Abducted human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh and her three colleagues must be released unharmed

Award-winningSyrian human rights defender and writer Razan Zaitouneh, along with herhusband, Wa’el Hamada, and two colleagues, Nazem Hamadi and SamiraKhalil, were abducted by unknown individuals on 9 December 2013 from ajoint office for the Violations Documentation Center (VDC) and the LocalDevelopment and Small Projects Support (LDSPS) in the Damascus suburb of Douma,part of Eastern Ghouta, an area under the control of a number of armed oppositiongroups that is being besieged by government forces.

In ajoint statement issued on 10 December 2013, the VDC and the LDSPS attributed theabduction of Razan Zaitouneh to her activities as a founding member of theseorganizations. The VDC is an independent non-governmental organization that hasbeen mainly documenting human rights abuses committed by the Syrian government inthe context of the conflict. The LDSPS provides humanitarian assistance,particularly to medical centres in areas like Eastern Ghouta.

Likemany other human rights activists perceived by the government to be involved inpro-reform protests, Razan Zaitouneh was forced into hiding in 2011 afterreceiving threats from the Syrian authorities. In the last few months, shereceived threats from at least one armed opposition group in the Eastern Ghouta area.

RazanZaitouneh was recently the recipient of the 2013 International Women of CourageAward. She also has received the Anna Politkovskaya Prize and, in 2011, theEuropean Parliament’s Sakhorov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

Civilsociety activists, writers, journalists and lawyers have borne a heavy priceduring the ongoing conflict in Syria,falling victim to unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrarydetention and torture and other ill-treatment at the hands of governmentsecurity forces and, more recently, becoming targets for armed oppositiongroups that disapprove of their activities. All parties to the conflict should adhereto their obligations under international humanitarian law, which prohibits theabduction of civilians, hostage-taking and torture.

Co-signingorganizations in alphabetical order:

1. AlkaramaFoundation

2. AmnestyInternational

3. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

4. Euro-Mediterranean Human RightsNetwork

5. Gulf Centerfor Human Rights

6. Humanist Institute for Cooperation with DevelopingCountries (Hivos)

7. Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)

8. International Civil Society ActionNetwork (ICAN)

9. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) - in theframework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

10. International Media Support (IMS)

11. LAWYERS FOR LAWYERS

12.PEN International

13.Reporters Without Borders

14. SKeyes Center for Media andCultural Freedom

15. Syrian Centerfor Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

16. WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) - in the framework of the Observatory forthe Protection of Human Rights Defenders