A 40-year-old man, identified as Walid Mansour al-Mhemid from Homs who was living and working in Manbij city in eastern rural Aleppo governorate as an elementary school teacher, was arrested on August 5, 2023, by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel following a verbal dispute between him and a clerk at the ‘kafala’ (sponsorship) renewal office (the SDF requires that IDPs living in areas under their control have a sponsor) in al-Serb neighborhood in Manbij city. He was then taken to al-Maliya Prison in Manbij city, where he was tortured to death. On August 8, 2023, the SDF informed his family of his death and returned his body to them.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) can confirm that Walid was in good health at the time of his arrest, indicating a strong possibility that he died due to torture and medical negligence in the SDF’s al-Maliya Prison in Manbij city.
SNHR notes that roughly 4,624 Syrian citizens are still under arrest and/or forcibly disappeared in SDF detention centers. We have serious concerns about their fate.
It should be also noted that roughly 94 Syrian citizens have died due to torture inside SDF detention centers.
