An ARKTV reporter, named as Barzan Hussein Layani, born in 1973, from Ma’bada town in the northeast of Hasaka governorate, was arrested on July 18 by Syrian Democratic Forces gunmen during a raid on his home near Ali Bin Abi Taleb Mosque in the town and taken to an undisclosed location.
SNHR notes that no member of Barzani’s family was informed of his arrest or whereabouts, with his phone being confiscated, preventing him 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 3,796 Syrian citizens are still detained or forcibly disappeared in the SDF’s detention centers, constituting a grave threat to the detainees’ wellbeing, especially given the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
