Mazen al-Hamada

Mazen al-Hamada (Arabic: مازن الحمادة, romanized: Māzin al-Ḥamāda; (1977-07-03)July 3, 1977 – c. (2024-12-00)December 2024) was a Syrian activist from Deir ez-Zor.

[3] Hamada was imprisoned and tortured for more than a year and a half for participating in anti-government protests in the context of the Arab Spring in 2011.

[5] Hamada was a graduate of the Institute of the Petroleum Industry,[citation needed] and worked as a technician for the French multinational oil and gas company Schlumberger.

[6] He later became an employee for the Syrian Emergency Task Force, located in Washington, DC and backed by the U.S. State Department.

[8][better source needed] In March 2012, Hamada attempted to smuggle 55 packages of baby formula to a suburb of Damascus.

He seems to have been approached by people from the Syrian embassy, close to the Assad regime, and to have been lured back to Syria with promises of releasing detainees.

[10][13][14] Hamada's body was found on December 9, 2024, after opposition forces from the Free Syrian Army took control of Sednaya Prison during the fall of Damascus.

[15][failed verification] Hamada is believed to have been executed a few days before the discovery of his body, which had extensive signs of torture and beatings.