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11 years on, Syria protesters demand answers on abducted activists

Update 11 years on, Syria protesters demand answers on abducted activists
Protesters gather for a vigil seeking information about Syrian activists Samira Khalil, Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada, and Nazem al-Hammadi who were abducted by unidentified assailants in December 2013, in Douma on the eastern outskirts of Damascus on January 1, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 02 January 2025

11 years on, Syria protesters demand answers on abducted activists

11 years on, Syria protesters demand answers on abducted activists
  • No group has claimed the four activists’ abduction and they have not been heard from since

DOUMA, Syria: A few dozen protesters gathered in the Syrian city of Douma on Wednesday demanding answers about the fate of four prominent activists abducted more than a decade ago.
Holding up photographs of the missing activists, the demonstrators called on Syria’s new rulers — the Islamist-led rebels who seized power last month — to investigate what happened to them.
“We are here because we want to know the whole truth about two women and two men who were disappeared from this place 11 years and 22 days ago,” said activist Yassin Al-Hajj Saleh, whose wife Samira Khalil was among those abducted.
In December 2013, Khalil, Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada and Nazem Al-Hammadi were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen from the office of a human rights group they ran together in the then rebel-held city outside Damascus.
The four played an active role in the 2011 uprising against Bashar Assad’s rule and also documented violations, including by the Islamist rebel group Jaish Al-Islam that controlled the Douma area in the early stages of the ensuing civil war.
No group has claimed the four activists’ abduction and they have not been heard from since.
Many in Douma blame Jaish Al-Islam but the rebel group has denied involvement.
“We have enough evidence to incriminate Jaish Al-Islam, and we have the names of suspects we would like to see investigated,” Hajj Saleh said.
He said he wanted “the perpetrators to be tried by the Syrian courts.”
The fate of tens of thousands of people who disappeared under the Assads’ rule is a key question for Syria’s interim rulers after more than 13 years of devastating civil war that saw upwards of half a million people killed.
“We are here because we want the truth. The truth about their fate and justice for them, so that we may heal our wounds,” said Alaa Al-Merhi, 33, Khalil’s niece.
Khalil was a renowned activist hailing from the Assads’ Alawite minority who was jailed from 1987 to 1991 for opposing their iron-fisted rule.
Her husband is also a renowned human rights activist who was detained in 1980 and forced to live abroad for years.
“We as a family seek justice, to know their fate and to hold those resposible accountable for their actions,” she added.
Zeitouneh was among the 2011 winners of the European parliament’s human rights prize, A lawyer, she had received threats from both the government and the rebels before she went missing. Her husband Hamada was abducted with her.
Protesting was unthinkable just a month ago in Douma, a former rebel stronghold that paid a heavy price for rising up against the Assads.
Douma is located in Eastern Ghouta, an area controlled by rebel and jihadist factions for around six years until government forces retook it in 2018 after a long and bloody siege.
The siege of Eastern Ghouta culminated in a devastating offensive by the army that saw at least 1,700 civilians killed before a deal was struck that saw fighters and civilians evacuated to northern Syria.
Douma still bears the scars of the civil war, with many bombed out buildings.
During the conflict, all sides were accused of abducting and summarily executing opponents.


UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’
Updated 23 July 2025

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’

UN urges peaceful settlement of disputes as UN chief points to ‘the horror show in Gaza’
  • In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: “Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law” as well as the UN Charter

