A man, identified as Ahmad Mohammad al-Steif from Farkya village in the southern suburbs of Idlib governorate, was arrested on May 16, 2023, by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) personnel at a checkpoint set up at al-Ghazzawya Crossing which separates the territories under HTS’ control in Idlib governorate from those controlled by the Syrian National Army (SNA) in northern Aleppo governorate. He was taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Ahmad’s phone was seized following his arrest, and he has not been allowed to contact his family. SNHR is concerned that he may be subjected to torture in detention and may go on to become yet another forced disappearance case, with 85% of all those detained in Syria falling into this category.
We call for the provision of reparations for the victims and their families, both materially and morally, and call on all parties to put an end to all arbitrary detentions whose only purpose is to spread mass fear and extort people.
We also call for revealing the fates of thousands of people forcibly disappeared at the hands of the HTS.
