A Boy, identified as 17-year-old Khaled Mohammad al-Sheikh from al-Rahyat village in northern rural Raqqa governorate, was arrested on January 11, 2025, by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel in a raid on his house in al-Rahyat village over his participation in the popular celebrations for the fall of the Assad regime at al-Na’im Roundabout in Raqqa city. The arrest involved SDF personnel assaulting his mother after she tried to stop them from arresting her son. He was then taken to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Khaled’s phone was 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 the SDF to reveal the fate of thousands of people forcibly disappeared at its hands.
