On Sunday, May 11, 2025, local residents found the body of Hussein Muhammad Khalil, a resident of the village of Hadatha in the western suburbs of Homs Governorate, in the vicinity of the village of al-Mahfoura in the western suburbs of Homs Governorate, an area under the control of the transitional government. Gunshot wounds were found on his body.
According to information obtained by SNHR from reliable local sources, Hussein was abducted on Saturday, May 10, 2025, while he was in the village of Hadatha, by unknown gunmen. His body was found the next day. It was transported to the al-Waer neighborhood hospital in Homs City to be handed over to his family.
SNHR continues to investigate the circumstances of the incident and gather more information. At the time of writing, the perpetrators’ identities remain unknown.
Legal Conclusions
- The discovery of the victim’s body bearing traces of gunshot wounds, after contact with him had been lost for an entire day, without any record of an armed clash, arrest warrant, or any judicial procedure, indicates the possibility that he was subjected to a field execution and extrajudicial killing, which constitutes a flagrant violation of Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to life.
- The disappearance of the victim for a full day without knowing his fate, and then finding him murdered, represents a form of enforced disappearance, which is prohibited under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and places legal responsibility on the party controlling the land.
- Since the area is under the control of the transitional government, the occurrence of this crime within its scope without preventive measures constitutes a failure to implement the state’s duty to protect the right to life and personal security, which violates the principle of the “duty to protect,” which obliges authorities to prevent violations in areas under their control.
Recommendations by SNHR
- Open an urgent, impartial, and transparent criminal investigation to identify those responsible for the killing of Hussein Al-Khalil, with the involvement of independent forensic experts, and make the investigation’s findings public.
- The transitional government must assume its security responsibilities by activating monitoring and response mechanisms to protect civilians in rural areas and intensifying patrols in areas with civilian activity.
- Providing urgent compensation to the victims’ families, including material and moral support, as well as psychological and social support for their families, as victims of extrajudicial killings.
- Establishing a database of unidentified killings and enforced disappearances to identify patterns and facilitate future legal accountability procedures within the framework of legal justice.
