Osman Haj AbdelWahab, a farmer in the Aleppo governorate and father of 10 children, was abducted at a checkpoint in Seyfat, north of Aleppo, on January 28, 2016 by members of the Military Police, the State Security Service and the Air Force Intelligence Directorate. He was taken to the Political Security branch in Aleppo, where he was detained for four months. He was then handed over to the Political Security branch in Damascus and subsequently transferred to the “Black Wing” of Sednaya prison.

In February 2017, his brother was able to visit him but he was not permitted to speak to him during the visit. His family was therefore not able to obtain additional information about his fate, nor about the reasons for his arrest. They believe that he was arrested for residing in a town that was, at the time of arrest, outside government control. Since the initial visit, AbdelWahab’s family has not been able to visit him, nor have they received any information on his fate and whereabouts.

On June 25, 2018, the family was informed that he had died of a heart attack in prison on November 23, 2017. AbdelWahab’s family was able to find his name on a list provided by the Damascus civil registry office containing the names of 3,000 individuals who allegedly died in similar circumstances. To date, the Syrian authorities have failed to disclose a detailed account of the circumstances and cause of the alleged death, nor did they reveal where the remains would be.