A man, identified as Mahmoud Mohammad Qartal from Khlalka village, administratively a part of Afrin city in northwestern Aleppo governorate, who is an internally displaced person (IDP) living in al-Shahba subdistrict in northern Aleppo governorate, which is under the control of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Mahmoud was arrested on August 7, 2024, by personnel from the Syrian National Army’s SNA Military Police after returning from his area of displacement in al-Shahba subdistrict to his house in Khlalka village over accusations of working with the SDF. He was then taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Mahmoud’s phone have been seized, and he has not been allowed to contact his family. We are 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 all armed opposition factions/SNA to reveal the fate of thousands of people forcibly disappeared at its hands.
