Syria: Human Rights Activist Disappeared while Leaving Syria

Kamal Sheikho

On June 23 2010, Kamal Sheikho, a human rights activist and journalist, was disappeared by Syrian security forces at 'Jedeidat Yabus' border crossing en route from Damascus to Beirut. Today, Alkarama sent his case to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances requesting its intervention.

 

Kamal Sheikho, 32, is a member of the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria. In June 2010, he published interviews, on the "All4Syria" website, with three previously imprisoned (now released) signatories of the Damascus Declaration: Akram Al-Bunni, Jabr Al-Shawki and Waleed Al-Bunni.

Alkarama expresses its deepest concerns regarding Kamal Sheikho's disappearance, which came simply as a result of his work as a journalist.

The recent arrest of Kamal Sheikho serves only to reinforce the custom of respression in Syria. Alkarama calls on Syria to abolish its State of Emergency, which has plagued the country with human rights violations for more than forty years.