On 9 March 2012, Mustafa Al Bitar, a 36 year-old driver, was travelling by taxi towards the Al Waer neighbourhood in Homs when he was stopped at the checkpoint situated in Tripoli road in Homs' Education Directorate, a branch of the Syrian Ministry of Education. There, he was arrested by a patrol of the Political Security controlling the checkpoint, which did not provide any arrest warrant or justification. A friend who witnessed the accident reported that the Security Forces insulted and beat him before taking him away.

His brother, Mohammed Moatz Al Bitar, who suffers from a leg injury, had already been arrested and detained in the past, together with their brother Bilal. On 30 May 2013, Mohammed Moataz Al Bitar was arrested again at his house during a raid conducted by members of the Political Security, who did not provide any justification for the arrest. Mohammed has been missing since.

As Mohammed and his other brothers had already been arrested in the past, their relatives did not file any formal complaint with the Syrian authorities for fear of suffering the same fate. Left with no recourse at the national level, their family contacted Human Rights Guardians and Alkarama as a final resort, who subsequently called upon the WGEID to demand that the authorities open an investigation into the Al Bitar brothers' disappearances and call for their immediate release. The Syrian authorities should be reminded, once again, that the practice of enforced disappearance has to stop and that all measures to abolish it must be taken.

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Dir: +41 22 734 1007 Ext: 810)