Young man dies after health deteriorates during detention in Latakia

Mohammad Ghamira, from the city of Al-Haffah in rural Latakia, died at a hospital in the province after his health deteriorated while he was being detained over a financial complaint.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Ghamira suffered from hemophilia and had been in stable condition before he was detained at the police station in Al-Haffah. His health deteriorated several days into his detention, after which he was taken to hospital following bleeding in his leg and later transferred to a hospital in Latakia.

The Observatory said medical tests showed that he had suffered a brain hemorrhage. He subsequently lost his ability to speak and see and fell into a coma before later dying in the intensive care unit.

The circumstances surrounding his death, along with reports that he may have been subjected to torture or ill-treatment, have prompted calls for an independent investigation to determine the causes of his deteriorating condition and the responsibility of the authorities concerned.

The Observatory said Ghamira's death brings to 15 the number of deaths linked to detention conditions or torture by Syria's transitional government that it has documented in 2026, and to 76 the total since the fall of the Baathist regime in late 2024.

ANHA