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council urged the 193 United Nations member nations on Tuesday to use all possible means to settle disputes peacefully. The UN chief said that is needed now more than ever as he pointed to “the horror show in Gaza” and conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and Myanmar.
The vote was unanimous on a Pakistan-drafted resolution in the 15-member council.
In urging greater efforts to pursue global peace, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the council: “Around the world, we see an utter disregard for — if not outright violations of — international law” as well as the UN Charter.
It is happening at a time of widening geopolitical divides and numerous conflicts, starting with Gaza, where “starvation is knocking on every door” as Israel denies the United Nations the space and safety to deliver aid and save Palestinian lives, Guterres said.
Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians and aid staff as part of its war with Hamas and blames UN agencies for failing to deliver food it has allowed in.
In conflicts worldwide, “hunger and displacement are at record levels” and security is pushed further out of reach by terrorism, violent extremism and transnational crime, the secretary-general said.
“Diplomacy may not have always succeeded in preventing conflicts, violence and instability,” Guterres said. “But it still holds the power to stop them.”
The resolution urges all countries to use the methods in the UN Charter to peacefully settle disputes, including negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, referral to regional arrangements or other peaceful means.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, who chaired the meeting, cited “the ongoing tragedies” in Gaza and between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, one of the oldest disputes on the UN agenda, that need to be resolved peacefully.
“At the heart of almost all the conflicts across the globe is a crisis of multilateralism; a failure, not of principles but of will; a paralysis, not of institutions but of political courage,” he said.
The Pakistani diplomat called for revitalizing trust in the UN system and ensuring “equal treatment of all conflicts based on international law, not geopolitical expediency.”
Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the Trump administration supports the United Nations’ founding principles of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war and working with parties to resolve disputes peacefully.
Under President Donald Trump’s leadership, she said, the US has delivered “deescalation” between Israel and Iran, India and Pakistan, and Congo and Rwanda.
The US calls on countries involved in conflicts to follow these examples, Shea said, singling out the war in Ukraine and China’s “unlawful claims” in the South China Sea.
The war in Ukraine must end, she said, and Russia must stop attacking civilians and fulfill its obligations under the UN Charter, which requires all member nations to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every other country.
“We call on other UN member states to stop providing Russia with the means to continue its aggression,” Shea said.

 


Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds from Israeli gunfire near Jenin

Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds from Israeli gunfire near Jenin
Updated 22 July 2025

Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds from Israeli gunfire near Jenin

Palestinian teen succumbs to wounds from Israeli gunfire near Jenin
  • Ibrahim Majed Ali Nasr was shot by Israeli live ammunition when forces entered the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin city
  • His killing raises the Palestinian death toll in Jenin governorate to 43 since the Israeli military assault began on Jan. 21

LONDON: A 16-year-old Palestinian died from injuries sustained earlier on Tuesday evening after being shot by Israeli forces during a raid in the northern occupied West Bank.

Ibrahim Majed Ali Nasr was shot by Israeli live ammunition when forces entered the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin city.

The teenager was shot in the chest, suffering a life-threatening injury, while another young man was injured in the leg, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. Nasr was later declared dead at the hospital in Jenin.

Israeli forces raided a house, with no detentions reported, in Qabatiya on Tuesday evening.

Nasr’s killing raises the Palestinian death toll in Jenin governorate to 43 since the Israeli military assault began on Jan. 21. Dozens more have been injured or detained, the Palestine News Agency reported.


Iran: 27 inmates are still at large following Israeli airstrike

One of the buildings (C-L) in Iran's Evin prison complex in Tehran before it was heavily damaged by a fire. (AFP file photo)
One of the buildings (C-L) in Iran's Evin prison complex in Tehran before it was heavily damaged by a fire. (AFP file photo)
Updated 22 July 2025

Iran: 27 inmates are still at large following Israeli airstrike

One of the buildings (C-L) in Iran's Evin prison complex in Tehran before it was heavily damaged by a fire. (AFP file photo)
  • The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets

TEHRAN, PARIS: Iran said on Tuesday 27 inmates were still at large after an Israeli airstrike last month targeted Evin prison in the north of the capital, Tehran, local media reported.
The airstrikes were part of Israel’s 12-day bombardment of Iran that killed about 1,100 people, while 28 were left dead in Israel in Iranian retaliatory strikes.
Judiciary’s news website, Mizanonline, quoted spokesman Asghar Jahangir as saying 75 prisoners had escaped following the strike, of which 48 were either recaptured or voluntarily returned. He said authorities will detain the others if they don’t hand themselves over.
Jahangir said the escapees were prisoners doing time for minor offenses.

FASTFACT

Between 1,500 and 2,000 prisoners were being held at the time in the prison.

