A 13-year-old child, identified as Abdul Karim al-Hmoud al-Shalili, was arrested on November 5, 2023, by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel who raided his family’s home in his hometown of Abu Hamam in eastern rural Deir Ez-Zour governorate. He was then taken to an undisclosed location. The raid also involved the SDF seizing the family’s house and turning it into a military enclave.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Abdul Karim has not been allowed to contact their family.
SNHR is concerned that he may be subjected to torture in detention and may go on to become enforced disappearance case, 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 people forcibly disappeared at its hands.
