Firas Damen al-Mheithawi, a 45-year-old writer and employee of Damascus University’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, from Suwayda city, was arrested on January 27, 2023, by Syrian regime forces at Damascus International Airport in eastern Damascus suburbs governorate where he was awaiting a flight to the UAE for work. He was taken to an undisclosed location.
The arrest was made without any court-issued legal warrant being presented. and the detainee’s family was not informed of his arrest, while his phone was seized and he was not allowed to contact his family or a lawyer.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights is concerned that he may be subjected to torture in detention and may go on to become yet another case of enforced disappearance, with 85% of all those detained falling into this category.
We call for the provision of both material and moral reparations for the victims of such detentions and their families, and call on all parties to put an end to all arbitrary detentions whose only purpose is to spread mass fear and extort people.
We also call for revealing the fate of the thousands of persons forcibly disappeared by Syrian regime forces. We have serious concerns about their fate.
