The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights:

On August 14, 2024, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the arrest of Dr. Zuhair Ibrahim Khair Beik by the Syrian regime’s Military Security Intelligence branch in Latakia governorate. Dr. Zuhair, an obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) born in 1955, was arrested along with his cousin Eyad Suhail Khair Beik, an auto parts dealer, as they were traveling from Latakia city to Kasab town in rural Latakia governorate. Following their arrest, the two, who both are Alawites, were taken to the Military Security Intelligence branch in Latakia city. 

In a related incident, we also documented that 80-year-old Dr. Ahmad Mether al-Sufi, a pediatrician and cosmetic surgeon, and the owner of al-Sufi Hospital in Latakia city, was arrested almost a month later, on September 9, by personnel from the same branch. As with all other arrests carried by the Syrian regime, the three arrests were carried out without any judicial warrants being presented, further demonstrating the regime’s continuing and perpetual marginalization of the judiciary. Since their arrest, the three detainees have also been denied any opportunity to contact their families or a lawyer, or even to learn the charges against them, which is another common detention practice for the regime. 

According to intelligence received by SNHR from sources close to the victims, regime forces have imposed a complete news blackout on any reporting of the three detainees’ situation, with the regime strictly prohibiting any form of communication with the men or their families, including by lawyers or human rights activists. Regime forces have also blocked all the attempts made both by the families and others close to the detainees to find out the cause of their arrests or glean any other information about their health or legal status.

Dr. Zuhair and Dr. Ahmad are both prominent figures in Latakia city, who are known for their consistent criticism of the regime’s security and economic policies. Dr. Zuhair, who previously served as the head of the doctors’ union in Latakia governorate, had earlier faced judicial pressure to cede ownership of his factory, a facility for packaging citrus fruits and vegetables, to a relative of Bashar Assad.

Despite numerous meditation attempts by prominent dignitaries in the city to persuade the regime to release the three detainees or at the very least to clarify the charges against them, the regime has flatly rejected all such appeals. In light of this continued news blackout, there are increasing concerns that they could potentially have been transferred to one of the regime’s main security branches in the capital Damascus, where detainees are held in extremely harsh conditions, and often go on to be categorized as forcibly disappeared persons.

These arrests form part of the regime’s continuing policy of silencing any critical or dissenting voices in areas under its control, regardless of the individuals’ sectarian or ethnic affiliations. We have serious concerns that these three detainees will go on to become forcibly disappeared persons, a sadly common fate for detainees in regime detention centers, where people are held for long periods of time without trial and even without any clear charges being presented against them, and where they are often subjected to systematic torture to extract confessions, or simply to punish them for their views or activism.

SNHR must stress that, by arbitrarily detaining healthcare workers and prominent figures known for publicly voicing their critical views, the Syrian regime has again violated international human rights law, and the order issued by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) on November 16, 2023, on the request to impose provisional measures against the regime in the case brought to the court by Canada and the Netherlands against the Syrian regime on the application of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This constitutes an overt challenge and violation of the Syrian regime’s international obligations, particularly in regard to protecting human rights and abstaining from torture and arbitrary detention.

SNHR condemns all detention practices by regime forces, and particularly this incident. We call for the immediate release of the three detainees, and insist that they should be compensated, materially and morally, for the harm they suffered. We also condemn all violations against medical personnel, and call on the regime to end its arbitrary detention/arrest and torture practices that only aim to spread fear and panic among Syrians regardless of their sect. Finally, we call for investigations to be launched into these incidents, and for those responsible for violations to be held to account.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)

Bakr Qasim, from Ma’ar Shoreen in eastern rural Idlib governorate, is a media worker who‘s worked with both Türkiye’s Anadolu Agency and Agence France-Presse (AFP). On August 26, 2024, Bakr, who was born in 1995, was arrested/detained along with this wife, who’s also a media worker, by the Syrian National Army’s (SNA) Military Police, who intercepted the couple at the Douar Halab ‘Aleppo Roundabout’ area in western al-Bab city in eastern rural Aleppo governorate, as they were returning home from providing media coverage of the al-Bab Trade Exhibition in al-Bab city.

