On Friday, June 13, 2025, local residents found the bodies of civilians Muhammad Walid Darwish and Hadi Muhammad Qasim, both residents of the Karm al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Homs, behind the Khalidiya clinic in Homs, an area under the control of the transitional government. Traces of gunfire were found on their bodies.
According to information obtained by the Syrian Network for Human Rights from reliable local sources, civilians Mohammed Darwish and Hadi Qasim were kidnapped by unknown gunmen while they were at work inside the electricity distribution office in the Al-Adawiya neighborhood of Homs, hours before their bodies were found.
SNHR continues to investigate the circumstances of the incident and gather more information. As of this writing, the identity of the party responsible for the crime has not been confirmed.
Legal Conclusions
- The discovery of the bodies of victims Hamada Darwish and Hood Al-Hashem, both bearing gunshot wounds, after they were abducted from their workplace without any recorded armed conflict, arrest warrant, or any judicial process, indicates the possibility of their being subjected to extrajudicial execution. This 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 two victims for hours without knowing their fate, then their subsequent discovery of their bodies, constitutes a form of enforced disappearance, 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 jurisdiction without preventive measures constitutes a failure to fulfill the state’s duty to protect the right to life and personal security. This 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 Hamada Darwish and Hood Al-Hashem, 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 of active civilian activity.
- Provide urgent compensation to the families of the victims, including material and moral support, as well as 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 measures, within the framework of legal justice.
