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The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:
On August 14, 2024, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the arrest of Dr. Zuhair Ibrahim Khair Beik by the Syrian regime’s Military Security Intelligence branch in Latakia governorate. Dr. Zuhair, an obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) born in 1955, was arrested along with his cousin Eyad Suhail Khair Beik, an auto parts dealer, as they were traveling from Latakia city to Kasab town in rural Latakia governorate. Following their arrest, the two, who both are Alawites, were taken to the Military Security Intelligence branch in Latakia city.
In a related incident, we also documented that 80-year-old Dr. Ahmad Mether al-Sufi, a pediatrician and cosmetic surgeon, and the owner of al-Sufi Hospital in Latakia city, was arrested almost a month later, on September 9, by personnel from the same branch. As with all other arrests carried by the Syrian regime, the three arrests were carried out without any judicial warrants being presented, further demonstrating the regime’s continuing and perpetual marginalization of the judiciary. Since their arrest, the three detainees have also been denied any opportunity to contact their families or a lawyer, or even to learn the charges against them, which is another common detention practice for the regime.
According to intelligence received by SNHR from sources close to the victims, regime forces have imposed a complete news blackout on any reporting of the three detainees’ situation, with the regime strictly prohibiting any form of communication with the men or their families, including by lawyers or human rights activists. Regime forces have also blocked all the attempts made both by the families and others close to the detainees to find out the cause of their arrests or glean any other information about their health or legal status.
Dr. Zuhair and Dr. Ahmad are both prominent figures in Latakia city, who are known for their consistent criticism of the regime’s security and economic policies. Dr. Zuhair, who previously served as the head of the doctors’ union in Latakia governorate, had earlier faced judicial pressure to cede ownership of his factory, a facility for packaging citrus fruits and vegetables, to a relative of Bashar Assad.
Despite numerous meditation attempts by prominent dignitaries in the city to persuade the regime to release the three detainees or at the very least to clarify the charges against them, the regime has flatly rejected all such appeals. In light of this continued news blackout, there are increasing concerns that they could potentially have been transferred to one of the regime’s main security branches in the capital Damascus, where detainees are held in extremely harsh conditions, and often go on to be categorized as forcibly disappeared persons.
These arrests form part of the regime’s continuing policy of silencing any critical or dissenting voices in areas under its control, regardless of the individuals’ sectarian or ethnic affiliations. We have serious concerns that these three detainees will go on to become forcibly disappeared persons, a sadly common fate for detainees in regime detention centers, where people are held for long periods of time without trial and even without any clear charges being presented against them, and where they are often subjected to systematic torture to extract confessions, or simply to punish them for their views or activism.
SNHR must stress that, by arbitrarily detaining healthcare workers and prominent figures known for publicly voicing their critical views, the Syrian regime has again violated international human rights law, and the order issued by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) on November 16, 2023, on the request to impose provisional measures against the regime in the case brought to the court by Canada and the Netherlands against the Syrian regime on the application of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This constitutes an overt challenge and violation of the Syrian regime’s international obligations, particularly in regard to protecting human rights and abstaining from torture and arbitrary detention.
SNHR condemns all detention practices by regime forces, and particularly this incident. We call for the immediate release of the three detainees, and insist that they should be compensated, materially and morally, for the harm they suffered. We also condemn all violations against medical personnel, and call on the regime to end its arbitrary detention/arrest and torture practices that only aim to spread fear and panic among Syrians regardless of their sect. Finally, we call for investigations to be launched into these incidents, and for those responsible for violations to be held to account.