The Hague – Syrian Network for Human Rights:

Abdullah Hussein al-Akhras, a defector from the Syrian regime army, originally from Ghabagheb town in northern rural Daraa governorate, was arrested in September 2023 by regime forces at a checkpoint in Aleppo while trying to return to his hometown in Daraa governorate.

According to intelligence received by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) from people close to the victim, Abdullah, who was born in 1991, had been living as a refugee in Türkiye until he was forcibly deported to northwestern Syria in mid-2023. Soon afterwards, as he tried to make his way back to his hometown, regime forces arrested him at the aforementioned checkpoint in Aleppo. His family later learned that he was being held in the regime’s infamous Sednaya Military Prison in Rural Damascus governorate. He has been classified as forcibly disappeared ever since.

On August 5, 2024, Abdullah’s family received notification from a regime military official that he had died. His body was returned to his family at the Harasta Military Hospital in Harasta city in eastern Rural Damascus governorate on the same day. SNHR can confirm that Abdullah was in good health at the time of his arrest, indicating a strong probability that he had died due to torture and medical negligence in Sednaya Military Prison.

International law strictly prohibits torture and 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 according to international criminal law. Those who issued the orders for or assisted in carrying out torture are criminally liable for their actions.

SNHR must stress that the forcible deportation and refoulment of Syrian refugees constitute a violation of customary international law. The governments carrying out such acts are legally responsible for any violations that those refugees may be subjected to at the hands of the Syrian regime; including but not limited to torture, killing, and enforced disappearance; this is, of course, in addition to the regime’s direct responsibility for these violations.

SNHR condemns all arrest and torture practices perpetrated by Syrian regime forces, more especially those inflicted on returning Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. We call for the immediate launch of independent investigations 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. 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 over the years must be exposed and dismissed, while the survivors and victims’ families must be compensated for the grave physical, psychological and emotional trauma inflicted on them.

Ahmad Nemer al-Halli, from the Barza neighborhood of Damascus city, was arrested in early-June 2024 by Syrian regime forces at a checkpoint in Damascus city. He was taken to the Military Security Intelligence Directorate’s infamous Palestine Branch, or Branch 235, in Damascus city.

According to intelligence received by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) from local activists in Damascus city, Ahmad, who had been a refugee in Lebanon, had been forcibly deported by personnel from Lebanon’s General Security to the Lebanese-Syrian border along with a group of fellow refugees a short time before. These deportations form part of a continuing security crackdown by the Lebanese authorities against Syrian refugees in Lebanon that has been going on since the start of this year.

Ahmad was arrested as soon as he was deported from Lebanon, without any legal arrest warrant being presented. His family was not informed of his arrest, and he was denied any opportunity to contact his family or a lawyer. At the end of June 2024, we documented his transfer from the Palestine Branch to a hospital elsewhere in Damascus city. At the time of his transfer to the hospital, he was extremely unwell due to the brutal torture to which he had been subjected in detention. He remained in the hospital’s intensive care unit until his death on Saturday, July 6, 2024, as we recorded.

International law strictly prohibits torture and 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 according to international criminal law. Those who issued the orders for or assisted in carrying out torture are criminally liable for their actions.

Since the start of 2024, SNHR has documented regime forces’ arrest of at least 126 of the refugees forcibly deported from Lebanon, including four children and three women, all of whom have been detained in various regime detention centers. Most of these detainees were arrested by personnel from the Syrian regime’s Military Security Intelligence detachment located in al-Masna area on the Syrian-Lebanese border. SNHR must stress that the forcible deportation and refoulment of Syrian refugees constitute violations of customary international law. The governments carrying out such acts are legally responsible for any violations to which those refugees may be subjected at the hands of the Syrian regime; including but not limited to torture, killing, and enforced disappearance, in addition, of course, to the regime’s direct responsibility for these violations.

SNHR condemns all arrest and torture practices by Syrian regime forces, more especially those inflicted on returning Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. 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 perpetrating such crimes to be held accountable, from the officials issuing the orders to the individuals who carried them out. The findings of these investigations and accountability processes must be made public to the Syrian people. All of those involved in carrying out arrest and torture practices over the years must be exposed and dismissed from their positions, while the survivors and victims’ families must be compensated for the grave physical, psychological and emotional trauma inflicted on them.

