A fighter with the Bashaer al Nasr Brigade faction of the Armed Opposition, named as Muhammad Abdul Mun’em al Wais, from al Ashara city in the eastern suburbs of Deir Ez-Zour governorate, was arrested by Syrian forces in 2015 after being lured to al Qalamoun area in Damascus suburbs governorate while he was trying to reach areas controlled by factions of the Armed Opposition in Idlib governorate. On May 10, 2021, his family received information confirming his death. SNHR data from numerous sources confirms that he was in good health at the time of his arrest, indicating that he probably died due to torture and lack of healthcare in one of the regime’s detention centers.
SNHR has received confirmation that Syrian regime forces failed to hand over his body to his family; this is standard practice for the regime, with the bodies of the majority of detainees who die in its detention centers being disposed of through mass cremations. Since the whereabouts of these prisoners’ remains is unknown and they are not handed over to the prisoners’ families, they continue to be classified as being among the forcibly disappeared.
SNHR can confirm that at least 131,106 Syrian citizens are still detained or forcibly disappeared in the regime’s detention centers, constituting a grave threat to the detainees’ wellbeing, particularly given the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
SNHR notes that at least 14,315 Syrian citizens have died due to torture in Syrian regime forces’ detention center.
