Syrian Democratic Forces raided Tal Abyad Street in the middle of Raqqa city on October 15, 2021, following an anti-SDF protest that broke out criticizing the poor living and service conditions and arrest campaigns in SDF-controlled areas. SNHR documented the arrest of four civilians who were taken to an undisclosed location.
SNHR notes that no members of the detainees’ families were informed of their arrest or whereabouts, with their phones being confiscated, preventing them from contacting their families. SNHR fears that they will be subjected to torture and ultimately classified as forcibly ‘disappeared’, like approximately 85 percent of all detained persons in Syria.
SNHR demands a financial and psychological compensation to be provided to the victims and their families, an end for all arbitrary arrests and which aim to spread terror among Syrians and blackmailing the families, and revealing the fates of thousands of disappeared people by SDF as we have a serious concern on the detainees’ wellbeing, given the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
