Syrian Democratic Forces raided al Keshkiya town and Abu Hamam city which are administratively a part of al Sh’aitat area in the eastern suburbs of Deir Ez-Zour governorate following an anti-SDF protest broke out in the two areas on December 16, 2020. SNHR documented that four civilians were arrested, all of whom were taken to a detention center.
We note that no members of the detainees’ families have been informed of the reason for their arrests or of their current whereabouts, with the phones of those detained civilians being confiscated, preventing them from contacting their families or lawyers. SNHR fears that they will be subjected to torture and ultimately classified as forcibly ‘disappeared’, like approximately 85 percent of all detained persons.
SNHR notes that about 3,398 Syrian citizens are still detained or forcibly disappeared in the SDF’s detention centers, constituting a grave threat to their wellbeing given the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
