On July 7, 2012, Hussam Zarda, born in 1985 in Homs, left his job as a sports trainer at the Al-Khairat tourist resort in Marmarita, heading to Wadi al-Nasara to buy some groceries. He never returned. He disappeared completely, as if the ground had swallowed him up. Since that day, his mother, Wafaa, has heard no news of his fate, except for whispers about the involvement of local armed groups in his kidnapping, led by Bishr Yaziji, commander of the Lions of the Valley militia, and Saqr Rustum, a prominent figure in the military security and popular committees at the time.
The victim was no ordinary person. The people of Homs knew him as a skilled goalkeeper for the Al-Karamah football club and a community activist who rejected violence and sectarianism. After the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, he chose to distance himself from politics, but he paid the price for his "good intentions" when he was lured into a dark fate whose end remains unknown to this day.
His family says, "He was a well-liked young man, unarmed and unaffiliated with any group... He feared arrest and fled to Marmarita, seeking safety, but they were waiting for him... Bashar and Saqr knew who was coming in and out of the town and dealt with security forces in Homs."
Local testimonies and previous complaints documented a series of enforced disappearances in Wadi al-Nasara during the same period, most of which targeted young men from Homs who had sought refuge in Christian villages to escape the brutal security campaign in their neighborhoods. The "Lions of the Valley" militia stands out as one of the most prominent perpetrators of these violations, with direct support from security branches and influential figures in the Syrian regime.
However, Hussam's case remains open, silent, waiting for someone to restore his voice.
Zaman al-Wasl
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