Syrian human rights organisation calls on UN Security Council to end its 'inaction'

Representatives from a Syrian rights group addressed the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), calling on the council to act on the issue of detention in Syria.

Families for Freedom co-founders Amina Khoulani and Dr. Hala al-Ghawi attended the UNSC meeting on Syria at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Wednesday.

"Though it's an honour for me to speak here, I can not help but feel a deep frustration at the people in this room for their inaction to end the sorrow of Syrian detainees and their families,"  said al-Ghawi.

The two women urged the UNSC to demand the Syrian regime provide a list of names of all detainees and information on the dead. They also called for an end to torture, and the release of those arbitrarily detained.

Al-Ghawi left Syria in 2011 after her husband was detained. Her brother, father in law and seven cousins remain missing in detention since 2013.

Khoulani learned of the death of her three brothers years after they were detained for joining 2011 protests . "Their only crime was peacefully protesting for a free and democratic Syria, a vision shared by millions across the country," she told the UNSC.

"The United Nations Security Council has utterly failed Syrian detainees and their families," Khoulani added.

Families for Freedom is a women-led movement campaigning for "freedom and justice for Syrian detainees". According to the rights group, 100,000 people remain missing eight years into the Syrian conflict.

The Syrian war began when the Syrian regime responded with military force to crush peaceful protests demanding democratic reforms.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the war, mostly by the regime and its powerful allies, and millions have been displaced both inside and outside of Syria.

The brutal tactics pursued mainly by the regime, which have included the use of chemical weapons, sieges, mass executions and torture against civilians have led to war crimes investigations.