Khaled Awda, aged 35, was arrested on his way to work on 12 September 2012 by members of the Military Security forces, without any justification. His relatives have taken various actions before the Syrian authorities in Homs – including the Provincial Council, the Public Prosecutor, the Reconciliation Commission and the Minister of Justice – without any success.

Abdul Rahman Al Hamraoui, 36, disappeared on 20 December 2012 after having been arrested at a checkpoint controlled by the Military Security forces in Homs. A detainee informed Al Hamraoui's wife that the victim was detained in Sednaya prison in Damascus. However, despite all the steps undertaken by his family, the authorities have remained silent to this day.

Mohammed Noor Zada was 18 when he was arrested on 31 December 2012 by members of the military forces, as he was trying to flee with his father to the Homs' countryside. His family has not heard from him to date, despite addressing various authorities in Homs.

Deibo Al Khalif, 23, was arrested on 8 December 2012, in Saadallah Al Jabiri Square in Aleppo by members of the Political Security forces. Approached by his family, the Syrian authorities continue to deny his detention despite testimonies confirming that Al Khalif was taken to the Aleppo prison on 8 December 2012 before being transferred to the Air Intelligence branch in Damascus on 21 December 2012.

Jamil Al Najjar, 20, was arrested without any justification by members of State Security forces as he was returning home after class on 11 December 2012. He was reportedly arrested as he was arriving near a roundabout in the Baramkeh area of Kafr Sousa district (a municipality of Damascus) where a group of men who were arguing were being taken away by the State Security forces. Right after his arrest, the State Security forces officers raided Mr Al Najjar's house, while he was kept in the car. This was the last time that his family saw him.

Mohamed Rami Manla, 39, was arrested on 16 March 2013 at a checkpoint in Hasya controlled by the Air Intelligence forces. A few hours later, a patrol from the Air Intelligence forces went to his family's house and asked about his identity and address without giving more information or specifying that he has justjust arrested. His parents understood that he had been arrested when the officers told his father that they "were in charge of his son's case". According to his family, Manla was monitored by the Air Intelligence forces since he had attended a demonstration in Homs, in 2011.

Sabaie Sharkeyia, 35, and his brother, Alaa Sharkeyia, 31, were working when they were arrested by members of the Political Security forces on 7 July 2013 at the Al Tarbeyia barrier, in Tripoli Street, Homs. No warrant was shown nor was a justification given.

Despite all the steps that their respective families have undertaken before the Syrian authorities, to date, they have not heard anything about them since their arrests. Nor were they provided with any information about their respective fates and whereabouts. And despite the testimonies of people who witnessed their arrests, the authorities keep on denying their disappearance.

Alkarama alerted the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) over the victims' high risks of being tortured during their enforced disappearances, and asked its Chair-Rapporteur, Ariel Dulitzky to urgently intervene with the Syrian authorities and ask that they be immediately released or at least be placed under the protection of the law and that their respective families be informed of their fate.

The Syrian authorities must stop using this practice, regarded in international jurisprudence as a form of torture in itself, perpetrated not only on the disappeared person but also on his family. Therefore, even if it has not yet signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (CED), the Syrian government must respect its international obligations under the Convention against Torture (CAT) that it accessed in 2004 and stop using this practice as a means to spread terror amongst its population.

The Syrian authorities should also ratify the CED. This Saturday 30 August will mark the third International Day for the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, as declared in December 2010 by the UN General Assembly (UNGA)  which expressed its deep concern over the increase in the practice of disappearances in many regions of the world.

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