Syrian regime Military Security personnel carried out a raid on a home in Ataman town in the northern suburbs of Daraa governorate, on February 17, 2022. SNHR documented the arrest of three civilians from the same family, one of them a child, from al Lajat area, also in Daraa governorate, in the raid, with all being taken to an undisclosed location.
The arrests weren’t carried out according to a legal court warrant, and other family members weren’t given any information about the detentions. The detainees’ phones were confiscated, and they haven’t been allowed to contact other family members or a lawyer. We fear they will be subjected to torture, and go on to become forcibly disappeared as has happened in 85 % of arrest cases.
SNHR calls for financial and psychological restitution for the victims and their families, as well as for an end to all arbitrary detention, and for the fate of hundreds of individuals forcibly disappeared by regime forces to be revealed. We note that these arrests are carried out with the objective of spreading fear and terror in the community and blackmailing the detainees’ families. We have additional, well-founded fears for the detainees’ wellbeing due to the spread of COVID-19.
