A man from al Bseira city in the east of Deir Ez-Zour governorate, named as Ahmad al Ali, an official with the irrigation department of the governorate’s civil council, which is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, was arrested by SDF-affiliated gunmen on September 26, 2021, during a raid on his home near a factory complex in northern Deir Ez-Zour city and taken to an undisclosed location.
SNHR notes that no member of Ahmad’s family was informed of his arrest or whereabouts, while 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 3,817 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.
