Mahmoud Abdullatif Ibrahim, a journalist working at the state-run al-Thawra newspaper in his home city of Tartus, was arrested on February 25, 2024, by Syrian regime forces after being summoned to the Justice Palace in Tartus city over voicing support for the popular protests in Suwayda governorate on his personal Facebook page. He was then taken to an undisclosed location.
It should be noted that Mahmoud is in need of medical attention, as he is on several medications due to suffering from multiple illnesses. His family fears for his health condition.
We believe that Mahmoud’s arrest is related to the Counter-Cybercrime Law (Law No. 20 of 2022), which is used by the Syrian regime to justify the arrest of state employees and other citizens for expressing criticism of the poor living conditions in regime-controlled areas on social media.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that these charges rely on the use of deliberately vague phrasing to enable the Syrian regime to level them against anyone it wishes to arrest, torture, and prosecute due to their extremely broad nature that can be interpreted in any number of ways. In reality, these laws, which contradict the spirit of the law and of justice, are closer to being instruments of oppression for the regime’s security authorities than to legitimate legislation. The overwhelming majority of laws issued by the Syrian regime (whether decrees, or laws promulgated through the People’s Assembly which is completely subservient to the regime) explicitly violate international human rights law and alarmingly restrict freedom of expression.
It must be stressed that there is no such thing as freedom of expression for those living under the rule of the Syrian regime’s security apparatus which permeates every aspect of life. The aim of the Syrian regime and its policies is to silence the Syrian people and prevent any criticism and any reporting of developments on the ground, leading to violations that affect even pro-regime individuals, in tandem with the killing, arrest, and eventual permanent disappearance of the vast majority of the regime’s opponents in areas under its control. No Syrian will be able to enjoy their most basic rights without a political transition towards democracy and human rights.
