Ms Parvaz had flown to Damascus from Doha on 29 April 2011 in order to report on protests in the country. She was immediately arrested on arrival at Damascus airport after trying to enter the country.
After sources submitted information concerning her to Alkarama, an urgent appeal was sent to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture on 3 May 2011 as there were serious fears that Dorothy Parvaz was at high risk of mistreatment and even torture during her disappearance. Since her arrival at Damascus airport, no one had been able to obtain any news as to her whereabouts and fate, and mistreatment and torture is widespread in Syrian prisons.
The Syrian authorities declared on 4 May that she had been expelled to Iran for travelling on an expired Iranian passport, but this remained unconfirmed as Ms Parvaz did not reappear following her expulsion. It was finally on Wednesday 18 May that Al Jazeera announced she had been released that same day, and that she was safe and in good health and that she had been returned to Doha from Iran.
After arriving in Qatar she explained that she was detained in a Syrian detention center for three days before being sent to Iran. She explained that the security agents had behaved like "thugs" and that she could hear the pleas and cries of men, young and old, being savagely beaten close to her cell.
Dorothy Parvaz remains convinced that she was sent to Iran because Syria does not want Al-Jazeera reporting on the current deteriorating situation in the country. The authorities reproach the Qatari news channel but also other international channels of exaggerating protests. Alkarama calls on the Syrian authorities to respect the right to freedom of expression, and respect Human Rights Council resolution S16-1 to "immediately cease any intimidation, persecution or arbitrary arrests of individuals, including lawyers, human rights defenders and journalists".