Boy, identified as 17-year-old Hamadi al-Helal from Um al-Sath village to the west of Manbij city in eastern rural Aleppo governorate, was arrested on October 14, 2024, by personnel from the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) Counterterrorism Division during a demonstration in Manbij city protesting the school curriculums being taught in schools in SDF areas. He was then taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Hamadi 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 the SDF to reveal the fate of thousands of people forcibly disappeared at its hands.