Bakr Qasim and his wife were detained without any judicial warrant being presented, and taken to an SNA detention center in al-Bab city. Bakr’s wife was released about an hour later, as we recorded at the time.

According to intelligence obtained by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) from local activists in al-Bab city, Bakr Qasim was taken from the Military Police’s headquarters in the city to a detention center in the Houar Kellis subdistrict of rural Aleppo governorate. The detention center in question is affiliated with the Turkish intelligence service and Turkish forces who operate in the area. SNHR has also learned that Bakr was taken there after being escorted back to his home, which was inspected, while Bakr’s media equipment had been seized.

The SNA follows a similar approach to that of the Syrian regime in its detention operations, with no arrest warrants being presented to those being detained. Rather, arrests are carried out by abducting the individuals in question in the street, in markets, and public places, or in raids on media offices and civilian events, again without any judicial warrants being presented. Bakr Qasim has also been denied any opportunity to contact his family or hire a lawyer. We fear he may be tortured and go on to become another enforced disappearance case with 85 percent of all detainees falling into this category.

SNHR condemns the detention of Bakr Qasim, and calls for his immediate release, and for the provision of moral and material compensation for the trauma and harm he has suffered. We also reiterate our condemnation of all violations against media workers, and call for ensuring their protection as required under international humanitarian law, more especially given the vital nature of their work in uncovering truths and facts wherever they work, and in shedding light on violations against civilians. The failure of the armed opposition/SNA to establish a safe environment for independent media work in areas under their control is demonstrated by the numerous attacks on media workers that have not been followed by any serious investigations, nor have the findings of any investigations into these attacks been made available to the public.

Languages

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)

Abdul Akram al-Saqqa, a revivalist Islamic thinker born in 1944, who founded the ‘Charity Association’ and the ‘Sharia High School’ in Darayya city in western Rural Damascus governorate, was arrested on July 14, 2011, by Syrian regime forces who raided his school in the city. He has been classified as forcibly disappeared ever since with the Syrian regime denying having him or allowing anyone to visit him, even a lawyer.

Abdul Akram al-Saqqa was known for his reformist work in his local community, where he was the imam and khatib (deliverer of the Friday sermon) at the Anas bin Malik Mosque. In 1988, he founded ‘al-Assad Institute for the Memorization of the Holy Quran’, serving as its director until the end of 2000. He also founded ‘al-Saqqa House’ for printing, publishing and distribution, through which he published several scholarly, cultural, social, and intellectual books. With the advent of the popular uprising for democracy in Syria in 2011, he participated in the peaceful anti-regime demonstrations in Darayya city. Given his status as a well-known and widely respected dignitary in the area, he and other popular figures were strategic targets for the Syrian regime who spared no efforts or resources in arresting, prosecuting, imprisoning and forcibly disappearing such individuals, without any legal cause.

On August 20, 2024, Abdul Akram al-Saqqa’s family obtained a death certificate from the civil registry office in Darayya city indicating that he had died on November 3, 2014, with no other details, such as cause of death, provided. This suggests that Abdul Akram died about three-and-a-half years after his arrest. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) can confirm that he suffered from several conditions prior to his arrest that required medical care and various types of medication, indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture and medical negligence. SNHR can also confirm that Syrian regime forces failed to announce Abdul Akram’s death when it happened, as well as failing to return his body to his family.

This failure to return Abdul Akram’s body to his family is the norm rather than the exception, with the regime routinely failing to return its victims’ bodies to their families to enable them to properly lay their loved ones to rest. Without returning the body, the documents from the registry office confirming the victims’ deaths in custody do not constitute a full revelation of the truth about their demise. Like many tens of thousands of Syrian families, Abdul Akram’s family has no possible recourse to legal action to determine the true cause of his death, or even to obtain his body since, as stated earlier, the Syrian regime absolutely refuses to return the bodies of any of its forcibly disappeared victims. SNHR is gravely concerned at the mechanisms and methods used by the regime to conceal and dispose of the bodies of its victims who died due to torture.

