The head of the Environment Protection and Sustainable Development Group, named as Isam al Ejeil, from Maheimda village in the western suburbs of Deir Ez-Zour governorate was arrested on July 17, 2021, by Syrian Democratic Forces gunmen during a raid on his home in the village and taken to an undisclosed location.
SNHR notes that no member of Isam’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.
