Global Civil Society Alliance CIVICUS joins other international, national and Syrian CSOs in condemning the gunpoint kidnapping of four Syrian human rights defenders including internationally acclaimed activist Razan Zaitouneh, the General Coordinator of the Violations Documentation Centre.
"The woman who has documented violations against humanity for three years in Syria, and defended human rights for more than a decade is now a victim of kidnapping, in a clear attempt to extinguish the reporting of truths from Syria" said Bassam Al-Ahmad, Spokesperson of the Violations Documentation "but we will continue carrying the candle she has lit."
Ironically, they were abducted on Tuesday, 10 December 2013, International Human Rights Day, from the Violations Documentation Centre in the Damascus suburb of Douma.
Ms Zaitouneh is a human rights lawyer, the founder of opposition news network the 'Local Co-ordination Committees' and the winner of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the Anna Politkovskaya Award and the International Women of Courage Award. She has been a vocal critic of both President Assad and the al-Qaeda-linked Levant group, an extremist opposition group dominating the rebel movement in northern and western Syria, and has worked tirelessly in alerting the international press of egregious human rights violations. The others abducted include Ms Zaitouneh's husband Wael Hamada, and two other activists, Samira al-Khalil, wife of author Yassin Al Haj Saleh, and Nazem al-Hamadi, a lawyer and poet.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for her kidnapping.
Mansour Omary of the Syria Media Centre said "It is neither a coincidence nor an isolated act that Razan Zaitouneh was kidnapped on International Human Rights Day. It is an antagonistic message to those who acknowledged the important and heroic work of Razan that the assailants have kidnapped the winner of all these internationally respected prizes. But those reporting on human rights atrocities in Syria will not stop with their work and will continue the fight for freedom of expression in our country".
The situation in Syria remains highly dangerous for human rights activists who are vulnerable to harsh treatment from all sides in the conflict. There is continued concern at the arbitrary detention of Mazen Dawish, human rights activist, lawyer, and the Director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression. Mazen, who was declared the Reporters Without Borders 2012 journalist of the year, was arrested and detained on 16 February 2012. He has been accused by the Syrian government of "publicizing terrorist acts" under the Syrian Anti-Terrorism Act for his work reporting on human rights violations. Amidst continued postponements of his trial, Mazin Dawish has been reportedly subjected to torture and other ill-treatment during his interrogation and imprisonment.
CIVICUS and the undersigned call upon the international community to pressure the Syrian government to investigate the kidnapping of the abducted four human rights defenders and ensure the safety and integrity of all civil society members working in Syria. We also urge that the work of the UN Commission of Inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council on Syria is not obstructed in any way in order to fulfil its essential mandate in investigating the atrocities taking place in Syria.