Since the start of 2018, SNHR has been documenting a practice adopted by the Syrian regime, whereby forcibly disappeared individuals are registered as dead in the civil registry’s records without any notification being issued to their families; we have detailed this phenomenon in previous reports. To this day, the families of persons forcibly disappeared continue to learn about the deaths of their loved ones through civil registry records. In total, we have documented 1,634 cases of this kind as of this writing, with the victims including 24 children, 21 women (adult female), and 16 medical personnel. In all these 1,634 cases, the cause of death was not revealed, and the regime failed to return the victims’ bodies to their families or even to notify the families of their loved ones’ burial places.

SNHR must reiterate that the Syrian regime bears a serious and binding responsibility to reveal the fate of forcibly disappeared persons and to launch independent investigations under the supervision of the UN to reveal the truth about the violations that occurred, to hold those responsible accountable, and to return the victims’ bodies to their families so they can be laid to rest with a proper funeral and burial. This practice by the Syrian regime of registering deaths in the civil registry records falls far short of conclusively and properly clarifying the fate of forcibly disappeared persons. Rather, it constitutes another damning indictment of the Syrian regime which, having arrested and forcibly disappeared these individuals, and denied any involvement or responsibility for their disappearance, then registers their deaths in its civil registry records without providing any details on how they died or returning their bodies to their grieving families. As such, we at SNHR reiterate that these victims are still included among the ranks of the forcibly disappeared, with the internationally outlawed crime of enforced disappearance still continuing to take place in Syria up to the present day, with the primary culprit behind these crimes being the Syrian regime.

SNHR condemns all arrest and torture practices by Syrian regime forces. We call for the immediate launch of an independent investigation into all incidents of arrest and torture that have taken place, particularly this latest atrocity, which again demonstrates the level of sheer barbarism that is the norm for this regime. We also must underline the need to support the Syrian people’s just demands for deposing and replacing the current monstrous and despotic ruling regime in Syria with a democratic system of elected government that respects human rights and defends the Syrian people.

SNHR stands in complete solidarity with Abdul Akram’s family and the families of all victims who have fallen victims to the heinous machine of torture in Syria. We wish to also express our most heartfelt empathy and condolences to all families who have suffered such terrible losses.

Ahmad Khalil al-Jalal a calligrapher, caricaturist, and popular uprising activist born in 1983 in Kafranbel city in southern rural Idlib governorate, was arrested/detained on July 21, 2024, in his city of residence of Izaz in northern Aleppo governorate. Ahmad, who also worked as a dental restorative technician, was detained by personnel from the Syrian National Army’s (SNA) Military Police in a raid on his place of work in the International University of Science & Renaissance in Izaz city. He was arrested over allegations of providing shelter in his house for a fellow civilian who was heading for the Syrian-Turkish borders to cross irregularly into Türkiye. Following his arrest, during which no judicial warrant was presented, Ahmad was taken to the SNA’s Central Military Police Administration in Kafr Janna near Izaz city.

Ahmad al-Jalal is renowned in his hometown of Kafranbel for his satirical caricatures that touch on political and humanitarian themes. He felt compelled to move from Kafranbel to Izaz city when Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which currently controls Idlib governorate including Kafranbel, sought to arrest him over his caricatures that were critical of the group’s policies. There are now concerns that the SNA could potentially hand him over to HTS.

The SNA has adopted similar arrest policies to those used by the Syrian regime, with no arrest warrants being presented to the detainees. Rather, arrests are usually carried out by abductions from roads, markets, or public places, or by raiding universities and civilian events, again with no judicial warrants being presented. Ahmad Khalil al-Jalal has been denied any opportunity to contact his family or a lawyer. We are concerned he may be subjected to torture, and may go on to become another victim of enforced disappearance, with 85 percent of all detainees falling into this category.

SNHR condemns the detention of caricaturist Ahmad Khalil al-Jalal. We call for his immediate release and for compensating him morally and materially for the harm that he’s suffered. We also condemn all violations against local activists, and call for their protection under international humanitarian law. Moreover, SNHR calls for all of those involved in such violations to be held accountable, and for every official involved in abduction and torture practices to be exposed and discharged. There have been shamefully large numbers of arrests/detentions of activists, with no serious investigations launched into such incidents, and even in the rare cases when investigations are launched, their findings are not made available to the Syrian public.

