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On August 30, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, Doha News investigated cases of enforced disappearances in the Middle East and North Africa and interviewed survivors or those who have not yet learned the fate of their loved ones.
Eleven years ago, Syrian journalist and activist Wafa Mustafa last saw her father, Ali Mustafa, in Damascus.
On July 2, 2013, Mustafa, then 23, suddenly lost contact with him and discovered that he had become another victim of enforced disappearance by the Bashar al-Assad regime.
“Every day I ask myself, is my father still alive? (…) I see a father holding his daughter’s hand and sometimes when I see that (…) I think (…) I may never be able to have that kind of interaction with my own father again,” she told Doha News.
She added: “It is very difficult to explain to people what it means to have your father enforced disappeared. My life revolved around my father’s disappearance.”
according to amnestySyria is one of the countries with high rates of enforced disappearances in the region, along with Yemen (1,547), Iraq (250,000 to 1 million) and Lebanon (17,415).
Since pro-democracy protests broke out in 2011, Assad has stepped up his crackdown on opponents, plunging the country into war by attacking peaceful protesters.
according to Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)The data showed that between March 2011 and June 2024, the regime detained 157,287 people, of whom at least 112,713 were forcibly disappeared, including 1,305 children and 6,698 women.
“I always say that I doubt there is a family in Syria where no one has been detained, forcibly disappeared or abducted, whether by the Syrian regime, ISIS or other forces in the country. So this is a story of a collective tragedy,” Mustafa said.
Over the past decade, we have launched several campaigns and initiatives to help those who have been forcibly disappeared return.
exist June 2023Qatar was one of 83 member states to vote in favor of the UN General Assembly solve Establish an independent body to investigate the fate of thousands of missing people in Syria.
“Slow death”
Like Mustafa, Jalal Jalal (not his real name) is also unaware of the whereabouts of his brother, Mohammed, who was detained on 3 February 2013.
Jalal himself was detained twice, first on May 6, 2011, at the start of the revolution, and again on August 28, 2011, for five years, during which he experienced at least 72 methods Torture included pouring hot water on detainees and forcing them to bury people killed in prison.
“This is a mass death and we are slowly dying,” Jalal told Doha News.
The last time he received information about his brother was in 2016, but he still does not know his fate.
“We don’t know how long his sentence was or what charges were brought against him. We only know that, based on international reports on prison execution methods, he was either hanged, burned, shot, or he remains forcibly disappeared in Sednaya,” he said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also continues to commit enforced disappearances, with the Egyptian government documenting 4,253 cases of enforced disappearances between 2015 and 2023. “Stop Enforced Disappearances” campaign.
Sisi launched a military coup in 2013, overthrowing Egypt’s first democratically elected president, the late Mohammed Morsi.
Al Jazeera’s Egyptian journalist Abdullah was detained while documenting Sisi’s crimes during the Rabaa massacre on August 14, 2013, when thousands of people staged a sit-in at Rabaa al-Adawiya Square to demand Morsi’s reinstatement.
Security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters, killing more than 817 people, marking the The largest massacre in modern Egyptian history.
Abdullah’s family was unaware of his whereabouts for three days and, near the end of his imprisonment, he was again forcibly disappeared and held incommunicado between 2 May and 14 June 2014.
“They created a farce, searching everywhere and then claimed to have found a mobile phone and that the warden wanted to see me. I was there for about an hour and no one attended to me in his room,” he told Doha News, recounting the moment he was transferred to the Scorpion prison.
Abdullah suffered physical and mental torture and medical neglect. On January 21, 2014, the court decided to detain him for 45 days as part of the regular renewal of his sentence, and Abdullah decided to go on a hunger strike in protest.
“I just thought if I lose my life let it be a value, an advantage and at the end of the day, thank God, that’s how he wants me to be released,” he said.
On June 18, 2014, Abdullah was released after 147 days of hunger strike, but the horror of his imprisonment is unforgettable.
“Some prisoners would stand at their cell doors at night and shout the names of their loved ones. One man would stand up at a certain time every night and call his children and wife, as if he was talking to them (…) I will never forget this,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israel has forcibly disappeared thousands of people and caused the deaths of at least 40,602 people since the war began on October 7, 2023.
Although the number of prisoners taken by the occupying forces Still unclearStatements, investigations and videos from released Palestinians reveal Israel’s Cruel torture methodsdue to rape and Attacked by a doglack of sleep.
A further 3,432 Palestinians are held in administrative detention, meaning they are imprisoned indefinitely without charge or trial.
Recalling the current situation of enforced disappearances in the region, Mustafa stressed that only victims can help each other and achieve justice.
“The world has failed the Syrians in the last 13 years… It has also failed the Palestinians, the Sudanese, the Egyptians and the Iraqis… I just believe that as victims we should support other victims… There can be no freedom, democracy and justice in Syria if Palestine is occupied and suffering genocide, if Iraq and Sudan are also struggling,” she said.
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