We continue to be informed of cases of disappearance and have, among others, submitted the situation of the following individuals to the UN Working Group of Enforced Disappearance as well as other relevant UN Special Procedures:

Mr Ibrahim Taha and his brother, Mr Taha Taha, were arrested in late November 2011 and early December 2011, respectively. On 28 November 2011, Ibrahim Taha was informed that a relative had been brought to Al Razi Hospital in Al Mazza, Damascus. When the 32-year-old father of two arrived on the grounds of the hospital, this proved to be an ambush as agents of the Air Force Intelligence were waiting there to arrest him. He managed to call his family several days later and a recently released detainee confirmed that Ibrahim Taha was held at the Air Force Intelligence detention centre in Al Mazza military airport in the outskirts of Damascus. The witness further implied that Ibrahim Taha was in a deplorable health condition due to the torture he is subjected to.

After Ibrahim Taha's arrest, his brother Taha Taha came to realise that he was under constant observation. He was indeed arrested a week later, on 5 December 2011, when agents of the Air Force Intelligence in civilian clothing came to his workplace at the Ministry of Housing in Al Qudsiya, Rif Damascus Governorate. It is believed that he, too, is held in Al Mazza military airport and was subjected to severe torture. However, othe family has no means of contacting any of the Taha brothers and their location and physical condition is now unknown.

Mr Nabil Al Shurbaji was arrested on 26 February 2012, after he and two of his friends were stopped by agents of the Air Force Intelligence at a checkpoint in Daraya, Rif Dimashq Governorate. Upon showing his ID card, Mr Al Shurbaji was immediately pulled out of the car and taken away. Since then, Mr Al Shurbaji has disappeared, but there are reasons to believe that he is detained at Al Mazza military airport. Based on accounts of individuals which tell of the systematic use of torture in this detention facility, Alkarama fears for Mr Al Shurbaji's life.

Mr Al Shurbaji is a member of 'Shabab Daraya', a group of committed citizens undertaking actions such as campaigns against smoking or organising marches in solidarity with the Iraqi people when the U.S. Armed Forces invaded the country in 2003. Until his arrest, Mr Al Shurbaji also participated in peaceful demonstrations against the Syrian government and we believe that his recent disappearance is linked to his legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of opinion and expression and to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. We recall that many members of his family have been subjected to arbitrary arrests, disappearance and torture, including the siblings Yahya and Mohamed 'Ma'an' Al Shurbaji who disappeared over 5 months ago.

On 19 February 2012 at 11 am, Mr Fady Kahlous and his brother-in-law, Mr Mohammad Tawfiq Anjileh, were arrested by armed agents of the security forces in Al Afif district, Damascus, after a raid of Mr Kahlous' temporary residence in Damascus. The men forced their way into the apartment after blocking the street with civilian cars and when they found Mr Kahlous and Mr Anjileh, they arrested them and drove them to an unknown location. Since then, Mr Kahlous' and Mr Anjileh's family and friends have lost all contact with them.

Alkarama considers the wide-spread use of enforced disappearance to be one of the worst forms of torture, as not only the victim himself, deprived of most basic rights guaranteed by international law, but also his family and friends suffer from the uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones. We therefore urge the Syrian authorities to ensure that Mr Ibrahim and Taha Taha, Mr Nabil Al Shurbaji and his relatives as well as Mr Fadi Kahlous and his brother-in-law, Mr Mohammad Anjileh, be immediately released or placed under the protection of the law.