On Sunday, June 2, 2024, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) documented the arrest of two women and two boys from Kanaker town in southwestern Rural Damascus governorate the same day by personnel affiliated with the Palestine Branch (Branch 235) of the Syrian regime’s Military Intelligence Directorate; the women and boys were arrested while they were receiving treatment at a medical facility in the Masaken Barza area in Damascus city, and taken to Palestine Branch in Damascus city. The next day, June 3, the women and boys were taken to the Air Force Intelligence Directorate’s headquarters in al-Mazza Military Airbase in Damascus city.

According to information from local activists in Kanaker, who are close to the arrested women, they were detained to be used as hostages to put pressure on a family member into surrendering himself to the authorities. One of the two women is also dealing with a health issue that requires urgent medical attention.

It should also be noted that the arrest was made without a judicial warrant; this is overwhelmingly the norm in arrests made by Syrian regime forces. Those arrested were not informed of the charges directed against them, and have been denied any opportunity to contact their families, currently having the effective status of hostages. We have documented many such cases, in which regime forces have arrested relatives of wanted individuals, with those arrests usually targeting the most vulnerable members of the wanted individuals’ families, such as women and children. This is done not simply to extract information from those detained, but to punish the wanted individuals and to put pressure on fugitives to surrender themselves.

SNHR notes that Kanaker town has seen numerous local settlement agreements with the Syrian regime since early-2016. Some of those settlements were struck with the Russian side acting as meditators, while the Syrian regime did not fulfill any of its obligations, especially with regard to releasing detainees from the town and to leaving them alone without further persecution or rearrest. On the contrary, Syrian regime forces have besieged the town on multiple occasions since then, and subjected many of its residents to arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance.

SNHR stresses that, through this latest arbitrary detention of women and children and denying them medical attention, the Syrian regime has again violated the order issued by the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) on November 16, 2023, on the provisional measures requested by Canada in the Netherlands in the case brought against the Syrian regime on the application of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

SNHR condemns all arrest practices by Syrian regime forces, particularly this latest barbaric incident. We call for the immediate release of the two women and two boys, and insist that they be compensated for the material and moral damages they have suffered. We also condemn all other violations against children and women and call on the regime to end all arbitrary arrests/detentions and torture, which only aim to spread mass fear among the public and to extort residents.

Languages

Jamal Shahin al-Matni, born in 1952, was a naturalized US Citizen originally from Suwayda city in Syria. He was abducted by armed personnel affiliated with the Syrian regime’s Military Security Intelligence Directorate on Monday, July 5, 2021, in a raid on his home near al-Tha’la Roundabout in Suwayda city. He was then taken to an undisclosed location. Jamal has been forcibly disappeared ever since with the regime denying holding him and refusing to allow anyone, even a lawyer, to visit him.

According to intelligence received by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), Jamal was abducted by the locally known militia group ‘Raji Falhout’s Militia Group’, which then handed him over to the regime’s Military Security Intelligence branch in Damascus city. During the abduction itself, militia members also beat his family members. Jamal’s family believes he was abducted over his American citizenship.

On May 26, 2024, Jamal al-Matni’s family obtained a death certificate form the civil registry office in Suwayda, which states that he died in Damascus city on December 23, 2021, with no other details provided regarding the cause of death, meaning that he died about six months after his arrest. SNHR can confirm that Jamal was in need of medical assistance and was taking medication on account of suffering from several illnesses at the time of his arrest, indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture and medical negligence in a regime detention center. SNHR can also confirm that Syrian regime forces did not disclose Jamal’s death to his family at the time it took place, nor have they returned his body to his family. 

International law strictly prohibits torture and all other forms of cruel, degrading, or inhumane punishment. The prohibition of torture is a customary rule that cannot be disputed or balanced against other rights or values, even in times of emergency. Violating this rule is a crime under international criminal law. Those who issue the orders for or assist in carrying out torture are also criminally liable for their actions.

