Concern following the enforced disappearance of human rights lawyer Khalil Maatouk

SYRIA: Concernfollowing the enforced disappearance of human rights lawyer Khalil Maatouk

Copenhagen,Geneva, Paris, October 3, 2012. The Observatory for the Protection of HumanRights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for HumanRights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), theEuro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) and the Cairo Institute forHuman Rights Studies (CIHRS) fear for the safety and security of human rights lawyer Khalil Maatouk following his arrest in themorning of October 2.

Mr.Khalil Maatouk, the Executive Director of the Syrian Center for LegalResearch and Studies and a human rights lawyer who has defended numerousprisoners of conscience before Syrian courts, was arrested around 11 a.m. onOctober 2, 2012 at a checkpoint in Sahnaya (in the countryside outside ofDamascus) while he was driving to his workplace in Damascus. He was reportedlytaken by armed men. Since then, his whereaboutshave been unknown.

The Observatory, the EMHRN and the CIHRS are deeplyconcerned by this arrest and the subsequent enforced disappearance of Mr.Maatouk. Our organisations fear for his physical and psychological integrityand are all the more concerned that Mr. Maatouk suffers from a serious medicalcondition, which requires specific and constant medical care[1].The Observatory, the EMHRN and the CIHRS call upon the Syrian authorities todisclose his whereabouts and release him immediately as we believe that hisarrest is related to his human rights activities.

TheObservatory, the EMHRN and the CIHRS urge the Syrian authorities to put an endto all acts of harassment against human rights defenders, to immediately andunconditionally release all persons arbitrarily detained and to conform in allcircumstances with the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders(1998) as well as international human rights instruments ratified by Syria.

Forfurther information, please contact:

• FIDH: Arthur Manet: +33 1 43 55 25 18

• OMCT: +41 22 809 49 39

• EMHRN: Shaimaa Abu Elkheir: +20 101077207 CIHRS: Sohair Riad: +202-27951112

[1] Mr. Maatouk suffers fromlung problems and had just returned home from a long trip where he had toreceive urgent medical care.