Syria: New Case of Enforced Disappearance in Homs since May 2013

On 29 October 2015 Alkarama and Human Rights Guardians sent a communication to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) regarding the case of Ahmad Shamma, a 33-year-old self-employed professional who disappeared from Homs after his arrest by members of the Syrian army, the Military Intelligence Division and other members of the security forces.

On 19 May 2013, Ahmad was driving from Damascus to Homs with three relatives, when they were stopped at the Tadmor roundabout checkpoint in Homs by the patrol controlling the checkpoint composed by members of the Syrian army, the Military Intelligence Division and other members of the security forces dressed in military and civilian clothes. Informed that his name was on a list of wanted persons and that they had to hold him for investigation as it could just be a question of matching names, Ahmad was arrested without being shown a warrant. His family, however, remained without news from him since his arrest, as no information was ever provided to them by the authorities.

Worried about his fate, Ahmad's relatives inquired in different detention centres in Homs affiliated to the security forces, such as the Military Intelligence Branch, but no avail. They also appointed a lawyer, who could not locate him either.

Left with no resort at the national level, Ahmad's relatives contacted Alkarama and Human Rights Guardians, hoping that the two organisations could help them shed light on Ahmad's fate and whereabouts. Alkarama and Human Rights Guardians then submitted his case to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), demanding to call upon it to ask the Syrian authorities to release him immediately or, at very least, to put him under the protection of the law by disclosing his whereabouts and allowing his family to visit him without restriction.

"The total arbitrariness of the reasons provided for Ahmad's arrest who subsequently led to his disappearance is appalling," comments Rachid Mesli, Legal Director at Alkarama, "and this is just one example of the huge number of people enforcedly disappeared by the Syrian authorities without any other apparent reason than spreading terror among the Syrian population."

Concerned over the widespread use of enforced disappearances and the systematic practice of torture in Syrian prisons, Alkarama calls upon the Syrian authorities to:

• Put an end to the systematic violation of human rights, especially enforced disappearances and torture;
• Prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes; and
• Open investigations into all reported cases of disappearances.

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008)