Languages
Available In
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has briefed the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances on the case of the citizen, Walid Qasem al-Fahad, born in 1976, who was working as an auto mechanic at the time of his arrest. Walid who is originally from Shab’a town of al-Mleiha subdistrict in Rural Damascus governorate, was living in Qab Elias in Zahle district in the Bekaa governorate in Lebanon at the time of his arrest. He was arrested by Assad regime forces personnel on March 4, 2013, at the Jdaidet Yabous (al Masnaa) border crossing between Syria and Lebanon, located northwest of Damascus governorate, while he was returning from Lebanon. He was then taken to an undisclosed location. Since that date, he has been forcibly disappeared. His fate remains unknown to the SNHR, as well as to his family.
SNHR has also briefed the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, as well as briefing the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, specifically in regard to the case of the citizen Walid Qasem al-Fahad.
The Assad regime has consistently denied its enforced disappearance of Walid Qasem al-Fahad. As such, neither SNHR nor his family have been able to determine his fate.
SNHR must stress the paramount importance of addressing the issue of enforced disappearance in Syria. Crimes of enforced disappearance constitute a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Arab Charter on Human Rights, both of which have been ratified by Syria. These crimes are also not subject to the statute of limitation.
