Hussein Gharir is a Syrian human rights defender and staff member of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression. On 16 February 2012, Gharir was arrested during a raid by Air Force Intelligence on SCM’s offices in Damascus and subsequently held incommunicado. He was then subjected to enforced disappearance, torture, and ill-treatment before being transferred to Adra Central Prison. In early 2013, he was brought before the Anti-Terrorism Court on charges of “publicising terrorist acts” under Syria’s 2012 Anti-Terrorism Law. On 17 and 18 July 2015, Gharir was unexpectedly released from Hama prison following the issuance of a presidential amnesty, while his colleague Mazen Darwish (also named in the amnesty) was transferred to State Security Branch N°285 in Damascus instead of being freed. Earlier that year, on 9 June 2015, the European Parliament tabled a motion calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Darwish, Al-Zitani, and Gharir, urging that charges be dropped and that they be granted protection, legal access, and medical care.