At the beginning of the growing protest movement in Syria and during the increasingly violent response by the State forces, Mr Al Khatib repeatedly called on all sides to remain peaceful and expressed his support for the demonstrators' claims for respect of civil and political rights and freedoms. After giving an interview to Al Jazeera on 23 March 2012 and pronouncing his support for the peaceful opposition movement on several public occasions, such as a funeral in Duma on the outskirts of Damascus, he was arrested for the first time on 29 April 2011 and released the following day. Only a few days later, on 5 May 2011, he was summoned to the Political Security where he was, for the second time, arrested on the spot. He was released ten days later, on 15 May 2011.

Close to a year after his first arrest, on 27 April 2012, after the Syrian government committed to the six-point plan of the joint envoy of the UN and League of Arab States, Mr Al Khatib was again summoned by the Military Intelligence. They requested him to appear at their Palestine branch in Al Qazzaz, Damascus, on 27 April 2012 at 7pm. As Mr Al Khatib feared the worst, he informed many people around him of this summons and then followed the orders to appear at the security service facility. In fact, Mr Al Khatib's fearswere avered and his family and friends have not heard of him since then.

Yesterday, on 10 May 2012, two large car bombs detonated in front of the Military Intelligence's Palestine detention centre. As there are fears that inmates of the detention facility might also have been harmed, this increases the uncertainty regarding Mr Al Khatib's fate and whereabouts.

Because Mr Al Khatib's persecution and detention is related solely to acts protected by the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Alkarama considers Mr Al Khatib's unconditional and immediate release to be the only way of ending the violation of his rights and freedoms by the Syrian authorities. Alkarama therefore calls on the Syrian authorities to undertake, as a matter of urgency, all steps to release Mr Al Khatib and to honour their commitments agreed upon in the six-point-plan. This includes, de facto, putting an end to all arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances falling under their responsibility.

Alkarama today informed the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression of Moaz Al Khatib's arbitrary arrest and disappearance and asked the Special Rapportor, along with other relevant UN Special Procedures, to urgently intervene with the Syrian authorities to ensure his safe release.