On 15 August 2012, 30-year-old Radwan Al-Hilawe was arrested from his house by a patrol of the Syrian Army wearing military uniforms. They did not provide any arrest warrant at the time of the arrest. According to his wife, who witnessed the incident, Radwan Al-Hilawe was beaten up and forced into a military jeep which took him away. To this day, his fate and whereabouts are unknown. Fearing reprisals, his family did not file any formal complaint with Syrian authorities.

On 4 September 2012, 42-year-old Abdul Razak Mubarak was travelling from Homs to Damascus but never came home. His family believes that he was arrested at a checkpoint by members of the Security Forces, in control of the area at the time. Abdul Razak was last seen by a former detainee on 1 October 2012 in Branch No. 215 of the Military Intelligence in Damascus, sadly one of the most notorious detention centres where torture is practiced. His fate and whereabouts also remain unknown to date.

Worried about his fate, his family filed a complaint with the Criminal Security Branch in Homs and the Military Police Branch in Qaboun, Damascus. They were however always denied any information on the fate and whereabouts of Abdul Razak.

In light of this information, Alkarama sent a communication to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) to call upon the Syrian authorities to investigate the cases of Radwan and Abdul and disclose their whereabouts, to allow their families to visit them without restriction and release them immediately. The systematic practice of enforced disappearance has to be stopped and the Syrian authorities need to ensure all appropriate measures to abolish it are taken.

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