It has been confirmed the abduction of members of the Syrian Center for Documentation and Violations, among which is the lawyer and human rights activist Razan Zaitouneh, NOVACT collaborator and source of information on human rights violations in the country to the organization.
After several reports that pointed to a violent act at the Violations Documentation Center in Syria (VDC) in the city of Douma, it is confirmed that a group of armed masked men raided the VDC in the city of Douma in Rif Dimashq, on 9th December night. The militants kidnapped the members of the center who have been identified as Razan Zaitouneh, Wael Hamada, Nazem Al-Hamadi and Samira Al-Khalil in addition to vandalizing the center’s contents.
Syrian author Yassin Al Haj Saleh, husband of Samira Al-Khalil, took to his Facebook page to announce the kidnapping of his wife and plead with “anyone who can help to step up promptly.”
The Local City Council of Douma condemned in a statement issued today what it described as a “traitorous act that resembles those committed by the Assad regime.” Through the statement, the Council demanded all armed opposition factions and revolutionary forces operating on the ground to seriously take the matter into consideration and work on the immediate release of the kidnapped.
Assaad Al-Ashi, member of the Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC), told that “the kidnappers have previously planned their operation as they seemed to be intimately familiar with the area as the locals and neighbors did not report noticing anything suspicious,” adding that, “although the center has been sabotaged none of its contents were stolen.”
On the other hand, a military source affiliated with the Islamic Front in East Al-Ghouta, denied any involvement by the Front’s fighters in the incident and no group has claimed responsibility yet.
Threats to Razan Zaitouneh
The lawyer and civil rights activist Razan Zaitouneh has written frequently about the crimes, both the regime and groups within the insurgency.
Along with other members of the LCC and the VDC, reported the news of chemical attacks near Damascus, which mobilized the international community. Also, in an article published on December 1, she questioned the Islamic State of Iraq and as-Sham (ISIS) for the kidnapping of a young doctor, asserting that the prosecution of for human rights defenders was the perfect complement to the Assad regime.
[pullquote align=”left”]”I would like to remind the world that the Syrian people, who were victims to all those crimes yet still patient and persistent, are people who deserve much more than complicit silence, or timid criticism from those who have failed to refer this regime to the International Criminal Court despite acknowledging its crimes.” Razan Zaitouneh [/pullquote] The lawyer and civil activist has received threats from unidentified militants back on the 25th of September. The armed men opened fire near Zeitouneh’s hideout in East Al-Gouta, and issued threats that if she doesn’t flee the area within three days, they will kill her. Moreover, she was subject of a smear campaign by unknown parties accusing her of secret working for the regime as a double-agent.
Razan Zaitouneh, one of the LCC’s founders and the general coordinator of the violations documentation center in Syria, had been arrested by the Syrian regime several times in the past. Many journalists and activists were surprised by her decision to remain in hiding in the suburbs of Damascus with her team. But she always justified her decision by saying that her presence in the center of the conflict gave her a unique view of the events that ruined her country, Syria.
Zaitouneh has received several awards, including the Anna Politkovskaya Award for her work with women in war and in December 2011, she was chosen as one of Foreign Policy’s Global Thinkers.
International Campaign
Civil society activists, writers, journalists and lawyers have borne a heavy price during the ongoing conflict in Syria, falling victim to unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment at the hands of government security forces and, more recently, becoming targets for armed opposition groups that disapprove of their activities. In this situation, international organizations working in defense of Human Rights, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos), International Institute for Nonviolent Action (NOVACT) and so on, have launched a campaign under the name Syria: human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh and his three companions must be released unharmed, claiming that “All parties to the conflict should adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the abduction of civilians, hostage-taking and torture.”
