Abbas Ibrahim al Hasan, a 22-year-old man from al Mashlab neighborhood in Raqqa city, was arrested in the neighborhood by Syrian Democratic Forces personnel on April 14, 2022 after he criticized the work of the health committee of the SDF’s Civil Raqqa Council on his Facebook account. He was taken to an undisclosed location.
SNHR notes that none of his family members were given any information about his detention. His phone was confiscated, and he hasn’t been allowed to contact any family members or a lawyer. We fear he 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 all 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 the Syrian Democratic 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.
