Enab Baladi – Ali Darwish

Shaimaa Haj Bakri and her four-year-old child are anxiously awaiting any information about her husband, journalist Karam Kellieh, who has been detained for about two and a half months.

Kellieh was arrested in the city of Azaz in northern rural Aleppo by the Military Police affiliated with the Syrian National Army (SNA) and handed over to Turkish intelligence, without any information about his condition or the reason for his detention.

Haj Bakri told Enab Baladi that the information she received since her husband’s detention was limited to being beaten, abused, and insulted by the Military Police members. After 24 hours, she learned that he was in Hawar Kilis.

Hawar Kilis is known as a military operations room through which Turkey manages its influence areas in northern rural Aleppo.

The situation was not much different in the arrest of journalist Bakr al-Qassem in the city of al-Bab, eastern Aleppo, on August 26, when he was arrested along with his journalist wife, Nabiha al-Tah, after which the Military Police raided his home and confiscated his journalistic equipment.

The Military Police released al-Tah after hours due to public pressure and released al-Qassem on September 2.

Without prior notice or judicial warrant

Kellieh, al-Qassem, and al-Tah were arrested without prior notice from local authorities and without a judicial warrant. The Military Police stopped them and kidnapped them, as described by journalists in northern Syria regarding the arrest process.

Bakr al-Qassem works as an independent journalist, producing materials for the Turkish Anadolu Agency and the French Agence France-Presse. Karam Kellieh is a member of the Syrian Media Union (SMU).

After al-Qassem’s release, he stated in a video recording published on Facebook that during his detention, he faced accusations based on “malicious” reports from unknown sources, which resulted in his arrest.

During the detention period, none of these accusations were proven true, leading to his release.

Kellieh was beaten and insulted at the moment of his arrest; his equipment and personal car were confiscated, but the Military Police did not search or raid his home.

Attempts to search or inquire about Kellieh’s fate or the charges against him, or even his exact location, did not succeed. His wife also did not receive any information after al-Qassem’s release, who stated that he did not meet Karam Kellieh or hear about him within the Hawar Kilis prison.

Saleh Kellieh, Karam’s brother residing in Turkey, went to the border crossings to inquire about Karam but was also arrested, as mentioned by Mohammad Kellieh, Karam’s second brother, on Facebook. He was released later.

Karam Kellieh’s family is still waiting for his release, as well as the release of his father, who has been missing in Syrian regime prisons for over 11 years.

The head of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), which holds sway in rural Aleppo and politically umbrellas the National Army, Abdurrahman Mustafa, responded to a question from the Committee to Protect Journalists on August 27, stating that he does not believe al-Qassem’s detention is related to his journalistic work but could be related to a criminal procedure.

Mustafa confirmed that if the matter concerns press freedom and media, “it will be considered and addressed as soon as possible.”

Enab Baladi contacted the Interim Government to inquire about its efforts to follow up on the arrests of the journalists and their release or if it had any information about Karam Kellieh, but the government had not responded by the time of writing this report.

Journalists’ fears slow down their performance

The incidents of arrest and their nature have raised concerns among journalists in rural Aleppo, pushing some to avoid working on specific types of reports, and sometimes avoiding preparing journalistic reports altogether, focusing only on photography.

Journalists in rural Aleppo, who spoke to Enab Baladi, confirmed that there were previous concerns before Karam Kellieh and Bakr al-Qassem’s arrests, but these fears increased after their detention, especially since Kellieh’s fate remains unknown.

“Majd” (a pseudonym for a journalist in the city of al-Bab), explained to Enab Baladi that the previous concerns were about the possibility of a journalist being arrested by the civil police due to a misunderstanding, without being kidnapped or disappeared.

But what happened with Kellieh and al-Qassem intensified Majd’s fears of the National Army, Military Police, and Turkish intelligence, as he told Enab Baladi.

