“He Disappeared, and Calamities Followed”

Farhan Ahmad al-Hariri, born in 1986 in al-Qunaya village in the northern countryside of Daraa, his mother is Aisha Al-Gawthani and he is single.  He left study early when he was in the eighth grade of the preparatory stage. Farhan worked in selling cell phones as well as a house painter. He used to help his family to secure household expenses, as most of his siblings were wanted by the security services because of their participation in demonstrations against the rule of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Farhan’s family consists of ten children they are Rabe’e, Farhan, Saeed, Mahmoud, Muhammad, Ibrahim, Maram, Ghazi, Basmallah and Taha).

Mahmoud,^[1]  Farhan’s brother spoke to the reporter of Syrian for Truth and Justice/STJ about the details of Farhan's disappearance. He said that on 21 December 2012, while Farhan was on his way to buy some merchandise for his shop in al-Qunaya village carrying with him 300 thousand Syrian pounds equivalent to $3000 US dollars at the time, he passed one of the checkpoints in al-Zahira al-Jadeda in Damascus, the elements searched for his name in the databases of the security services through the “tafiesh” process then arrested him and took him to an anonymous destination.  According to Farhan’s friend who witnessed his arrest, the elements of the checkpoint who had arrested him were mostly affiliated to Palestine Branch 235 affiliated to the Military Security Service.

Farhan’s family asked and inquired about the place of his detention, they received conflicting news, some said that he was in Palestine Branch while some said he was in branch 215, both are affiliated to the Military Security Service in Damascus. The family could not access to any conclusive evidence or confirmation about his detention place, and in 2013 they tried to communicate with a mediator from Latakia whose wife worked as an officer at a Police Service Centre in Damascus to determine the fate of their son,

 but found out later that they had been the subject of fraud as they paid 5 million Syrian pounds, equivalent to $ 50000 US dollars at the time after that person convinced them that he had previously get out detainees from branch 215 and that he could get out Farhan now, so the family borrowed the amount from several people to be robbed by the broker, this greatly increased the financial hardship of the family. They have not been able to repay this debt to its owners until now.

Mahmoud adds concerning his brother Farhan's arrest, saying:

"During the arrest of my brother Farhan, I was detained in Palestine Branch (235) for twenty days, and then the interrogator told me that there was a similarity of names, so they released me. When I arrived home, I was shocked by the arrest of my brother Farhan. A while later the Syrian Security Forces broke into our house in al-Qunaya village several times under the pretext of searching for weapons or wanted people, therefore, my elder brother suggested to resort to Jordan and we , the young men, headed to Jasim city in the countryside of Daraa (outside the Syrian Government's control) fleeing the attacks of the security forces. My parents hurried to call me to inquire about Farhan whenever they heard of the release of any detainees from detention centers, but in vain, and in every failed enquiry, the wound would deepen in their hearts. Their suffering increased further after my both brothers Rabe’e and Muhammad died as a result of shelling Jasim city in the countryside of Daraa by the regime forces in 2014, and I had also been wounded at the time."

The arrest of Farhan caused a significant deterioration in the financial situation of his family, given he was one of the main breadwinners in the family. The poor financial status of the family was the reason the parents stayed in the asylum camps in Jordan because of the absence of a stable financial resource to secure their living, in addition to the accumulated debt that the parents had to borrow in order to get a news through which they knew the fate of their son Farhan.

Mahmoud concluded his testimony by saying:

"When the leaked images of the detainees who died in the jails of the Syrian Regime were published (Cesar's photos/ Caesar), my mother browsed those pictures with mixed feelings. Sometimes she wished to see her son's photo among them to be sure that Farhan had died and relieved of injustice, agony, pain of imprisonment and cruelty of the jailers, sometimes else, she wished the reverse, as her heart can no longer bear the loss of a third son, she wanted to see him as soon as possible. We still expect Farhan to be detained at Palestine Branch in Damascus, and we hope that the world will care about our tragedy and help us find my brother."