Syrians continue to fall victim to a callous indifference to human life and disregard for safety, exemplified by the increasing trend of abductions and enforced disappearances, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned on December 13. “In just the past few months, we have seen a significant and deeply alarming rise in abductions of human rights defenders, activists, journalists, religious figures and others by armed opposition groups, as well as the continuing arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances of individuals by government forces in Syria,” Pillay said in a statement. She cited an incident on December 9 when five masked gunmen reportedly stormed into a joint office for two human rights and humanitarian NGOs abducting award-winning Syrian human rights defender Razan Zaitouneh along with her husband, Wa’el Hamada who is a prominent activist and former political prisoner, and two other colleagues, Nazem Hamadi and Samira Khalil.
UN ALARMED BY RISE IN DISAPPERANCES IN SYRIA
Syrians continue to fall victim to a callous indifference to human life and disregard for safety, exemplified by the increasing trend of abductions and enforced disappearances, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay warned on December 13. “In just the past few months,
