An 11-year-old child, named as Muhammad Fawaz al Doush, from al Sh-heil city in the eastern suburbs of Deir Ez-Zour governorate, was arrested on May 11, 2021, by Syrian Democratic Forces during a raid on his home in al Hasya neighborhood in the city and taken to an undisclosed location. SNHR notes that SDF carried out a series of raids in the city on the same day, resulting in the arrest of seven civilians, including this child. SNHR notes that no member of Muhammad’s family was informed of his arrest or whereabouts, and he was prevented from contacting his family. SNHR fears that he will be subjected to torture and ultimately classified as forcibly ‘disappeared’, like approximately 85 percent of all detained persons in Syria. We can confirm that at least 3,784 Syrian citizens are still detained or forcibly disappeared in the SDF’s detention centers, constituting a grave threat to the detainees’ wellbeing, given the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
