The Syrian Democratic Council (MSD) released a statement calling for compliance with the United Nations call for a global ceasefire as part of the worldwide struggle against coronavirus pandemic.

The statement by MSD includes the following:

“The UN Resolution 2254 on Syria recommended confidence-building procedures which include removing detainees from prisons, but this recommendation has not been implemented, and thousands of Syrian families are still suffering from the consequences despite local, regional, international initiatives and appeals, the latest of which is the initiative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres and special envoy for Syria, Mr. Geir Pedersen.

Amid the news of poor conditions of detention degrading human dignity, and instructions of the World Health Organization about ways to prevent infectious diseases and with the phenomenon of outbreak of Corona epidemic, mandatory application of social divergence is impossible to apply in places of detention.

We in the Syrian Democratic Council believe that releasing all detainees, prisoners of opinion and conscience, the kidnapped and revealing the fate of the missing is a guarantee for any sustainable political solution, as it would contribute to alleviating societal congestion, protecting civil peace and rebuilding trust among Syrians.

In compliance with the principles of international human rights law and everything that would ease the sufferings of the Syrians and work to achieve their dream of freedom, democracy and justice in a democratic decentralized country, and in response to the United Nations initiative, the Syrian Democratic Council calls on all parties in Syria to release all the detainees and the kidnapped, to reveal the fate of the missing and those forcibly disappeared. It calls on all parties to reveal the places of arrest, detention and seizure of freedom.

The Syrian Democratic Council seeks to make the file of the detainees, the kidnapped and the disappeared by force, to be a humanitarian file, above negotiation, and this should not be linked to a political settlement.

Therefore, we announce our readiness to work jointly with every Syrian civil and human rights party with the aim of forming a work team from families of the detainees, the kidnapped, legal professionals and civil society activists. The mechanism of the team will be announced through a special press conference. We will work in order to make this issue always present in light of political and military developments and giving it moral, political and humanitarian importance and putting it again in spotlight.

The Syrian Democratic Council will do whatever is necessary to make the required progress and eliminate all ambiguities in the file of detentions. In this field, it has a series of steps and procedures that will be announced as soon as possible.”