Authorization for the Registration of Deaths of Hundreds of Prisoners in Syria

Human rights groups say the Syrian government has rapidly begun issuing permits for the registration of prisoners' deaths to clarify the fate of thousands of opponents simultaneously with its victory in the civil war. The Washington Post reports that since this spring, government registration offices have documented hundreds of cases of opposition deaths. In many of these cases, it has been stated that the prisoners were killed in the early years of the civil war. Human rights defenders and other experts say the public disclosure of this issue indicates an increase in the confidence of the Syrian regime and government forces, which have recaptured many areas previously controlled by rebels this year. According to experts, the Syrian government is not afraid of the public's and opponents' reactions to the disclosure of the names of hundreds of political prisoners who have been killed in prisons. They add that Bashar al-Assad is confident enough in his position to close the file on the seven-year civil war and, by issuing these death certificates, shows the Syrian people that the past should be forgotten while emphasizing the regime's control over the country's situation. According to statistics from the Syrian Human Rights Network, since the beginning of political protests in 2011, more than 104,000 people have been detained or gone missing. It is estimated that about 90% of these individuals have been subjected to torture and abuse in government prisons that could lead to their deaths, while the remaining 10% have been imprisoned by rebels and other armed groups. Informed lawyers say the Syrian Ministry of Defense has sent the names of hundreds of political prisoners to official registration offices across the country in recent months, instructing them to register these individuals in the list of deceased. The Washington Post adds that the death certificates issued by official registration offices are essentially a summary of the government's order and contain minimal information about the deceased individual. In some cases, death certificates have been issued by military hospitals containing legal documents and medical reports. In these cases, the cause of death is always reported as a heart attack or stroke. Sama Nasser, founder of a group called Ornamu for Justice and Human Rights that monitors the situation in Syrian prisons, stated that the number of death certificates registered by this group in recent months is higher than all cases in previous years. Employees of this organization have registered more than 300 cases of death certificates received by the families of prisoners in just the first 10 days of this month. The Syrian Human Rights Network also recently announced that it has documented about 160 death certificates across the country since May, although due to existing restrictions, this figure seems to be much lower than the actual number. In most death certificates accessed by The Washington Post, the time of death of prisoners is recorded between 2013 and 2015, and usually, army doctors have stamped and signed the official documents and medical reports of these individuals about two years later. The bodies of the prisoners have not been returned to their families, and their burial places remain unknown.