A civilian, identified as Ayman al-Aqla from Quneitra city, born in 1989, who lives resides in the town of Koum al-Wisiya in the suburbs of Quneitra, was arrested on July 16, 2023, by Syrian regime military personnel at the ‘Ma’mal Barada Checkpoint’ in southern al-Hajar al-Aswad city Southern Damascus Governorate while he was trying to reach the city. He was taken to an undisclosed location.
The arrest was carried out without any court-issued legal warrant being presented. Ayman’s family was not informed of his arrest, while his phone was seized, and he has not been allowed to contact his family or a lawyer.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) is concerned that he may be subjected to torture in detention and may go on to become yet another case of enforced disappearance, with 85 percent of all those detained falling into this category.
We call for the provision of both material and moral reparations for Ayman and all other victims of such detentions and for their families, 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 on the regime to reveal the fate of thousands of people forcibly disappeared in its detention centers. We are seriously concerned about their fates.
