Reporter of ARK Kurdish Channel, named as Ahmad Soufi, from al Malekiya city in the northeastern suburbs of Hasaka governorate, was arrested on March 1, 2021, by Syrian Democratic Forces as he was passing through a checkpoint near Banah Qasr village which is administratively a part of the city, and taken to an undisclosed location.
SNHR notes that no member of Ahmad’s family was informed of his arrest, with his phone being confiscated, preventing him from contacting his family. SNHR fears that he will be subjected to torture and ultimately classified as forcibly ‘disappeared’ like approximately 85 percent of the individuals detained in Syria.
SNHR notes that about 3,398 Syrian citizens are still detained or forcibly disappeared in the SDF’s detention centers, constituting a grave threat to their wellbeing given the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
