Ziad Ramadan, the 34 year old Syrian who was arrested by the Syrians authorities in July 2005 as they alleged he was "a key witness" by the Special Tribunal in Lebanon (STL) for investigations into the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Mr Ramadan remained detained in the Palestine Branch of Damascus Prison, where he suffered from a serious deterioration of his physical and mental health. The 17 January 2011 hearing before the State Security Court was postponed to 21 February 2011. "After 5 years without any judicial proceedings against Ziad, we hope that the State Security Court will hear the United Nation's opinion and release him," said Sumaya Ramadan, Ziad's sister "It has been very difficult for us to live without him for so long, and we look forward to seeing him free again."

On 19 November 2010, the United Nations Working Group adopted Opinion No. 24/2010 regarding this case in which they described how, by detaining Ziad Ramadan, the Syrian state was in breach of its international obligations on numerous counts, in particular its duties under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The Working Group considers that the Syrian state has not informed Ziad Ramadan of the charges against him (ICCPPR article 9.2); have not promptly brought him before a judge or tried him (ICCPR article 9.3); have not allowed him to challenge his detention (ICCPR article 9.4) and have not provided him with compensation for his time in arbitrary detention (ICCPR article 9.5).

Furthermore, the government, in its responses to the UN which are mentioned in the opinion, said it was holding Mr Ramadan for three reasons: his protection, his importance as a key witness in the Hariri investigations and for links with a terrorist organisation.

The United Nation's Working Group states that the Syrian government failed to show how Ziad Ramadan's detention was proportionate to the government's aim of protecting him and ensuring that he was available for interrogation by the STL.

Indeed, upon Alkarama's request, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon confirmed in November 2010 that "the Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon does not expect to call Mr. Ramadan as a witness" and "that neither the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission nor the Office of the Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon requested the detention of Mr. Ramadan."

Finally, the UN opinion stated that the Syrian government was unable to give details of actual actions or names of the terrorist organisation to which Mr Ramadan was allegedly linked.