Furthermore, by forcibly disappearing Jamal and then killing him in one of its detention centers, the Syrian regime has also violated the order of the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued on November 16, 2023, in regard to a request for provisional measures in the case brought by Canada and the Netherlands against the Syrian regime on the application of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. According to the ICJ’s court order, the Syrian Arab Republic, as part of its obligations under the Convention against Torture, is bound to “take all measures within its power to prevent acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and ensure that its officials, as well as any organizations or persons which may be subject to its control, direction or influence, do not commit any acts of torture or other acts of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” In addition, the document continues, the Syrian Arab Republic “shall take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of any evidence related to allegations of acts within the scope of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.”

SNHR condemns all abduction and torture practices by Syrian regime and affiliated personnel, as by all other forces. We call for the immediate launch of an independent investigation into all incidents of arrest and torture that have taken place, particularly this latest barbaric incident that serves as further proof of the barbarism of the Syrian regime and further highlights the rightful demand of the Syrian people to change this monstrous regime for a democratic government that respects human rights and defends the Syrian people.

The US administration must take the harshest measures against the Syrian regime over its killing of a U.S. citizen under torture in this barbaric, unconscionable way. Jamal’s death is the second recently documented case in which a US citizen has died in regime custody, following that of Dr. Majd Kamalmaz, about which we issued a statement on May 21. The US Department of State must issue an urgent statement of condemnation that clearly expresses its intention to hold the Syrian regime accountable and demand that the regime compensates both victims’ families.

SNHR stands in solidarity with Jamal’s family, extending our heartfelt thoughts and condolences to them and to all bereaved families who have lost loved ones to the Syrian regime’s heinous machinery of torture.

Languages

In May 2024, the family of doctor Majd Kamalmaz began receiving information of his death in a Syrian regime detention center. This came after many attempts by the family to find out anything about his whereabouts since he was first arrested by regime forces on February 15, 2017, at a checkpoint in al-Mazza neighborhood of Damascus city.

Dr. Majd Marwan Kamalamz, an American psychotherapist, originally from Damascus city, was aged 59 at the time of his arrest. On February 14, 2017, Dr. Majd arrived in Damascus city from Lebanon, and was arrested the day after his arrival. Since then, he has been categorized as a forcibly disappeared person, with the Syrian regime denying having him or allowing anyone to visit him even a lawyer. According to intelligence received by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) from his family, Dr. Majd was in good health at the time of his arrest indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture and medical negligence in a regime detention center. SNHR can also confirm that Syrian regime forces did not disclose Dr. Majid’s death to his family at the time it took place, nor have they returned his body to his family.

Known for his extensive humanitarian activism, Dr. Majd helped many Syrian refugees in Lebanon by providing humanitarian and medical services. For this reason, he and others like him have been viewed as primary, strategic targets by the Syrian regime, which has spared no effort in pursuing, detaining and forcibly disappearing figures like Dr. Majd with no legal justification.

International law strictly prohibits torture and all other forms of cruel, degrading, or inhumane torture. The prohibition of torture is a customary rule that cannot be disputed or balanced against other rights or values, even in times of emergency. Violating this rule is a crime under international criminal law. Those who issued the orders for or assisted in carrying out torture are criminally liable for their actions.

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR):

As part of an ongoing partnership dating back to 2011, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) has shared data on thousands of missing and forcibly disappeared persons with the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), which has drawn upon this data in releasing numerous items of statistically accurate information on the victims of the armed conflict in Syria. As SNHR’s database attests, at least 112,000 Syrians are currently forcibly disappeared in Syria, with 96,000 or 85 percent of this total having been forcibly disappeared at the hands of Syrian regime forces and pro-regime Iranian militias.

SNHR will continue to share the data we document with the OHCHR, as an expression of our confidence in the integral role played by this UN agency in shedding light on the massive volume of human loss in Syria, including both deaths and enforced disappearances. SNHR hopes that this harrowing reality will push decision-makers worldwide to take action, as they are made more aware of the extreme severity of and lethal threat posed by the innumerable unresolved violations resulting from the seemingly endless Syrian conflict that has continued for 13 years, to date as well as the imperative need to find a just political resolution that will put an end to the killing and enforced disappearances, with these being the two most heinous violations plaguing the people of Syria.

