A/HRC/27/60 44. There have been several abductions where no ransom demands have been made. Among those are the abductions of four human rights activists, Razan Zeitouneh, Wael Hamada, Samira Khalil and Nazem Hammadi, kidnapped from their office in Douma (Rif Damascus) in December 2013. Their fate and whereabouts remain unknown. C. 1. Enforced disappearance Government forces 45. Checkpoints, pervasive and inescapable, continue to instil fear in Syrians. Numerous accounts of enforced disappearance were documented, particularly in the towns of Yabroud, Beit Saber, Zakiyeh, Adra and eastern Ghouta (Rif Damascus). In January, soldiers arrested a man on his way to work from Al-Ghizlaniyah (Damascus). He remains unaccounted for, despite his wife’s attempts to locate him. Fear of checkpoints prompted some to opt for longer and more difficult routes. Many stated that they were so frightened that they had become prisoners in their own homes. 46. Government forces engaged in mass arrest campaigns leading to the enforced disappearance of fighting-age men in areas that fell under their control. That trend was observed following the truces in Assal al-Ward in April and the city of Homs in May, and following the taking of Yabroud in March. 47. Families are often too afraid to approach the authorities to inquire about the whereabouts of their relatives. Those who inquired faced a systematic refusal to disclose information about the fate of the disappeared. Others were confronted with administrative hurdles seemingly aimed at deterring them from searching further. A woman, whose husband disappeared in May 2013 in Kaswa (Damascus) relentlessly inquired about him at the local police station and various security branches in Kafr Sousa (Damascus), to no avail. In March, she went to the Palace of Justice in Damascus, where she filled in a form. She was asked to return 40 days later to verify whether her husband’s name featured on a list of missing persons displayed in the premises of the tribunal. When she returned, her spouse’s name was not listed. He remains unaccounted for. 48. In some instances, families were merely notified of the death of their relatives, without being informed of the circumstances and cause of death, or the location of the remains. In March, Government officials informed a family that their relative, who had disappeared in April 2013 in Damascus, had died of a heart attack. When they attempted to obtain a copy of his identity card at the Military Police branch, their interlocutors denied having information about him. 49. Although it is men who are predominantly disappeared, the impact on women is severe and lasting. Women face specific hardships in rebuilding their lives and caring for their families in the absence of the main breadwinners. 50. Enforced disappearances formed part of the attack referred to in paragraph 28 above, and constitute a crime against humanity. 2. Non-State armed groups Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham 51. Reports of persons being disappeared while in ISIS-controlled territory have increased. One such person is a Jesuit priest, Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, who disappeared in Ar Raqqah city on 28 January. ISIS is adopting practices that may lead to acts tantamount to enforced disappearance, in breach of its obligations under international humanitarian law. Forming part of the attack identified in paragraph 38 above, their practices constitute a crime against humanity. 9