Imtiaz Gul
Nationals of about 57 states, including several from Pakistan, are currently living in extremely alarming security and humanitarian conditions at the Al Hol and Roj camps in northeast Syria.
These camps host as many 64,000 people, mostly women and children -from 57 States and need urgent attention of their countries.
A UN human rights experts through official letters to 57 governments on Sunday expressed serious concerns at the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation at the two camps and called on respective governments to immeditately repatriate them without delay.
“Thousands of people held in the camps are exposed to violence, exploitation, abuse and deprivation in conditions and treatment that may well amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment under international law, with no effective remedy at their disposal. An unknown number have already died because of their conditions of detention.”
Sources associated with international humanitarian organizations working in the camps said only the UNHCR and ICRS would know the exact number of Pakistanis stranded in the camps but said the government needed to act as soon as possible to extricate them from these inhuman conditions.
The experts recall the urgent need for justice, truth and reparation for all of the victims of the very serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law that have occurred in the region. In that context, the continued detention, on unclear grounds, of women and children in the camps is a matter of grave concern and undermines the progression of accountability, truth and justice.
“States have a primary responsibility to act with due diligence and take positive steps and effective measures to protect individuals in vulnerable situations, notably women and children, located outside of their territory where they are at risk of serious human rights violations or abuses, where States’ actions or omissions can positively impact on these individuals’ human rights,” the experts said. The experts also expressed concern at a ‘data collection’ process that took place in the camps last July. “Highly personal and unique data were gathered from women and children in conditions where consent could not be freely given, nor under circumstances in which it was clear whom would have access to those data, and how they might be used,” said the experts echoing the call of the High Commissioner for States to assume responsibility for all of their nationals “We fear that this exercise was in fact aimed at identifying third country nationals who may pose a security risk, information that could be further communicated and used by States of origin, as a basis for deciding the further course of action for their nationals. This could include trial and repatriation, or children’s separation from their families, including that of male children for further detention.”
The experts said they were gravely concerned that the exercise, reportedly to evaluate security threats, lacked regard for basic principles of due process and solely targeted families with alleged links to foreign ISIL fighters, including women and children, who already suffer from heightened discrimination, marginalisation and abuse on the basis of their alleged affiliation with the group.
They added that the process had largely excluded humanitarian actors, including medical personnel. Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