Amjad Walid Idrees, born in 1994, was a student at the Al Baath University’s Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the time of his arrest by Syrian regime forces in 2014. Amjad, who was originally from al-Qsair city in rural Homs governorate, was arrested on March 31, 2014, by regime forces in front of the Immigration and Passport Department in Homs city. He has been forcibly disappeared ever since with the regime denying holding him and refusing to allow anyone, even a lawyer, to visit him.

Amjad rose to popular prominence with the start of the popular uprising for democracy in Syria in March 2011. He was known for his peaceful civilian activism, including the provision of relief and humanitarian aid through his volunteer work with the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC). He was also a member of one of the local coordination committees in Homs governorate, and a member of the ‘General Commission of the Syrian Revolution’, and worked with a number of local councils. Because of this, he, and others like him, were viewed as strategic targets by the Syrian regime, which spared no effort in persecuting, detaining, and forcibly disappearing them in its detention centers with no legal grounds.

On March 18, 2024, Amjad Idrees’s family obtained a family statement from the state registry office which stated baldly that Amjad had died on April 9, 2014, providing no other details, including the place or cause of his death. By cross-checking this document with the data on Amjad’s arrest stored on the Syrian Network for Human Rights’ (SNHR) database, it can be concluded that he died 10 days after his arrest. We can confirm that he was in good health at the time of his arrest, indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture and medical negligence. We can also confirm that Syrian regime forces failed to publicly announce the death when it happened, and also failed to return Amjad’s body to his family.

This failure to return Amjad’s body to his family is the norm rather than the exception, with the regime routinely failing to return its victims’ bodies to their families to enable them to lay their loved ones to rest. Without returning the body, the documents from the registry office confirming the victims’ deaths in custody do not constitute a full revelation of the truth. Like many tens of thousands of Syrian families, Amjad’s family has no possible recourse to legal action to find out the cause of his death, or even to obtain his body since, as stated earlier, the Syrian regime absolutely refuses to return any of its forcibly disappeared victims’ bodies. SNHR is gravely concerned at the mechanisms and methods used by the regime to conceal and dispose of the bodies of its victims who died due to torture.

Since the start of 2018, SNHR has been documenting a practice by the Syrian regime, whereby forcibly disappeared individuals are registered as dead in the civil registry’s records without any notification being issued to their families; we have detailed this phenomenon in previous reports. To this day, the families of persons forcibly disappeared continue to learn about the deaths of their loved ones through civil registry records. In total, we have documented 1,624 cases of this kind as of this writing, with the victims including  24 children, 21 women (adult female), and 16 medical personnel. In all of the 1,624 cases, the cause of death was not revealed, and the regime failed to return any of the victims’ bodies to their families or even to notify in the families of the victims’ burial places.

SNHR must reiterate that the Syrian regime bears a serious and binding responsibility to reveal the fate of forcibly disappeared persons and to launch independent investigations under the supervision of the UN to reveal the truth about the violations that occurred, hold those responsible accountable, and return the victims’ bodies to their families so they can be laid to rest with a proper funeral and burial. This practice by the Syrian regime of registering deaths in the civil registry records falls far short of conclusively and properly clarifying the fate of forcibly disappeared persons. Rather, it constitutes another damning indictment of the Syrian regime which, having arrested and forcibly disappeared these individuals, and denied any involvement or responsibility for their disappearance, then registers their deaths in its civil registry records without providing any details or returning their bodies to their grieving families. As such, we at SNHR reiterate that these victims are still included among the ranks of the forcibly disappeared, with the crime of enforced disappearance still continuing to this day as international law indicates, with the primary culprit behind these crimes being the Syrian regime.

SNHR condemns all arrest and torture practices by Syrian regime forces, especially against political activists. We call for the immediate launch of an independent investigation into all incidents of arrest and torture that have taken place, particularly this latest barbaric incident. We also call for all of those involved in such crimes to be held accountable, from the officials issuing the orders to the individuals who carried them out and colluded in the process. The findings of these investigations and accountability processes must be made public to the Syrian people. All of those involved in arrest and torture practices must be exposed, while the survivors and victims’ families must be compensated for the grave physical, psychological and emotional trauma inflicted on them.

