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Naef Al Refai, a Syrian military judge arrested on 22 March 2012 and disappeared for two years, is currently arbitrarily detained in Sednaya Prison, near Damascus. His family, who was able to visit him for the first time on 30 March 2014, told Alkarama that Naef was in a poor health condition as he had lost about 60 kgs, his teeth were broken and he could barely walk. Extremely concerned about Naef's current situation, Alkarama solicited today the urgent intervention of the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention with the Syrian authorities to request that they put an end to his arbitrary detention and ensure that his right to life and to physical and mental integrity are respected in line with their international obligations.
Naef's sister arrest and torture: A Prelude to his own detention
Hanada Al Refai, Naef's sister, was arrested by members of the military forces in mid-March 2012 because of her activism against Al Assad's regime, both through online and on-field activities. She was held in secret detention for seven months in Harasta, an Air Force Intelligence Branch's complex, and tortured during the first two weeks of her detention. She was beaten up with cables and sticks and continuously subjected to harassment and humiliation. She was eventually released in October 2013. After his sister's arrest, Naef Al Refai went to different security services to locate her but they refused to provide him with any information.
One week after, on 21 March 2012, unidentified armed men came to Naef's house in Damascus. As no one was home, they left a mobile number to his neighbors for him to call when he would be back.
When Mr. Al Refai came back home, he called the Director of his department, Major General Morhef Homsi to get some information about the armed men who had visited him earlier. The Major General told Mr. Al Refai that the agents belonged to Damascus' Intelligence Services and that he should contact them. The Major General finally said that they certainly came because of Mr. Al Refai's inquiry about his sister's whereabouts.
Naef asked "to stay overnight" at the Intelligence Services' Branch...
On 22 March 2012, Mr. Al Refai went to Al Kiswah district (south of Damascus) to visit the Intelligence Services' Branch. He was told that the Brigadier General would not be in office before 8 p.m. and that he should come back then, which he did.
When his family tried to contact him at around 11 p.m., they realised that the victim's phone was not ringing anymore. His family then contacted the Major General to inquire about Mr Al Refai's situation and he told them that Mr. Al Refai was asked to "stay overnight" at the Branch and that he should be released on 24 March at the latest. However, the victim never came out of the Branch and his family finally heard that he was detained in Mezzeh military airport, where he was detained for three months before being transferred to Sidnaya prison where he remains detained to date.
Naef had been sentenced to 10 years in prison...
In February 2014, Alkarama received information that he had been sentenced to ten years of imprisonment for having "conspired to change the political system of the state" and released peaceful protesters "without consulting the Intelligence Services". Such accusations go against the necessary independence of judges in the fulfillment of their mandate. His sentence had later been reduced on appeal to seven and a half years of imprisonment after a speedy trial conducted without the presence of any lawyer, in violation of the fair trial international standards.
Naef reappears in Sednaya prison ...
Naef Al Refai's family was finally allowed to visit him on 30 March 2014 in Sednaya prison. They could only see him for ten minutes under surveillance and were kept at distance, behind bars. He was in a terrible condition as he had lost a lot of weight (about 60 kgs), his teeth were broken and he could barely walk.
Alkarama is extremely concerned about Mr. Al Refai's fate as his health is seriously deteriorating and we have reasons to believe he is also at high risk of torture and mistreatment. The threshold that is being reached leads us to consider the victim's current situation as life-threatening. Today, Alkarama solicited the urgent intervention of the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention with the Syrian authorities to request that they take measures to put an end to Mr Al Refai's arbitrary detention and to ensure that his right to life and to physical and mental integrity are respected in line with their international obligations. Conditions of detention remain particularly harsh and life threatening in Syria and reports of torture, mistreatments and abuse of prisoners are common.