A man, identified as 22-year-old Mahmoud Ahmad Abdi, was arrested on January 14, 2024, by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel at a checkpoint in Ein al-Arab area while traveling to the Sarran subdistrict, which is administratively affiliated with his home city of Ein al-Arab in eastern rural Aleppo governorate. He was then taken to an SDF military recruitment camp.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Mahmoud 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.
