The family of Syrian lawyer and human rights defender Khalil Ma’atouq has officially announced his death, after 13 years of enforced disappearance in the detention centers of the Syrian regime (the Ba’ath Party) since October 2012.
The announcement was made through a Facebook post by his daughter, Ranim, in which she wrote: “I officially announce the death of Khalil Ma’atouq…” She added that the family will hold funeral ceremonies for him in both Syria and Germany.
Ma’atouq (born in 1959) was one of Syria’s most prominent human rights defenders. He graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Damascus in 1982 and dedicated his life to defending prisoners of conscience. He also headed the Syrian Center for the Defense of Prisoners of Conscience. He disappeared in October 2012 while on his way from his home in Sahnaya to his workplace in Damascus.
