Since the publication on 16 October 2005 of the "Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change", calling for peaceful change in Syria, the Syrian regime has arbitrarily detained hundreds of political and human rights activists, in an attempt to silence the growing support for the declaration. The Syrian government continues to arbitrarily detain those who oppose or criticize government policies, including community leaders, human rights activists, and pro-democracy reformers. Today, Alkarama sent the cases of Yusuf Al-Dheeb and Abdurrahman Koki as an urgent appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT) and the Special Rapporteur on the Freedom of Expression (FRDX). Both are community leaders and outspoken critics of the government, they are currently held incommunicado and are therefore at risk of torture.

On 15 November 2009, in the north-eastern town of Deir al-Zour, Yusuf Abdallah al-Dheeb  (يوسف عبد الله الذيب) was arrested from his home by armed gunmen dressed in civilian clothes - the identity of the forces responsible for his arrest remains unknown. To date, his family is still unaware of his whereabouts.

On 13 October 2009, Haitham al-Maleh, was summoned by Syrian Political Security in Damascus for an inquiry and has since vanished. He left his home on the morning of 14 October 2009 and by noon hour his phone was off - it became clear that he was disappeared. Mr. al-Maleh's disappearance is believed to be linked to a telephone interview he gave on 12 October 2009 to London-based Syrian opposition television station Barada TV during which he openly criticized Syrian authorities for their continued repression of freedom of expression. Alkarama submitted his case to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention on 20 October 2009.

Sheikh Abdurahman Koki, was arrested after being summoned to the Political Security headquarters in Damascus on 22 October 2009 upon his return from Doha after having appeared on an Al-Jazeera television show.