On June 21, 2023, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by an international coalition helicopter, carried out a raid and arrest campaign in al-Zer village in the eastern suburbs of Deir Ez-Zour. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the arrest of four civilians from the village in the raids, all of whom were taken to an undisclosed location.
SNHR notes that the detainees’ phones were seized following their arrest, and they have not been allowed to contact their families.
SNHR is concerned that they may be subjected to torture in detention and may go on to become yet more enforced disappearance cases, 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 the fates of thousands of people forcibly disappeared at the hands of the SDF to be revealed.