Iranian officials said the Israeli strike killed 71 people, but local media reported earlier in July that 80 were left dead at the time, including prison staff, soldiers, inmates and visiting family members. Authorities also said five inmates died.
It’s unclear why Israel targeted the prison. 
The New York-based Center for Human Rights had criticized Israel for striking the prison, saying it violated the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets.
Amnesty International, an international nongovernmental organization that campaigns to protect human rights, called the Israeli attack “deliberate” and “a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
The air strikes should therefore be “criminally investigated as war crimes,” it said.
“The Israeli military carried out multiple air strikes on Evin prison, killing and injuring scores of civilians and causing extensive damage and destruction in at least six locations across the prison complex,” Amnesty said, basing its assessment on what it said were verified video footage, satellite images and witness statements.
There was nothing to suggest that Evin prison could justifiably be seen as a “legal military objective,” it said.

 


Heat wave hits water, electricity supplies across much of Iran

Heat wave hits water, electricity supplies across much of Iran
Updated 22 July 2025

Heat wave hits water, electricity supplies across much of Iran

Heat wave hits water, electricity supplies across much of Iran
  • The heat wave has been accompanied by drought, with the capital experiencing its lowest rainfall in 60 years

TEHRAN: A severe heat wave sweeping Iran has disrupted water and electricity supplies in much of the country, with reservoir levels falling to their lowest in a century, state media said on Tuesday.
Extreme temperatures, which began on Friday, are expected to ease gradually by Thursday.
Government offices in at least 15 of Iran’s 31 provinces, including the capital Tehran, have been ordered to close on Wednesday in a bid to conserve water and electricity.
The measure comes as temperatures in parts of southern and southwestern Iran topped 50 degrees Celsius.
Government spokeswoman Fatemeh MoHajjerani said authorities would extend office closures “if it deems necessary,” while warning of the “critical situation” in Tehran regarding water supplies.
The heat wave has been accompanied by drought, with the capital experiencing its lowest rainfall in 60 years. Water levels in the reservoirs which supply Tehran have fallen to “their lowest level in a century,” said the Tehran Provincial Water Supply Company, advising people to use a tank and pump to cope with mains disruption. Tehran provincial governor, Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said the dams are only filled to 14 percent, adding that the capital is going through its fifth year of drought.
Many residents reported water supply cuts lasting several hours.
“It’s not just the heat — there’s also no electricity and no water,” said Moini, a 52-year-old housewife from Tehran. “Our whole lives have basically fallen apart.”
Many Iranian newspapers carried photographs of the low reservoir levels on their front pages on Tuesday.

 


US targets Houthis with fresh sanctions

Houthi security personnel stand guard in Sanaa, Yemen July 20, 2025. (REUTERS)
Houthi security personnel stand guard in Sanaa, Yemen July 20, 2025. (REUTERS)
Updated 22 July 2025

US targets Houthis with fresh sanctions

Houthi security personnel stand guard in Sanaa, Yemen July 20, 2025. (REUTERS)
  • Among those targeted was Muhammad Al-Sunaydar, who the Treasury said manages a network of petroleum companies and was one of the most prominent petroleum importers in Yemen

WASHINGTON: The US on Tuesday imposed sanctions on what it said was a Houthi-linked petroleum smuggling and sanctions evasion network across Yemen in fresh action targeting the militant group.
The US Treasury Department in a statement said the two individuals and five entities sanctioned were among the most significant importers of petroleum products and money launderers that benefit the Houthis.
“The Houthis collaborate with opportunistic businessmen to reap enormous profits from the importation of petroleum products and to enable the group’s access to the international financial system,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender.
“These networks of shady businesses underpin the Houthis’ terrorist machine, and Treasury will use all tools at its disposal to disrupt these schemes.”
Among those targeted was Muhammad Al-Sunaydar, who the Treasury said manages a network of petroleum companies and was one of the most prominent petroleum importers in Yemen.
Three companies in his network were also designated, with the Treasury saying they coordinated the delivery of $12 million worth of petroleum products with a US-designated company to the Houthis. 
Since Israel’s war in Gaza began in October 2023, the Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea in acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.
In January, the US re-designated the Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization, aiming to impose harsher economic penalties in response to its attacks on ships.