Ahmad Khalil al-Jalal a calligrapher, caricaturist, and popular uprising activist born in 1983 in Kafranbel city in southern rural Idlib governorate, was arrested/detained on July 21, 2024, in his city of residence of Izaz in northern Aleppo governorate. Ahmad, who also worked as a dental restorative technician, was detained by personnel from the Syrian National Army’s (SNA) Military Police in a raid on his place of work in the International University of Science & Renaissance in Izaz city. He was arrested over allegations of providing shelter in his house for a fellow civilian who was heading for the Syrian-Turkish borders to cross irregularly into Türkiye. Following his arrest, during which no judicial warrant was presented, Ahmad was taken to the SNA’s Central Military Police Administration in Kafr Janna near Izaz city.
Ahmad al-Jalal is renowned in his hometown of Kafranbel for his satirical caricatures that touch on political and humanitarian themes. He felt compelled to move from Kafranbel to Izaz city when Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which currently controls Idlib governorate including Kafranbel, sought to arrest him over his caricatures that were critical of the group’s policies. There are now concerns that the SNA could potentially hand him over to HTS.
The SNA has adopted similar arrest policies to those used by the Syrian regime, with no arrest warrants being presented to the detainees. Rather, arrests are usually carried out by abductions from roads, markets, or public places, or by raiding universities and civilian events, again with no judicial warrants being presented. Ahmad Khalil al-Jalal has been denied any opportunity to contact his family or a lawyer. We are concerned he may be subjected to torture, and may go on to become another victim of enforced disappearance, with 85 percent of all detainees falling into this category.
SNHR condemns the detention of caricaturist Ahmad Khalil al-Jalal. We call for his immediate release and for compensating him morally and materially for the harm that he’s suffered. We also condemn all violations against local activists, and call for their protection under international humanitarian law. Moreover, SNHR calls for all of those involved in such violations to be held accountable, and for every official involved in abduction and torture practices to be exposed and discharged. There have been shamefully large numbers of arrests/detentions of activists, with no serious investigations launched into such incidents, and even in the rare cases when investigations are launched, their findings are not made available to the Syrian public.
