Moheeb Alnawathy, author of Hamas from the Inside

Moheeb Alnawathy, a 39-year-old Palestinian journalist and human rights defender, is believed to have been disappeared by Syrian Intelligence services in the Geramanah area of Damascus on 5 January 2011.

Mr Alnawathy had flown out to Damascus from Olso on 28 December 2010, to complete a research project for the upcoming edition of his book, Hamas from the Inside.

On Monday, 17 January 2011, Ziad Ramadan was brought before a judge for the first time since his arrest more than 5 years ago, on 20 July 2005. This comes only a few weeks after a United Nations working group adopted an opinion in which they state that "the deprivation of liberty of Mr Ramadan is arbitrary" and call on the Syrians to "immediately release Mr. Ramadan and accord him reparation". Alkarama calls on the Syrian government to respect the UN's call for Mr Ramadan's release.

Radeef Mustafa, a Syrian human rights lawyer who often defends Syrians prisoners of conscience pro bono, faced being debarred by the Syrian Bar Association under charges of, inter alia, "threatening state security" and "spreading false news". A hearing before the Bar Association was set for 30 January 2011. Fearing that this hearing would be the prelude to other persecutions, Alkarama submitted his case to several human rights mechanisms of the United Nations on Friday 28 January, and transmitted the information to the International Union of Lawyers (UIA) who were to be attending the hearing in Damascus. The hearing was postponed till 3 April 2011, but the threat to Mr Mustafa remains.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has adopted an Opinion calling on the Syrian government to "release Mr Haitham Al Maleh and accord him an enforceable right to compensation". Mr Al Maleh, the 80-year-old Syrian human rights lawyer and Laureate of the 2010 Alkarama award, remains detained in Damascus' Adra prison, suffering from bad health and difficult conditions of detention.