On 29 June 2023, the member states of the United Nations General Assembly voted on a draft resolution number (A/77/L.79) to establish a UN Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria. The resolution was passed by a majority of 83 countries and 11 opposed 62 countries abstained from voting.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has long called for such an initiative, and welcomes the approval of this important resolution, which means a lot to tens of thousands of missing persons in Syria and their families. GCHR will do its best to support the work of this Institution.

On such a historical occasion, GCHR will continue to work on the cases of the missing human rights defenders, some of whom are mentioned below.

On 02 October 2012, a group of armed men in civilian clothes arrested human rights lawyer Khalil Matouk, and his colleague and assistant Mohammed Zaza, at a checkpoint positioned on the Syria/Jordan international Highway. Matouk was arrested as he was on his way from home in Sahnaya to his office in the capital Damascus. It’s believed that this group of armed men is part of the security forces in Syria.

Matouk is a prominent human rights lawyer, and executive director of the Syrian Centre for Legal Studies and Research, who defended peaceful activists for more than 20 years. 

Following his arrest, he was taken to an unknown destination where he remains held incommunicado together with his colleague. Matouk is suffering from some chronic health problems. 

They were arrested at a government security checkpoint solely due to their legitimate and peaceful work in human rights.

Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada, Samira Khalil and Nazem Hammadi were abducted by a group of armed men on 09 December 2013, in Douma, a city outside Damascus which was at the time under the control of a number of armed opposition groups.

Razan Zaitouneh is a prominent human rights lawyer, activist, and journalist in Syria. Razan has dedicated her life to defending political prisoners, documenting crimes against humanity, and helping others free themselves from oppression and starvation. She was a finalist for the Martin Ennals Award in 2016.