Detention and Disappearance

34-year-old software engineer Bassel was arrested on 15 March 2012 by members of Branch 251 of the Military Security and has been arbitrarily detained since. Bassel's situation became even more alarming when, on 3 October 2015, prison authorities asked him to gather his belonging in his cell at Adra prison and transferred him to an unknown location. Bassel's wife, Noura, became aware of his transfer through other prisoners, as the prison authorities refuse to provide any information on his transfer or current whereabouts.

Alkarama is particularly concerned over his physical integrity, especially considering the security situation in Syria and the fact that he has already disappeared and been tortured before. After his arrest in 2012, Bassel disappeared for over nine months, during which he was severely tortured. Following that period, he was transferred to Adra prison, where he remained detained until his latest transfer and subsequent disappearance on 3 October.

On 9 December 2012, Bassel was brought before a military Prosecutor, who charged him with "spying for an enemy State" under articles 272 and 274 of the Syrian Criminal Code. To date, however, he has not yet been tried. This prolonged pre-trial detention has led the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) to issue an Opinion considering Bassel's detention arbitrary and asking for his immediate release.

Work as a Freedom of Expression Activist

Bassel Khartabil has been instrumental in spreading the use of open web technologies across the Arab world and advocating for free internet by building knowledge of digital literacy and education about social media and open-source tools.

Through his innovations on social media, he was credited with opening up the internet in Syria and was awarded the Index on Censorship Digital Freedom Award in 2013. When massive protests broke out against Bashar Al Assad's regime in 2011, he was running a community technology space for youth called Aiki Lab. The following year, he was ranked by Foreign Policy as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2012 for "insisting, against all odds, on a peaceful Syrian revolution."

Actions to Free Bassel

In view of these facts, Alkarama seized the WGEID asking this UN special procedure on human rights to call upon the Syrian authorities to release Bassel immediately or, at the very least, to put him under the protection of the law by disclosing his whereabouts and allowing his family to visit him without restriction. At the same time, Bassel's friends and family are engaged in a campaign on his behalf.

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 1008).