Bashar Mohammad al-Salama, a boy originally from al-Qouriya city in eastern rural Deir Ez-Zour, was arrested in 2017 in Hasaka city, where he was living at the time, by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) personnel. Bashar, who was 15 years old at the time of his arrest, has been forcibly disappeared ever since with the SDF denying any knowledge of his whereabouts and refusing to allow anyone, even a lawyer, to visit him.

On February 19, 2024, Bashar’s family received the news from an SDF-affiliated intermediary that he had died in an SDF detention center. We are still investigating and collecting information about Bashar’s death. However, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) can confirm that he was in good health at the time of his arrest, indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture in the SDF detention center. SNHR can also confirm that the SDF has yet to return his dead body to his family.

Article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the simplified children’s version) establishes that “children who are accused of breaking the law should not be killed, tortured, treated cruelly, put in prison forever, or put in prison with adults. Prison should always be the last choice and only for the shortest possible time. Children in prison should have legal help and be able to stay in contact with their family.”

International law strictly prohibits torture and all other forms of cruel, degrading, or inhumane torture. The prohibition of torture is a customary rule that cannot be disputed or balanced against other rights or values, even in times of emergency. Violating this rule is a crime according to international criminal law. Those who issued the orders for or assisted in carrying out torture are criminally liable for their actions.

SNHR condemns all abduction and torture practices, particularly those directed against children, by SDF personnel, as by all other forces. We call for the immediate launch of an independent investigation into all incidents of arrest and torture that have taken place, particularly this latest barbaric incident. We also call for all of those involved in such crimes to be held accountable, from the officials issuing the orders to the individuals who carried them out and all who colluded in the process. The findings of these investigations and accountability processes must be made public to the Syrian people. All of those involved in arrest and torture practices must be exposed, while the survivors and victims’ families must be compensated for the grave physical, psychological and emotional trauma inflicted on them.

 
Nasser Saber Bunduq, born in 1967, was a Syrian writer and poet, who also worked at the Arab Institution for Media in Damascus city.

Nasser, who originally came from Remat Hazem village in western rural Suwayda governorate, was living in Sehnaya town in western Rural Damascus governorate at the time of his arrest on February 17, 2024, by personnel from the Military Security Intelligence Directorate, who detained him in a raid on his home in the town. He was then taken to the Military Security Intelligence’s Branch No. 227, also known as al-Manteqa branch, in Kafrsousa town in Damascus city. He has been classified as forcibly disappeared ever since, with the Syrian regime denying any knowledge of his whereabouts and refusing to allow anyone, even a lawyer, to visit him.

Nasser rose to prominence with the outbreak of the popular uprising for democracy in March 2011. He was known for his activism in the relief and humanitarian fields, as he provided aid for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Damascus governorate. Because of this, he, and others like him, were viewed as strategic targets by the Syrian regime, which spared no effort in persecuting, arresting, and forcibly disappearing them in its detention centers with no legal grounds.

On February 5, 2024, Nasser Bunduq’s family obtained a family statement from the state registry office which stated baldly that Nasser had died on March 5, 2014, providing no other details, including the place or cause of death. By cross-checking this document with the data on Nasser’s arrest stored on the Syrian Network for Human Rights’ (SNHR) database, it can be concluded that he died 17 days after his arrest. We can confirm that he was in good health at the time of his arrest, indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture and medical negligence. We can also confirm that Syrian regime forces failed to publicly announce the death when it happened, and also failed to return Nasser’s body to his family.

This failure to return Nasser’s body to his family is the norm rather than the exception, with the regime routinely failing to return its victims’ bodies to their families to enable them to lay their loved ones to rest. Without returning the body, the documents from the registry office confirming the victims’ deaths in custody do not constitute a full revelation of the truth. Like many thousands of Syrian families, Nasser’s family has no possible recourse to legal action to find out the cause of his death, or even to obtain his body since, as stated earlier, the Syrian regime absolutely refuses to return any of its forcibly disappeared victims’ bodies. SNHR is gravely concerned at the mechanisms and methods used by the regime to conceal and dispose of the bodies of its victims who died due to torture.

