A nineteen-year-old woman, Helen Ahmad al Ismail, from Raqqa city was arrested by Syrian Democratic Forces personnel on June 15, 2022, during a raid on her father’s pharmacy near al Naeem Circle in the city center. She was taken to an undisclosed location.
SNHR notes that her family weren’t informed of the arrest, her phone was confiscated and she wasn’t allowed to contact her family. We fear she might suffer torture and become forcibly disappeared, as has happened with 85% of detainees.
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 thousands of individuals forcibly disappeared by 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.
