📰 Amnesty International Urges Release of Abducted Syrian Volunteer Hamza Al-Amareen

Amnesty International has called for the urgent release of Hamza Al-Amareen, a syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian Civil Defense volunteer who was kidnapped in mid-July while carrying out a relief mission in Sweida province. The organization holds armed groups operating outside the law accountable for his disappearance. “Hamza Al-Ammarin was sent on July 16 by the Syrian Civil Defense Center to the city of Sweida in response to a call from the United Nations, following the outbreak of clashes in the province,” the organization stated in a statement on Thursday, adding that evening, he contacted his family to reassure them he was safe. The next morning, an unknown individual answered his phone, briefly verified Hamza was fine, then hung up.

No further contact has been made since. as per family testimonies, Hamza was driving a marked Civil Defense vehicle and escorting evacuated civilians when an armed group intercepted them near Al-Omran roundabout. The civilians were released, but Hamza and the vehicle were taken. His whereabouts remain unknown since July 17.

Hamza had previously taken part in numerous relief operations across syria-seizes-massive-captagon-and-hashish-shipment-in-central-desert/" class="smart-internal-link" title="📰 Syria seizes massive captagon and hashish shipment in central desert">syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria, including rescue efforts after the 2023 earthquake and firefighting missions. His last assignment before the abduction was helping extinguish wildfires in Lattakia.