Mariam Alhallak worked as a manager and educator for nearly 35 years in different Syrian schools. Since 2017, she has been living in Berlin. She has left Syria after her youngest son, Ayham Ghazoul, was killed under torture in 2012. Mrs. Alhallak is one of the founding members of the Caesar Families Association, an organisation of families demanding the truth, justice and restitution for the victims of torture and forced disappearance in Syria. She was one of the first people to file a lawsuit in Germany against Syrian government officials who participated in a huge number of human rights violations in Syria.