Aida Samani

As a longtime humanitarian who has battled famines and hunger crises, I fear that starvation in Gaza has now passed the tipping point and we are going to see mass-scale starvation mortality. A thread on famine momentum, famine response, and what it means for Gaza today.

My father finally made it to Tehran this afternoon from Kish Island after a 2-hour boat ride, 8 hours in a minibus, and a 28-hour train to reach my mother, so they could leave the city together. But the road out of Tehran was closed. They were stuck for 4 hours at the Northwestern exit and then told to turn back. They are back home now, despite all my pleas. At 3:30am, while on the phone with them, we all heard massive explosions. They told me the windows shook. I am horrified. I can only imagine what those in Tehran right now are feeling in anticipation of what is about to come. Please do not destroy this city. Please spare innocent lives. Please stand with the peace-loving Iranian people. Let light prevail over darkness.

It’s around 3 am in Tehran and over 10 million people are being ordered to leave their houses “immediately” by a post on social media…

A quick primer on the most common self-defence terminology, because states and scholars tend to be all over the place. "Pre-emptive" self-defence is a response to an imminent armed attack. "Preventive" self-defence is a response to an armed attack that is not even imminent.

With Israel in Gaza having replicated the Syrian-Russian strategy of bombing hospitals, the International Criminal Court should reaffirm that these attacks on protected sites are war crimes and file charges. theguardian.com/global-develop…

The #RehabilitationProgram for former detainees & families of the disappeared started as a voluntary effort by a team member & was adopted by @Nophotozone in late 2023. It has since supported 79 beneficiaries—51 women & 28 men. #SupportForDetainees #HumanRights #Empowerment

شاهدوا النقاط الرئيسية من فعالية "العدالة والمساءلة في الانتقال السياسي في سوريا" التي عقدتها مدنية في باريس في معهد العالم العربي. Watch the key highlights from the Justice and Accountability in Syria's Political Transition event Madaniya held in Paris at the Arab World Institute @WomenNowForDev @Adalatycentre @SyrianCenter @SyriaCivilDef @SyriaCivilDefe @HevdestiSynergy

During this first visit to #Syria, I met with families, authorities and civil society, and visited different sites. I witnessed the collective hope, resilience and a will to reconstruct a new Syria. (1/9)

Statement on Our Meeting Regarding the Issue of Detainees and the Missing We, the associations of survivors and families of victims members to the Truth and Justice Charter, along with a group of families of the disappeared, held an official meeting today at the Presidential Palace with the head of state for the transitional period, Mr. Ahmed Al-Sharaa, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Asaad Al-Shaibani. We presented to them our demands for immediate action to uncover the fate of the missing and to reveal the truth about what has transpired in detention centers and places of confinement. We underlined that this issue is a national cause that concerns all Syrians and constitutes the cornerstone for achieving justice and establishing lasting peace in #Syria. During our meeting, we emphasized that uncovering the fate of tens of thousands of missing persons and holding those responsible for violations accountable is a non-negotiable right and a key condition for achieving #justice. We further stressed that transitional justice is not limited to its criminal aspect but also includes institutional reform and memorialization. Our urgent demands include: ▪️Ensuring the non-recurrence of violations, particularly torture and enforced disappearance; ▪️Ensuring families have access to all available information about their missing loved ones, as they have a right to the truth; ▪️Preserving evidence in detention centers, places of confinement, and security headquarters, protecting mass graves, and halting any acts of looting, vandalism, or violation that could compromise the #truth; ▪️Ensuring that victims and their families play a pivotal role in this period by engaging them, alongside Syrian human rights organizations, in all efforts to achieve transitional justice; ▪️Cooperating with UN and international institutions concerned with cases of the missing. During the meeting, the President emphasized the government’s commitment to prioritizing the issue of the missing, affirming efforts to establish a dedicated body to address the issue of the missing and to ensure that past violations are not repeated. He expressed the government’s dedication to maintaining ongoing communication with the families of the missing and victims’ associations. He further stressed the necessity of not declaring forcibly disappeared individuals as deceased without concrete evidence. We will closely monitor the implementation of these commitments and apply the necessary pressure to ensure they are translated into concrete measures, for justice is only achieved through action. #Truth_and_Justice_Charter

This is a fundraiser for one of the (unfortunately many) Syrian organizations doing highly timely and critical work, now affected by recent international funding cuts. If you are able to chip in, please do 🙏🏽 justgiving.com/crowdfunding/h…

Syrians are told it’s time to go back to their country… by the same officials who say their country isn’t stable or democratic enough to be freed from economic strangulation—let alone to receive the funds needed to rebuild schools, hospitals, and power stations.

The women at today's protest for the detainees in Damascus express the pain and anguish of countless Syrian families. We want justice for the detainees, to know their fate and for the criminals that imprisoned, tortured and killed them to be held accountable.

Arrived in Damascus to continue the 12-year search for my detained father in #Assad’s prisons. I've posted his photo throughout the city, hoping for any information. Hope fuels me, but the pain is immense. Nothing less than the full truth! #Syria

Today I visited Yarmouk camp, which was once the largest Palestinian community outside Palestine. I once lived here, and these streets were full of people. The Assad regime did this. Remember this the next time you hear that the fall of the Assad regime was bad for Palestinians.

"Those who fear retaliation must understand that justice is the shield that protects them and all Syrians from the cycle of vengeance. Acknowledging all the crimes committed in Syria is the first step on a long path toward fairness—a path that demands the highest levels of courage, patriotism, and morality. The photos are from today's sit-in at Al-Hijaz Square in Damascus."

A statement of the associations of the Truth and Justice Charter, welcomes the appointment of Ms. Karla Quintana as the Head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP) and calls on the IIMP to activate an emergency action plan.

We @amnesty spent yesterday visiting the Assad government’s security and intelligence branches in Damascus. For years, survivors had described the horrors they experienced in these underground dungeons. But nothing could have prepared us for what we saw.

Note: Syria will return to be the focus of INGOs whose work follows trends, rather than sustainable, long-term & impactful justice work WITH communities. In the past 13yrs, Syrian CSOs achieved outstanding results & built impressive expertise: they should not be sidelined now.

🧵 It is incredulous that within just days of the Assad regime's fall, a number of European countries, including Germany, Austria, Denmark, and others have announced pauses in the processing of asylum applications. (1)

Listen to this interview with @WafaMustafa9 saying what needs to be said on the agony and pain she and so many families of Syria’s disappeared are going through right now. Shame on @UN and @ICRC for refusing to do their job! They have once again failed the people of Syria.