Authorities believe missing Syrian chess champions children are likely deceased

Syrian National Commission for Missing Persons Confirms Fate of Rania al-Abbasi’s Children

The Syrian National Commission for Missing Persons (NCMP) has confirmed that the six children of dentist and former chess champion Rania al-Abbasi are likely deceased. The commission made this determination after conducting multiple verification and analysis procedures in coordination with national authorities.

Al-Abbasi, along with her husband Abdul Rahman Yasin and their six children, aged three to 15, went missing in March 2013 after government forces raided their home in Damascus. The family’s disappearance became a symbol of the plight of other missing children of detainees and those forcibly disappeared during al-Assad’s rule.

The NCMP stated that its findings were based on reliable and corroborating results, allowing it to conclude with a high degree of professional certainty that Dr. Rania al-Abbasi’s children are deceased. The commission also confirmed that efforts to find the remains of the children are still ongoing.

Hassan al-Abbasi, Rania’s brother, recently confirmed the children’s deaths in a video posted on Facebook. He stated that the family had viewed video recordings linked to the main suspect in a 2013 massacre in a Damascus district, including one showing him accusing children of being “major financiers of terrorism”. The family identified the children as their own.

The fate of Rania and her husband remains officially unknown after all contact with them was lost following their arrest on accusations linked to opposition to the Assad government. Rights groups suggest they may have died, though their bodies were never found.

Separately, the Syrian Ministry of Interior announced that its investigation into the disappearance of al-Abbasi’s children had uncovered evidence linking Amjad Youssef, a notorious figure during al-Assad’s rule, to their killing. The ministry stated that interrogations of detainees, together with videos and information shared by the NCMP, had helped strengthen the case.

The issue of missing people remains one of the most pressing in Syria, with tens of thousands of people detained or disappeared during the civil war.

Source: Al Jazeera