On Monday, July 7, 2025, local residents found the bodies of Bassam Mahfouz Mansour and his wife, Manal al-Youssef , both from the village of Mushta al-Shalahma in the Saqilbia district of western Hama province, on the outskirts of the village of Ain al-Krum in the Hama countryside, after losing contact with them for a day. It should be noted that the area is under the control of the transitional government. Their bodies showed signs of gunshot wounds.
According to information obtained by the Syrian Network for Human Rights from reliable local sources, contact with Bassam and Manal was lost on Sunday, July 6, 2025, after they went to an agricultural field on the outskirts of the village of Ain al-Krom to pick grape leaves. Contact with them was lost that day, and their bodies were found the following day.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights continues to investigate the circumstances of the incident and gather more information about it. At the time of writing, the identity of the party responsible for the crime has not been confirmed.
Legal conclusions:
- The discovery of the bodies of the two victims, Bassam Mansour and his wife Manal al-Youssef, with gunshot wounds, after losing contact with them, without any record of an armed clash, arrest warrant, or any judicial procedure, indicates the possibility that they were subjected to extrajudicial execution and killing, which is a flagrant violation of Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to life.
- The absence of the two victims for a whole day without knowing their fate, and then finding them killed, constitutes a pattern of enforced disappearance, which is prohibited under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
- 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, which violates the principle of “duty to protect” that obliges the authorities to prevent violations in areas under their control.
Recommendations of the Syrian Network for Human Rights:
- Open an urgent, impartial, and transparent criminal investigation to identify those responsible for the deaths of Bassam Mansour and his wife, Manal al-Youssef, with the involvement of independent criminal experts, and publish the results of the investigation to the public.
- The transitional government should assume its security responsibilities by activating monitoring and response mechanisms to protect civilians in civilian and public areas and intensifying patrols in areas with civilian activity.
- Provide 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.
- Establish a database of unknown killings and enforced disappearances to identify patterns and facilitate future legal accountability within the framework of legal justice.
