorities were very receptive to our request for cooperation and are aware of the magnitude of the task ahead,” the spokesman said, on condition he not be named. “They emphasized that they will need expertise to help protect the newly accessible documentation.”
The IIIM did not reveal which officials in the new government it met with site that Petit visited then.
“Even at one facility,” Petit said, “the mountains of government documentation reveal the chilling efficiency of systematizing the regime’s atrocities.”
He said that a collective effort from Syrians, civil society organizations and international partners will be needed as a matter of priority: “ to preserve evidence of crimes committedavoid duplication and ensure inclusive representation of all victims in the pursuit of justice.”
In June 2023, the 193-member General Assembly will also have a Independent Institute for Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic to clarify the fate and whereabouts of more than 130,000 people missing as a result of the conflict.