Ahmad Adnan Shamsi al-Haydar, from al-Boukamal city in eastern Deir Ez-Zour governorate, was arrested in April 2024 by Syrian regime forces at a checkpoint in Damascus city. He was then taken to the Military Security Intelligence Directorate’s Palestine Branch, or Branch 235, in Damascus city.

According to intelligence received by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) from local activists in Deir Ez-Zour, Ahmad, who had been a refugee in Lebanon, was forcibly deported by personnel from Lebanon’s General Security to the Lebanese-Syrian border along with a group of fellow refugees. This came as part of a continuing security crackdown by the Lebanese authorities against Syrian refugees in Lebanon that has been going on since the start of this year.

Ahmad was arrested as soon as he was deported from Lebanon, even though no legal arrest warrant was issued. He was denied any opportunity to contact his family or a lawyer. The last known information about Ahmad was his transfer from Palestine Branch in Damascus to the Military Security Intelligence’s branch in Deir Ez-Zour. He had been forcibly disappeared ever since.

On June 25, 2024, Ahmad’s family received notification from a Syrian regime officer that Ahmad had died inside the Military Security Intelligence Directorate’s branch in Deir Ez-Zour city. His body was returned to his family at the Ahmad al-Hwyedi Military Hospital in Deir Ez-Zour city the next day, June 26, 2024. SNHR can confirm that Ahmad was in good health at the time of his arrest, indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture and medical negligence inside the Military Security Intelligence Directorate’s branch in Deir Ez-Zour city.

International law strictly prohibits torture and 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.

Since the start of 2024, SNHR has documented that at least 126 of the refugees forcibly deported from Lebanon, including four children and three women, have been arrested by regime forces and detained in various regime detention centers. Most of these detainees were arrested by the Syrian regime’s Military Security Intelligence detachment located in al-Masna border area. SNHR must stress that the forcible deportation and refoulment of Syrian refugees constitute a violation of customary international law. The governments carrying out such acts are legally responsible for any violations that those refugees may be subjected to at the hands of the Syrian regime; including but not limited to torture, killing, and enforced disappearance, in addition, of course, to the regime’s direct responsibility for these violations.

SNHR condemns all arrest and torture practices by Syrian regime forces, more especially those inflicted on returning Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. We call for the immediate launch of an independent investigation into all incidents of arrest and torture that have taken place, particularly this 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. 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 over the years must be exposed and dismissed, while the survivors and victims’ families must be compensated for the grave physical, psychological and emotional trauma inflicted on them.

On Friday, May 24, 2024, the Paris Criminal Court officially convicted three Syrian regime security leadership officials in absentia on charges of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the case of the Franco-Syrians Mazen Dabbagh and his son Patrick (Abdul Qader), who were arrested, forcibly disappeared, and subsequently killed under torture in a detention center operated by the Syrian regime’s Air Force Intelligence Directorate. The Syrian regime also seized the Dabbagh family’s properties in Damascus.

This ruling followed several trial sessions held in absentia against the accused from May 21-24, 2024. The case had been under investigation by the War Crimes Unit in Paris since November 2016, before a decision was made by the city’s General Prosecutor to launch a judicial examination on the grounds of the universal jurisdiction principle. On October 8, 2018, the examining judges issued arrest warrants against the three officers accused, namely Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud.

This landmark trial would not have been possible without the tireless and brave efforts of Obayda Dabbagh, Mazen’s brother, and Ms. Hanan Dabbagh, Mazen’s widow.

The Court sentenced the three high-ranking regime officers in absentia to life imprisonment, as they were convinced of complicity in imprisonment, torture, enforced disappearance, and causing deliberate harm to life, constituting crimes against humanity; and extortion and property seizure, constituting war crimes.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), represented by its Executive Director Fadel Abdulghany, closely followed, and attended the recent proceedings over the past four days. Moreover, SNHR’s data and reports were referenced in many of the statements made by the Dabbagh family’s lawyer, as well as the witnesses, and experts.

