The SNHR has briefed the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on the case of the child Ahmad al Khatib, from al Dabeit neighborhood in Idlib city, a secondary school student who was aged 16 at the time of his arrest. SNHR urged the UN body to demand that the Syrian authorities release him immediately. Ahmad was arrested arbitrarily on September 26, 2012, in a raid on his place of residence in al Nakhla square area in al Dabeit neighborhood in Idlib city by the Syrian Regime’s State Security forces. He was last seen in early January 2012 in the State Security branch in Idlib city. He has not been seen since that date at any security branch or prison. His fate remains unknown to the SNHR as well as to his family.
The Syrian authorities have denied any connection with the disappearance of the child Ahmad al Khatib. The SNHR has been unable to determine his fate, as have his family members, who fear that they may be arrested and tortured by regime personnel themselves if they continue to ask about his whereabouts and fate, as has happened in numerous previous cases.