26 February 2015
Mr Ariel Dulitzky
Chairperson-Rapporteur
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
8-14, avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10
BY EMAIL: wgeid@ohchr.org, sr-torture@ohchr.org, coisyria@ohchr.org, OHCHR-SyMT@ohchr.org, mfernandez@ohchr.org
Copy to: Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Syria Monitoring Team Leader, Syria Desk Officer
Re: Syria – Enforced Disappearance of two political activists from Hama governorate
Alk ref: 2014-2021-2022
Syria has acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) on 21 April 1969 and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) on 19 August 2004.
Mr Chairman, distinguished members of the Working Group,
We write to bring to your attention the case of two Syrian political activists who were arrested in Hama governorate by members of Syrian Security Forces between October 2011 and April 2012 and subsequently disappeared. Their fate and whereabouts remain concealed to date.
We refer to:
Mujahid Khattab (مجاهد الخطاب) is aged 47 (born on 5 June 1968). He is married and lives in the town of Taybat Al Imam in Hama governorate. He was a political activist during the Syrian revolution.
Hossam Ajoj (حسام عجوج) is aged 39 (born on 21 October 1976). He is married and works as a salesperson. He usually lives in 8 March Street in Al-Hawwarna neighbourhood in Hama. He was a political activist during the Syrian revolution.
Abduction and enforced disappearance
Mr Mujahid Khattab’s arrest and enforced disappearance
On 30 April 2012, Mr Khattab was stopped by a patrol of the Syrian Army at the “Al Mahrouqa” checkpoint, situated between Tabyat Al Imam and the village of Al Lataminah, in the governorate of Hama. According to the testimony of his nephew Mr Hayan Al Aswad who witnessed the incident, the members of the patrol, dressed in military clothes, arrested Mr Khattab without providing any arrest warrant or any justification for his arrest. This was the last time Mr Khattab was seen.
Mr Khattab was wanted by the regime’s Security Forces and the army because of his peaceful political activity during the revolution. For instance, the Security Services had already raided his house several times before his arrest. On 7 March 2012, during the last incursion by members of the Security Forces, his house was set on fire.
Fearing retaliation, his family did not file any formal complaint with the Syrian authorities. As his fate and whereabouts remain concealed to date, Mr Khattab has disappeared for more than two and a half years.
Mr Hossam Ajoj’s arrest and enforced disappearance
On 17 October 2011, Mr Ajoj was stopped and arrested by a patrol of the Air Force Intelligence near the Al Alaja roundabout in Hama. No arrest warrant or justification for the arrest was provided. As a political activist during the Syrian revolution, he was wanted by Syrian Security Services.
Mr Ajoj was last seen on 31 November 2014 in Branch 215 of the Department of Military Intelligence situated in Ameriya neighbourhood in Damascus by a former detainee.
His family did not file and formal complaint with the authorities, in fear of reprisals.
Requests
In light of the information presented above, we consider these to be cases of disappearance falling under your mandate and solicit your intervention with the Syrian authorities to ensure Messrs Mujahid Khattab and Hossam Ajoj be immediately released or at least be put under the protection of the law.
We respectfully request you to ask the Syrian authorities to inform their families of their fate and whereabouts and to allow them to be in contact with them without restrictions.
Moreover, we have grave concerns over their fate since they are at high risk of being tortured while detained. The widespread and systematic recourse to torture in Syrian detention centres is in fact well-documented[1], in particular in the branches of the Military Intelligence where Mr Ajoj would be detained.
We further request that the systematic practice of enforced disappearance be stopped and solicit your intervention with the Syrian authorities to ensure all appropriate measures to abolish it be taken.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we can be of any assistance.
Yours faithfully,
Me Rachid Mesli Me Amal Al Naasan
Director, Legal department, Alkarama President, Human Rights Guardians
Enclosed:
- Mr Mujahid Khattab’s WGEID form
- Mr Hossam Ajoj’s WGEID form
[1]I.e. Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, A/HRC/28/69, para. 73.