2/8/2023

Abdul Hadi Abdul Bari Al-Othman is a Syrian registered as an asylum-seeker with the UNHCR in Lebanon since 2013. He resides in Koura-Tripoli, Lebanon.

In May 2023, he was arrested in Tripoli on charges related to theft. On July 20, 2023, the Indictment Chamber in North Lebanon decided to release him. However, he was transferred to the retention center of the General Security in Beirut, and has been detained since then.

On July 27, 2023, the Lebanese General Security informed his lawyer that there has been a decision issued by the General Security to extradite him to Syria. If happened, he could be at risk of arbitrary detention and torture in Syria.

Therefore, and fearing that he might be subjected to any harm, the CEDAR Center for Legal Studies wrote on July 28, 2023, the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

It is worth noting that Lebanon has been a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment since 2000. The agreement states in Article 3, paragraph “a” that:

“No State Party may expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite any person to another State, if it has substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”

Update: On 02 August 2023, his lawyer was trying to visit Mr Al-Othman in the retention centre of General Security in Beirut, but he was informed that he was deported yesterday (01 August 2023) to Syria.

Cedar Center for Legal Studies is a non-profit civil company, established in Lebanon in 2013 and registered under No. 609, and it is an independent, non-sectarian center. The center is concerned with spreading the culture of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.