On March 26, 2024, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel arrested seven civilians in raids on their homes in the village of al-Sour in northern Deir Ez-Zour governorate, over their participation in anti-SDF demonstrations in the village. They were then taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that none of the detainees’ family members were notified of their arrest, while the detainees’ phones were also seized following their arrest, and they have not been allowed to contact their family.
SNHR is concerned that they may be subjected to torture in detention and may go on to become more enforced disappearance cases, 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.
