Fate of 19 Year-Old Blogger Still Unknown

The 19-year old blogger Tal al-Mallohi was detained in December 2009 and has not been heard of since.

SMN No. 9, September 7, 2010

The fate of a 19-year-old Syrian blogger remains unknown some nine months after her arrest by the authorities.  Tal al-Mallohi, 19 has been detained since December last year and both the reason for her arrest and her whereabouts remain unknown.

Human rights activists say that her daring poems and opinion pieces posted on her personal blog attracted the attention of Syrian officials.

The young blogger’s mother recently sent a plea to the Syrian president, Bashar Al-Assad, to uncover the fate of her daughter.

In her open letter, Tala’s mother said that she had tried all official and non-official channels to know why and where her daughter was being held –but in vain.

“Mr President, I cannot describe the effect of this tragedy on my whole family and the intensity of our suffering,” she wrote in a letter posted on September 1 on the website of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights operating from London.

Tal’s case has been raised repeatedly by several local and international human rights organisations, but an information blackout still surrounds her fate.

Over the weekend, a new Facebook group calling for her immediate release was created and attracted more than 360 members in 24 hours. The group’s name is “My name is Tal, 19, I was arrested by the regime of Bashar Al-Assad and I am not guilty.”

The group said that Tal was stopped by the state security apparatus on December 27 2009. Since then, the whereabouts of her detention remain unknown. Due to her disappearance, Tal missed her official high school final exams.

The group added that Tal has not been charged yet with any crime.

Some of Tal’s writing was posted on the group’s page with links to her blog.

In one of her blog entries, Tal wrote, “My brother in humanity… I’d like you to live in peace… O wise men of this world, only you could restore stability to this frightened world….Give us safety and security to become eternal in our hearts.”

Some Facebook members from Egypt voiced their support for Tal via the group, suggesting that the organisers involve human rights groups from Egypt to give more impetus to Tal’s case.