The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) expresses its deep sorrow over the killing of women’s rights activist Heba Suhaib Haj Arif in Syria, and sends its deep condolences to her family and colleagues.

On 27 February 2024, she was found murdered in her home in the city of Bazaa in the eastern countryside of Aleppo Governorate. Local sources reported that she was hanged, while other reports stated that she was strangled to death.

Haj Arif was a member of the Syrian Women’s Network, and previously worked as a member of the Local Council of the city of Bazaa in May 2023, before she was forced to resign. She is married, a mother of two children, and lived with her husband in the city of Baza’a. Before her murder, she worked as the director of the boys’ department of a school affiliated with the organisation Yeni Adam, which means “the new step” in Arabic.

Sources close to her confirmed that she had received threats two weeks before her murder to resign from working in this organisation, but she submitted her complaint to the town police, which is controlled by gunmen from the Al-Hamza Division.

GCHR condemns in the strongest terms this heinous murder of Heba Suhaib Haj Arif, and believes that it is undoubtedly linked to her tireless work in defending the rights of women in her region and her tireless efforts to empower them.

GCHR calls on the local authorities in the city of Baza’a to conduct an independent, comprehensive and rapid investigation to uncover the group that carried out the killing of the feminist activist Heba Suhaib Haj Arif and to refer them to a fair trial. They must also provide all means of protection for women in general and feminist activists in particular, so that they are able to Carry out their peaceful and professional work.