Since the beginning of 2018, SNHR has been documenting a practice by the Syrian regime, whereby forcibly disappeared individuals are registered as dead in the civil registry’s records without any notification being issued to their families; we have detailed this phenomenon in previous reports. To this day, the families of persons forcibly disappeared continue to learn about the death of their loved ones through civil registry records. In total, we have documented 1,623 cases of this kind as of this writing, including of 24 children and 21 women (adult female), and 16 medical personnel. In all of the 1,623 cases, the cause of death was not revealed, and the regime failed to return any of the victims’ bodies to their families or even to notify in the families of the victims’ burial places.

SNHR must reiterate that the Syrian regime bears a serious and binding responsibility to reveal the fate of forcibly disappeared persons and to launch independent investigations under the supervision of the UN to reveal the truth about the violations that occurred, hold those responsible accountable, and return the victims’ bodies to their families so they can be laid to rest with a proper funeral and burial. This practice by the Syrian regime of registering deaths in the civil registry records falls far short of conclusively and properly clarifying the fate of forcibly disappeared persons. Rather, it constitutes another damning indictment of the Syrian regime which, having arrested and forcibly disappeared these individuals, and denied any involvement or responsibility for their disappearance, then registers their deaths in its civil registry records without providing any details or returning their bodies to their grieving families. As such, we at SNHR reiterate that these victims are still included among the ranks of the forcibly disappeared, with the crime of enforced disappearance still continuing to this day, with the primary culprit behind these crimes being the Syrian regime.

SNHR condemns all arrest and torture practices by Syrian regime forces, especially against political activists. We call for the immediate launch of an independent investigation into all incidents of arrest and torture that have taken place, particularly this latest barbaric incident. We also call for all of those involved in such crimes to be held accountable, from the officials issuing the orders to the individuals who carried them out and colluded in the process. The findings of these investigations and accountability processes must be made public to the Syrian people. All of those involved in arrest and torture practices must be exposed, while the survivors and victims’ families must be compensated for the grave physical, psychological and emotional trauma inflicted on them.

 
Ibrahim Walid Kezlou, a taxi driver from Izaz city in northern rural Aleppo governorate, was arrested in late November 2023 by Syrian National Army (SNA) personnel in Talil al-Sham village in northern rural Aleppo governorate near the Syrian-Turkish borders over accusations that he had been transporting passengers to the Syrian-Turkish border from where they were crossing irregularly into Türkiye.

Ibrahim’s arrest was carried out without any judicial warrant being presented, and he was taken to a detention center in Izaz city operated by the SNA’s Military Police. Rather than receiving a fair trial, he was subjected to detention and torture.

On January 28, 2024, Ibrahim’s family was notified by an SNA member that he had died at the National Hospital in Izaz city. Upon arriving in the hospital, his family received a medical report stating that he had died before his arrival there, before taking his body for burial. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) can confirm that Ibrahim was in good health at the time of his arrest, indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture and medical negligence in an SNA’s Military Police detention center in Izaz city.

International law strictly prohibits torture and all other forms of cruel, degrading, or inhumane torture. The prohibition of torture is a customary rule that cannot be disputed or balanced against other rights or values, even in times of emergency. Violating this rule is a crime according to international criminal law. Those who issued the orders for or assisted in carrying out torture are criminally liable for their actions.

SNHR condemns all abduction and torture practices by personnel from the SNA, as by all other forces. We call for the immediate launch of an independent investigation into all incidents of arrest and torture that have taken place, particularly this latest barbaric incident. We also call for all of those involved in such crimes to be held accountable, from the officials issuing the orders to the individuals who carried them out and colluded in the process. The findings of these investigations and accountability processes must be made public to the Syrian people. All of those involved in arrest and torture practices must be exposed, while the survivors and victims’ families must be compensated for the grave physical, psychological and emotional trauma inflicted on them. The policies of the Syrian regime and Russia in denying the existence of these atrocities must be avoided, with this strategy leading to a situation in which no security personnel or ‘shabiha’ have been held accountable for their crimes for over a decade.