Khaled al-Hamidi, the 52-year-old mukhtar (headman) of his home village of Ramala, administratively affiliated with eastern rural Aleppo governorate, was arrested on December 6, 2023, by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel at a checkpoint at the entrance to the village. Khaled was beaten and accused of working with Syrian National Army (SNA), then taken to Ein al-Arab city in rural Aleppo governorate.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Khaled’s phone was seized following his arrest, and he has not been allowed to contact his family.
SNHR is concerned that he may be subjected to torture in detention and may go on to become another 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 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 SDF to reveal the fate of thousands of people forcibly disappeared at its hands.
