Freelance | Imprisoned in Syria | March 07, 2012

Job:Internet Reporter
Medium:Internet
Beats Covered:Human rights
Gender:Male
Local or Foreign:Local
Freelance:Yes
Charge:No charge
Length of Sentence:Not Sentenced
Reported Health Problems:No

Jamal, a contributor to local news websites, was detained at a Damascus café along with several human rights activists, according to local news websites. Jamal also aggregated news stories for dissemination to international outlets.

In May 2012, Jamal's case was transferred to a military court, according to news reports. He waged a hunger strike that month to protest his detention, reports said.

As of late 2017, the Syrian mission to the United Nations had not responded to CPJ's emailed request for information on Jamal's legal status and health.

Jamal had been arrested several times previously, including once in October 2011 when he was detained along with Sean McAllister, a British reporter working for the U.K.'s Channel 4. Local news websites said his repeated arrests stemmed from his reporting on human rights abuses and the popular uprising.

Thousands of Syrians have disappeared into Syrian custody since the start of the uprising in 2011. According to a 2015 Human Rights Watch report, families are often forced to pay large bribes to learn any information about their relatives, and other families never approach the security branches for fear of being arrested themselves. Of 27 families of deceased prisoners interviewed by Human Rights Watch for the report, only two received formal death certificates.

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