On September 4, 2023, personnel from the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) Internal Security arrested 19 civilians from Deir Ez-Zour governorate at a checkpoint known as al-Sabbagh Checkpoint erected at the northern entrance of Hasaka city. They were then taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that the detained civilians’ 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 people, 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 on the SDF to reveal the fate of thousands of persons forcibly disappeared at its hands.
