A 65-year-old man, identified as Kamal al-A’war from Suwayda city, who lives in al-Tal city in northern Rural Damascus governorate (Rif Dimshaq) was arrested on August 6, 2023, by Syrian regime forces personnel after he was summoned to a police situation in the city over receiving a money transfer from Saudi Arabia. On August 8, 2023, he was transferred to the local branch of the Syrian regime’s Criminal Security Directorate in Harasta city, also in Rural Damascus governorate.
The arrest was carried out without any court-issued legal warrant being presented. Kamal’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 forcibly disappeared person, with 85 percent of all those detained falling into this category.
We call for the provision of both material and moral reparations for Nagham 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.