02 April 2015

Syria: Three Syrians Disappeared Since their Arrest by Members of the Syrian Intelligence Services Over 2 Years Ago

Abdul Rahman Al-Rifai, 31, disappeared since his arrest by Syria's Military Intelligence on 23 November 2012 Abdul Rahman Al-Rifai, 31, disappeared since his arrest by Syria's Military Intelligence on 23 November 2012

On 16 March 2015, Alkarama and Human Rights Guardians sent a communication to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances (WGEID) concerning the cases of Mohamed and Walid Ramadan and Abdul Rahman Al-Rifai, who disappeared since their respective arrests at a checkpoint in Homs by members of the Air Force Intelligence and the Military Security in November 2012.

In the morning of 14 November 2012, Walid Ramadan, a 55-year-old mechanic and shop owner, and his 16-year-old son, Mohamed were travelling by car when they were stopped at a checkpoint located between the neighbourhood of Masakin Al Moualemin and that of Masakin Al Ta'menat, in Homs. There, they were arrested by members of the Air Forces Intelligence – one of Syria's four military security divisions, nominally affiliated to the Ministry of Defence – some dressed in military clothes and others in plain clothes, who did not provide any arrest warrant and asked Mohamed and Walid to put their t-shirts over their heads before reportedly taking them to the Air Forces branch in Homs.

Without news from them, in early December 2013 the family submitted their case before the National Reconciliation Commission based in Homs, and inquired a second time, but their search did not yield any result. Walid and Mohamed's fates and whereabouts remain unknown to date.

On 23 November 2012, Abdul Rahman Al-Rifai, a 31-year-old blacksmith was travelling back home with his mother and his two children on a bus from Damascus when members of the Military Intelligence Directorate or "Military Security", also nominally affiliated to the Ministry of Defence, stopped them at a checkpoint in Homs. Al Rifai was allegedly asked to get off the bus as his name was similar to another person that the Syrian Army was looking for. His mother was told that he would be released in two days, but he never came back.

Worried about his fate, Al Rifai's mother went to the police station of Qalamoun as well as to Adra prison, to see if he might be detained there, but with no results. Al Rifai's aunt, a lawyer, also inquired in the Homs province, but no information could be found on his fate and whereabouts, which also remain unknown to date.

In light of this information, Alkarama sent a communication to the WGEID to call upon the Syrian authorities to investigate Mohamed and Walid and Al Rifai's cases and reveal their whereabouts, to allow their families to visit them without restriction and release them immediately. The systematic practice of enforced disappearance has to be stopped and the Syrian authorities need to ensure all appropriate measures to abolish it.

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)

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