There have been previous incidents that also negatively affected Majd, including the killing of two media activists in the city of al-Bab: Mohammad Abdul Latif, known as “Abu Ghanoum,” on October 7, 2022, and Hussein Khattab on December 12, 2020.

Majd turned his work solely to photography and distanced himself almost entirely from journalistic work “due to the dangers involved,” especially in an area where the enforcement of the law is weak. However, he did not think of producing reports “to please the factions or de facto authorities.”

The arrests are no longer surprising among journalists to the extent that they are discussed humorously, wondering who will be next after Kellieh and al-Qassem, according to what journalist Sharif Damalkhi told Enab Baladi.

For Damalkhi, the arrests did not significantly affect him because he tries as much as possible to avoid reports that could cause any problems with the de facto authorities, particularly video surveys. He stays “away from anything that gives him a headache, as arrest is frightening,” as he put it.

Journalists lack freedom of expression in the area, according to Damalkhi, which causes them frustration, especially after the Syrian revolution that demanded freedom as one of the primary demands of Syrians.

Mohammad Haroun, a journalist residing in the city of Azaz, believes that the lack of an entity protecting journalists is also a cause of these fears. “But as journalists, when we thought of working in this profession, we were aware of its risks and that it is fraught with dangers, but it is also a mission to convey the voice of the people and their suffering,” he said.

Haroun told Enab Baladi that the incidents of arrest would not affect his journalistic and professional performance, and he will continue at the same pace. What happened does not mean “we need to change our journalistic path,” according to Haroun.

Where are the media bodies?

Statements were issued by media bodies in the area demanding the immediate release of detained journalists, such as the Union of Syrian Journalists, the Syrian Journalists Association, and the Syrian Media Network.

Journalists in northern Syria organized protests condemning the arrests and demanded the release of the detained journalists.

International journalistic institutions, including Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, also called for the release of Bakr al-Qassem and Karam Kellieh.

The Director of the Press Freedoms Center in the Syrian Journalists Association, Ibrahim Hussein, told Enab Baladi that the association adopts the issue of protecting journalists and defending them in different areas of control in Syria as part of its objectives.

The efforts and contacts of the association sometimes succeed and fail at other times, depending on the presence of understanding individuals in the entities they communicate with in northwestern Syria. The problem in these areas is the lack of a single authority capable of making decisions and addressing problems, according to Hussein.

Regarding Bakr al-Qassem’s detention, the association dealt with the case according to its methodology by pressuring the de facto authorities and the authorities to change their approach, in addition to advocacy campaigns.

“We could not achieve a positive result in our communication with the de facto authorities, and it was clear that these entities themselves were unable to give us any answer,” Hussein added.

This prompted the association to participate in advocacy campaigns like the other media groups, civil society organizations, and activists, who pressured through sit-ins in Idlib and Azaz and the focused media campaign that succeeded in positively influencing.

Ibrahim Hussein emphasized that al-Qassem’s release does not mean the association will stop at this point. “We must continue to demand clarity on the reasons behind his arbitrary detention and not bringing him to court,” and the association will also seek accountability for those who committed this violation against him and his wife.

Hussein added that the association’s approach with Karam Kellieh’s case is no different, with continued pressure and communication to uncover his fate.

The association takes several efforts to protect journalists, starting with documenting violations, aiming to pressure de facto authorities and the authorities to change their approach to journalists, transforming from targeting and harassment to understanding their work and supporting them to carry out their professional duties.

It also organizes advocacy campaigns in cooperation with various civil society organizations, in addition to having direct or intermediary contacts with influential parties in the violation areas to stop them, and calls for accountability for those who commit violations.

Hussein pointed out that the association has criteria for documenting violations, most notably that the violation must have occurred against the journalist due to their work.

If there are other reasons behind the violation, “we refrain from documenting it,” but this does not mean the association stops defending journalists. It continues to demand that they be treated according to human rights and that any action taken against them be in accordance with the law, under judicial authority supervision, and with defense guarantees.