Nearly 100 people in Syria have been abducted or forcibly disappeared since January, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Friday, calling for greater accountability from the authorities.

When the gates of Syrias notorious Sednaya prison opened soon after the fall of the Assad regime last December, graffiti scrawled on the walls offered a frightening glimpse into what was widely known as the human slaughterhouse. First day, severe beating, one prisoner wrote.

Eleven months after the fall of the former government in Syria,we continue to receive worrying reports about dozens of abductions and enforced disappearances, SpokespersonThameen Al-Keetansaidat a press briefing inGeneva.

Syria is undergoing a political transition following the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024 and 13 years ofbrutalcivil war.

Families in distress

In response to a journalists question,Mr. Al-KateensaidOHCHRhas documented at least 97 peoplewho have been abducted or disappeared since the beginning of the year.

Thisis in addition to themore than100,000 peoplewho went missingduring thefather andsonrule of theAssads, which lasted some five decades.

Whilesome families have been reunited with their loved ones,many still live with the distress of not knowing where they are, or what happened to them,hesaid.

He stressed thatthe fate and whereabouts of all those who have gone missing, both before and after the fall of the former government, must urgently be clarified.

In this regard, heunderscored OHCHRssupportforthe work oftheIndependent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP).

KarlaQuintana, wholeads the UN body, recently said thateveryonein Syria knows someone who has gone missing.

Missing aid worker

Mr. Al-Keetanhighlighted the case of Hamza Al-Amarin, a volunteer with the Syria Civil Defense, commonly known as the White Helmets.

Hewent missing on 16 Julyof this yearwhile supporting a humanitarian evacuation mission during violence inSuweida,locatedinthe south, andremainsunaccounted for.

We stress that all armed actors both exercising State power and otherwise must respect and protect humanitarian workers at all times, everywhere, as required by international human rights law and applicable humanitarian law, the Spokesperson said.

Accountability and justice for all human rights violations and abuses, past and present, are essential for Syria to build a durable, peaceful and secure future for all its people.