Our programs:
We aim to reveal the fate of missing persons in Northeast Syria through:
Collaborating with families searching for their missing loved ones
Documenting missing persons
Investigating mass graves and detention centers
Securely analyzing and preserving data
To achieve these goals, we are actively partnering with international experts to train our team on the latest scientific methods in the field of missing persons investigations and mass grave exhumations.
Once current investigations are complete, and our team has the requisite skills, we plan to:
Exhume mass graves to collect forensic evidence
Identifying remains utilizing DNA analysis
To implement our goals, the SMFT is dedicated to working on the following programs:
Collaborating with Families
The SMFT’s work is dedicated to helping families who are searching for their loved ones. The family relations team is dedicated to connecting with families, communicating with them about the SMFT’s work, and understanding their priorities. To achieve this the team conducts outreach across Northeast Syria, including hosting community events and open houses at the SMFT’s offices in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. If you are searching for a loved one in formerly ISIS controlled Syria and would like to speak to our team, please reach out at: info@syrianforensicteam.org
Investigations
In order to understand the sequence of events leading up to a person’s disappearance, and where they went afterwards, the investigations team focuses on documenting ISIS detention facilities, training camps, and mass graves. They conduct interviews with survivors and witnesses of ISIS detention and witnesses to the creation of graves, visit grave sites and former prison sites, and utilize a variety of open-source information, including media reports and satellite imagery. Taken together, this information allows the team to map the sequence of events leading up to a person’s disappearance, and predict where they may have been taken. This work is impossible without participation from families, the local community, and witnesses and survivors of detention and graves. If you have information regarding ISIS detention, execution, or any other information that you think may be relevant, please reach out at: info@syrianforensicteam.org
Documenting Missing Persons
The center of any missing persons investigation is the careful documentation of all who are missing. The SMFT’s documentation team works with families to collect detailed interviews on their missing loved ones. These interviews help determine how the disappearance occurred, link them with similar disappearances in time and space, and build relationships with other cases held in the SMFT’s database.
The SMFT documents cases of all persons who went missing in ISIS controlled Syria, regardless of ethnic identity or political affiliation. The SMFT and its documentation partners are able to conduct interviews in Arabic, Kurdish, or English, and provide either a male or female documenter. If you would like to document your missing person, you can reach out at: info@syrianforensicteam.org
Preserving and Analyzing Data
The SMFT’s database team ensures that all interviews, evidence, and personal information is stored securely for use in current and future investigations. The team works with the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre to upload all data into the Bayanat software, which allows analysts to easily search and analyze documentation.
Exhumations and Identifications
The last stage of missing persons investigations is the exhumation of grave sites and forensic identification of victims. The SMFT’s exhumation and identification team are currently focused on preserving grave sites and supporting current investigations, while building forensic skills, to prepare for future exhumations. The team has received training in exhumations and analysis from the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation, and includes team members with expertise in forensic medicine.