On Monday, May 26, 2025, local residents in the Souq al-Hal area of al-Waer neighborhood in Homs city found the body of Samer Fahim Afara, a resident of the village of al-Mazra’a in Homs countryside, who was a person with a disability (he had a prosthetic leg). On his body gunshot wounds were found, and his hands were bound.
SNHR note that the area is under the control of the transitional government.
According to information obtained by SNHRfrom reliable local sources, Samer was kidnapped by unknown gunmen, hours before he was found near Talat Rakan in the Al-Waer neighborhood.
SNHR continues to investigate the circumstances of the incident and gather more information. It has not yet been able to identify the party responsible for the killing.
Legal Conclusions
- The discovery of a body bearing traces of gunshot wounds, after contact with it had been lost for several hours, without any record of an armed clash, arrest warrant, or any judicial procedure, indicates the possibility that they were 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 several hours without knowing his fate, and then his being found 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 territory.
- 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 Samer Afara, with the involvement of independent criminal experts, and publish the results of the investigation to the public.
- The transitional government assumes its security responsibilities by activating monitoring and response agencies 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, in addition to psychological and social support for their families, as they are victims of extrajudicial killing.
- Establish a database of unidentified killings and enforced disappearances, to identify patterns and facilitate future legal accountability procedures, within the framework of legal justice.
