Two boys, identified as 13-year-old Younes Rashed al-Mohammad, who is a special needs person, and 15-year-old Ibrahim Abbas Jalal, were arrested on April 16, 2024, by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel who raided their families’ houses in their hometown of al-Azba in northern Deir Ez-Zour governorate. They were then taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that the two children they have not been allowed to contact their other family members. We are concerned that they 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.
