Homs, Syria – When he works, he goes by the pseudonym “Abu Jassem.” He keeps a small notebook with him at all times, tucked in his pocket during the day and placed beside his bed at night. Inside, he has recorded the names, dates and places of kidnappings and killings happening on a near-daily basis in the Syrian city of Homs. 

On the morning of Feb. 14, I sat beside Abu Jassem as he flipped through the notebook’s worn, lined pages. Shafts of sunlight broke through the clouds of cigarette smoke in the dark room, illuminating his notes, which were scrawled in tiny, blue-inked Arabic letters. 

He works with a rights organization to document the rise in kidnappings in the city. So far, he has independently verified 15 cases of kidnapping victims since late January — seven of whom were found dead. All of the victims were members of the Alawite sect, a religious minority in Syria, to which the ousted Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, belongs. 

“There is a lack of transparency about what’s happening from the authorities, and there are no reliable news agencies,” Abu Jassem told me. He cross-checks social media posts with testimonies from victims’ family members and community leaders — dangerous work if the perpetrators were to discover his identity. “You don’t know who is committing the violations, so you don’t know your enemy, who will be hating you,” he said. 

Syria’s new authorities have not provided clear instructions for rights organizations to register in the country, Abu Jassem said, leaving him with little protection. His rights organization was not the only one I’d heard from that is facing difficulties working under the new authorities. 

Nevertheless, Abu Jassem said there is a “margin of danger” he was willing to put himself in to document the crimes. “All Syrians should get their lives back and feel justice,” he said. “Now is our opportunity to work toward having a country for everybody, without anyone being marginalized. Everyone — starting from me — should be treated equally under the umbrella of the law.” 

fter meeting Abu Jassem, I spoke by phone with Dommar al-Soleman, who researches collective violence in Homs. In 2015, he fled his home in the city and has since been living in Paris, where he felt safe to speak openly about his work. On Dec. 9, the day after the Assad regime fell, al-Soleman began to document the kidnappings, working with the Civil Peace Group, a Syrian civil society organization. 

By the time we spoke on Feb. 23, he had documented a total of 64 cases of kidnappings and disappearances in the city. Among the victims were women, children and the elderly. Nineteen had been executed. Most of the others’ fates were unknown. 

The Civil Peace Group reported on Feb. 12 that kidnapping cases had “surged” in the city since Jan. 24. Of these, only three came with ransom demands, a fact that suggested “motives beyond financial gains, potentially involving retaliation against communities previously perceived as supporters of the former regime,” the organization said.