Muhammad Yousef al-Ahmad, a 20-year-old student at the University of Damascus’ Faculty of Literature and Humanities, from Tal Houthan village in Khafsa county in Manbej city’s southern suburbs in the east of Aleppo governorate, was arrested by Syrian Democratic Forces personnel for military conscription on August 1, 2022, as he passed through an SDF checkpoint in the suburbs of Raqqa governorate on his way to Manbej city. He was taken to an SDF recruitment center.
SNHR notes that Muhammad’s phone was confiscated, and that he hasn’t been allowed to contact any members of his family, who have received no information about his arrest. We fear he may be forced to participate directly or indirectly in military operations.
SNHR calls for financial and psychological restitution for all victims, as well as for an end to all arbitrary detentions, and for the fate of thousands of individuals forcibly disappeared by Syrian Democratic Forces to be revealed. We note that these arrests are also 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 their wellbeing due to the spread of COVID-19.
