After being arrested for not being able to prove his legal entry in Lebanon, Al Faraj was detained incommunicado for 25 days, during which he was severely beaten up, sometimes while hanged from the ceiling, deprived of food and water and had his life threatened. Following these acts of torture, Al Faraj was forced to sign confessions he was not allowed to read. On 28 December 2015, the Military Court sentenced him to 5 years in prison and a fine of 100,000 Lebanese pounds for belonging to a terrorist group and being involved in clashes with Lebanese soldiers at the border with Syria. His conviction was based solely on the confessions he made under torture.

Al Faraj appealed his conviction to the Military Court of Cassation, affirming that he had been tortured in detention, but his appeal was rejected and no investigation was opened into his allegations. Left with no other recourse at the national level, Al Faraj's family reached out to Alkarama to bring his case before the UN human rights mechanisms.

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