Isam Alaa al-Afish, a footballer who plays for al-Shabab Football Club in Raqqa governorate, and the al-Amn al-Dakhli ‘Internal Security’, which is affiliated with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), from Raqqa city. He was arrested on April 20, 2025, by SDF personnel after leaving the Youth and Sports Committee’s Office, after the Committee had rejected his transfer request to al-Futtua Football Club in Deir Ez-Zour governorate. He was then transferred to an undisclosed location.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) notes that Isam’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.
