A detainee with American citizenship died under torture in the prisons of the Syrian regime, after being detained for about 3 years, and he is the second American to announce his death within two weeks.
Jamal al-Metni, a Syrian-American citizen, was arrested after an armed group stormed his home in Sweida governorate and kidnapped him after threatening him with a weapon on July 5, 2021, accusing him of financing terrorism “unofficially.”
They belong to members of the regime’s armed military intelligence group, led by Raji Falhot, who is on US lists for drug production and trading.
Al-Matni was taken to the Military Intelligence Division in the capital, Damascus, headed by the National Security Agency, Kifah Milhem, according to the family of the deceased, who confirmed that the last information they received was that Al-Matni was taken to Sednaya prison.
Al-Matni is a Syrian from Sweida governorate, holds American citizenship, was born in 1952, returned to his home country in 2021, did not engage in any political activity before his arrest, and was suffering from an unstable health condition (heart disease and Alzheimer’s).
Al-Matni’s family told Sweida 24 that they were not “officially” informed of the reason for the arrest, nor about his location, and were not even allowed to appoint a lawyer for him, stressing that they communicated with the US authorities several times to take appropriate measures, while the authorities vowed to follow up the case “within the available capabilities” due to the lack of direct relations between the two countries.
On May 26, 2024, Al-Metni’s family learned of the death of their deceased through the Syrian regime’s Population Department on December 23, 2023.
A few days ago, the daughter of a Syrian-American doctor announced the death of her father, Majd Kam Almaz, under torture in the prisons of the regime forces after 7 years of detention, without being charged with a crime or trial.
Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted on 10 December 1948, states: “No one shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Article 10 states: “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.”
International humanitarian law absolutely prohibits torture, meaning that exceptions known to states during armed conflict cannot be invoked to violate the dignity of any human being.
The same organization stresses the need to protect detainees (Syrians and foreigners) from all kinds of violations, and stresses the need to punish the perpetrators of crimes that violate the provisions of international humanitarian law.
It calls for the release of all prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Syrian prisons, and for the families of the disappeared and disappeared in the detention centers of the Syrian regime to be able to obtain real data about them and to hold violators of international humanitarian law accountable in this regard.
