An armed group stormed Al-Saleem's home and arrested him along with activist Abdelhamid Al-Bayoush, who was visiting him.
This statement was originally published on gc4hr.org on 24 September 2018.
In the early hours of the morning on 22 September 2018, an armed group stormed the home of human rights lawyer Yasser Al-Saleem in Kafr Nabl, located in Idlib governate in Syria, and arrested him with activist Abdelhamid Al-Bayoush, who was visiting him.
Subsequent reports indicated that they were taken to Al-Eqab prison in the Jabal Al-Zawiya area, located about 40km south-west of the governorate capital, Idlib city, but the reason for the arrests was not made public.
Al-Saleem has worked effectively carrying out peaceful human rights activities in the city of Kaft Nabl, and has recently been calling for the release of detainees and abductees. The day before his arrest, he participated in demonstrations that took place in the city of Kafr Nabl on 21 September 2018 which called for the release of citizens of the city of Sweida, who were kidnapped by Da’esh recently.
The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) strongly deplores the arrest and detention of Yasser Al-Saleem, which is solely due to his work as an independent civilian activist and as a lawyer defending the rights of all citizens. GCHR therefore calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Yasser Al-Saleem and Abdelhamid Al-Bayoush.
GCHR calls on all parties to the war in Syria to respect the public freedoms of citizens, including the protection of freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
