On May 13, 2024, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel arrested eight civilians from the same family in raids on their homes in their home village of al-Hawayej in eastern Deir Ez-Zour governorate. They were then taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that none of the detainees’ other relatives were notified of their arrest, while the detainees’ phones were also seized following their arrest, and they have not been allowed to contact their other family members.
SNHR is 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.
