About Us

JAWAB is a digital platform dedicated to upholding families’ right to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones who are missing or forcibly disappeared in Syria. The platform rests on long-term, methodical research that gathers and analyzes survivors’ testimonies, official documents, and corroborated evidence that traces patterns of detention, disappearance, and abuses suffered by tens of thousands of Syrians over different periods.

JAWAB aims to provide a trusted space that allows families, survivors, and human rights organizations to access available information, and to build shared knowledge that helps uncover the truth, strengthen pathways to justice and accountability, and support national and international efforts to clarify the fate of the missing in Syria.

It is important to stress that the information the platform provides does not constitute official death certificates, nor does it replace the legal and administrative procedures that govern families’ rights before state institutions. JAWAB is not a government body; it is an independent documentation initiative that seeks to shed light on people’s fates and defend families’ right to know what happened to their loved ones.

The platform was launched as a joint initiative by three Syrian human rights institutions:

Syria Prisons Museum, the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, and the Caesar Files for Justice Association.

What Does JAWAB Provide?

A reliable database, built on documents, testimonies, and evidence gathered and verified over many years, that allows users to search for names and information related to missing and forcibly disappeared persons across multiple contexts inside Syria.
Secure access to information for families, attentive to the human and legal sensitivities surrounding the missing, helping to bridge gaps in knowledge about their loved ones’ fate without conferring any legal or administrative status.
A space for communication and collaboration with victims’ associations, human rights organizations, and concerned actors at the local and international levels, strengthening joint efforts to search for the truth and support justice initiatives.
Knowledge and archival materials that help explain the system of detention and enforced disappearance in Syria, and document the historical and structural context of abuses committed against tens of thousands of Syrians.

How Does The Platform Work?

JAWAB relies on a rigorous, multi-layered research methodology that includes:

Collecting data from official documents, testimonies from victims, survivors, and their families, and accumulated research archives compiled over years of human rights work.
Multi-source analysis and verification by cross-checking evidence and scrutinizing information with advanced research and technological tools, to ensure the highest possible levels of accuracy and reliability.
Continuous updating of the database through the founding organizations’ projects, in cooperation with human rights groups and associations of families of the missing, and in partnership with national and international initiatives working on justice and clarifying people’s fate.
Making findings available to families through a secure, user-friendly online interface that respects privacy, guarantees the protection of sensitive data, and allows families to review the information available about their loved ones with the greatest possible care and confidentiality.

JAWAB’s Goals

Clarifying the fate of missing persons and providing families with trustworthy information.
Upholding the right to know the truth as a fundamental right that does not expire over time.
Contributing to justice and accountability processes by building an archive grounded in documented evidence and testimonies.
Strengthening cooperation between victims and human rights actors to demand the truth and to help ensure that violations are not repeated.
Preserving Syrian collective memory and documenting the history of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention.

Q&A

1. What Is The JAWAB Platform?

JAWAB is an independent human rights platform that seeks to help families access the information available about the fate of their loved ones who are missing or forcibly disappeared in Syria, drawing on evidence, documents, and testimonies collected and carefully reviewed over many years.

2. Does JAWAB Provide Definitive Information Or Death Certificates?

JAWAB does not provide definitive information or death certificates. The information the platform offers is not official documentation and does not constitute a death certificate, nor does it supersede governmental decisions or records. JAWAB provides only preliminary information, intended to support families as they attempt to understand the context and the path their loved ones have taken.

3. How Does JAWAB Gather Information?

The platform uses a careful methodology that includes:

Collecting official documents that are leaked or obtained from trusted sources.
Testimonies from survivors and their families.
Cross-checking evidence against research archives and independent records.
Ongoing follow-up through the projects of the Syria Prisons Museum, the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, and the Caesar Files for Justice Foundation, as well as through other human rights partnerships.
Every piece of information goes through a multi-source verification process before being added to the database.

4. How Does JAWAB Protect Families’ Data?

JAWAB is committed to the highest standards of data protection, including:

Secure, encrypted storage of information.
Concealing any information that could put families or witnesses at risk.
Privacy and security are essential principles that are never compromised.

5. What Does JAWAB Offer Families?

The ability to search for data related to missing persons.
Preliminary information that helps make sense of patterns of detention or disappearance.
Context and analysis that help interpret what has happened.

The platform’s goal is to reduce uncertainty and narrow its scope, not to create a false sense of certainty.

6. Does JAWAB Work In Coordination With Official Bodies?

JAWAB is an independent initiative and is not affiliated with any governmental or political entity.

However, it is open to cooperating with any institution that works seriously on the issue of the missing, based on transparency, independent documentation, and respect for families’ right to know the truth.

7. Why Was JAWAB Created?

Because thousands of families have searched for years without an answer, and because the absence of transparent mechanisms for clarifying people’s fate has opened a deep gap.

JAWAB emerges to help close that gap by:

Providing accessible information that can be verified.
Turning scattered pieces of evidence into usable knowledge.
Supporting pathways toward justice and accountability.

8. Who Is Behind The JAWAB Platform?

The platform was launched as a joint initiative by three Syrian human rights organizations that have spent years documenting abuses and seeking to clarify the fate of the missing: the Syria Prisons Museum, the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, and the Caesar Files for Justice Foundation.

This collaboration brings together extensive research, legal, and archival expertise, and reflects a shared commitment to upholding families’ right to know the truth.