On 3 March 2015, Alkarama and Human Rights Guardians sent a communication to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID), regarding the disappearance of three Syrian citizens in Latakia between August 2011 and August 2012 following their arrest by members of the Security Forces.
Ammar Qadour, a 34-year-old carpenter, was arrested at his father's house on 11 August 2011 during a night raid by a patrol of the Political Security Forces, the State Security and the armed forces. Arrested with his father who was later released, they were detained together for 23 days from 27 August to 19 September 2011 in Branch 291 of the Military Intelligence in Damascus. This was the last time Ammar was seen. His fate and whereabouts remain unknown to date.
Alaa Ali Dib, a 29-year-old political activist, was arrested on 18 August 2012 in 8 March Street in Latakia during a night raid by agents of the Military Security in wearing civilian clothes. According to his family, he was wanted by the Military Security – who had already raided his house three times before his arrest – because of his peaceful political activism against the regime during the Syrian revolution. His fate and whereabouts also remain unknown since the date of his arrest.
Ahmed Saleh, aged 42, is a deserter from the Security Forces. He disappeared following his arrest on 6 December 2012 by members of the Security Forces at a checkpoint situated in the city of Latakia. His family reports that he was, in fact, wanted by the Security Forces since his defection. He has been missing since his arrest.
Unlike Alaa and Ahmed's families who did not file any formal complaint with the Syrian authorities, Ammar's relatives filed formal complaints with the authorities, including the military police. However, they were always denied information on Ammar's fate and whereabouts.
Left with no internal recourse, they contacted Alkarama and Human Rights Guardians, who subsequently called upon the WGEID to demand the Syrian authorities to investigate their cases and release them immediatly. Denounced by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic as part of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population by governmental forces, the practice of enforced disappearance must come to an end. Syrian authorities need to ensure that all appropriate measures to abolish it are taken.
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