A man from Markada town in the southern suburbs of Hasaka governorate, named as Saleh Abd al Zawanit, was arrested by Syrian Democratic Forces personnel on August 2, 2021, during a raid on his home in the town over his criticism of living conditions in areas controlled by the SDF, and taken to an undisclosed location.
SNHR notes that no member of Saleh’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, given the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
