Two young sisters, identified as Hevein and Mariam Yousef Jouma, aged 16 and 24 respectively, from Alka village, which is administratively a part of Afrin city in northwestern Aleppo, were arrested on August 1, 2023, by Syrian National Army (SNA) personnel in Afrin city, and taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Hevein’s and Mariam’s phones were seized following their arrest, and they have not been allowed to contact their family.
SNHR is concerned that they may be subjected to torture in detention and may go on to become yet more forcibly disappeared persons, with 85% of all those detained in Syria falling into this category.
We call for the provision of both material and moral reparations for the victims and 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 for the fates of thousands of people forcibly disappeared at the hands of all armed opposition factions/SNA to be revealed.