Khirou Ra’fat al-Shlash, a 44-year-old car trader and livestock merchant from al-Sheikh Yahya village, which is administratively a part of Manbij city in eastern rural Aleppo governorate, was detained on April 25, 2024, by personnel from Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as they followed him for a while after leaving his home in al-Sheikh Yahya village. The arresting personnel severely beat him and shot him, injuring his back.

Khirou’s detention was conducted with no judicial warrant. He was taken to the SDF’s al-Maliya Prison in Manbij city, and he was accused of working with Syrian regime forces.

On April 27, 2024, Khirou’s family was notified by an SDF member that he had died in al-Maliya Prison. His body, showing signs of severe torture, was returned to the family the next day at al-Furat ‘Euphrates’ Hospital in Manbij city. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) can confirm that he was in poor health at the time of his arrest due to the injuries he sustained during the detention, indicating a strong probability that he died due to torture in the SDF detention center. On April 28, 2024, SNHR received a number of photos clearly showing that Khirou Ra’fat al-Shlash was subjected to barbaric torture during his detention.

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 SDF armed 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 abduction and torture practices over the past years must be exposed and discharged, while the survivors and victims’ families must be compensated for the grave physical and moral trauma inflicted on them.

Mohammad Abdul Rahman Majjou was an internally displaced person (IDP) from Khan al-Assal neighborhood in southeastern Aleppo city who had fled to and been living in al-Atareb city in western rural Aleppo governorate, a city currently under the control of armed opposition factions and Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). In May 2023, Mohammad travelled from al-Atareb city to Aleppo city to seek a security settlement from the Syrian regime, so that he could return to his original place of residence, which is in an area under regime control. On June 15, 2023, however, personnel from the Syrian regime’s Military Security Intelligence forces arrested him at his house in Aleppo city. Mohammad, his parents’ only son, who was married with two children, had originally fled Aleppo city for western rural Aleppo governorate to escape the bombardment and clashes between regime forces and armed opposition places which were taking place at the time in the city.

Mohammad’s arrest was carried out without any legal warrant issued by a court or legal authority being presented. Furthermore, no members of Mohammad’s family were informed of his arrest, and he was denied any opportunity to call his family or a lawyer. He was taken to a detention center in Damascus city, and has been classified as forcibly disappeared ever since his arrest.

On August 3, 2023, Mohammad’s family learned that he had died inside a regime detention center in Damascus city. The family learned of Mohammad’s death via informal means, namely through a call by Syrian regime forces personnel. On August 5, his family was able to recover his body in Aleppo city. According to information obtained by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), Mohammad Majjou had suffered brutal torture, the marks of which were visible on his body, as well as deliberate denial of food, and poor healthcare during his detention. Despite this, however, Mohammad’s family was unable to demand an investigation into his death or to file a complaint to the public prosecutor due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted themselves by the regime’s security forces for their criticism.

International law strictly prohibits torture and 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 arrest and torture practices by Syrian regime forces and all other parties, more especially those inflicted on returning IDPs and refugees. We call for launching an immediate independent investigation into all incidents of arrest and torture that have taken place, particularly this 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. 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 over the years must be exposed, while the survivors and victims’ families must be compensated for the gave physical, psychological and emotional trauma inflicted on them.

The Syrian Regime’s Territories are Unsafe and Ruled by a Savage Police Mindset

Hassan Ali Hassan Agha, a 47-year-old Kurdish man originally from Snara village, which is administratively affiliated with the Nahiyat Sheikh Hadid in the suburbs of Afrin city, northwestern Aleppo, lived in Afrin city, where he worked as a labourer transporting vegetables at the city’s al-Hal Market. Hassan, who suffered from chronic diabetes, had travelled from Afrin city to Aleppo city for treatment when he was arrested by Syrian regime forces there in late October 2022. His family told the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) that they were informed he was being held in the Aleppo city branch of the regime’s infamous Air Force Intelligence Directorate.

On December 29, 2022, Hassan’s family was notified that he had died in the Air Force Intelligence branch in Aleppo city, with his body subsequently transferred to Afrin city the next day, December 30, via Al-Taeyha crossing which connects the Syrian regime’s territories with those controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Manbej city, eastern Aleppo. According to information obtained by SNHR, Hassan’s body was then transferred from the SDF-controlled Manbej area to the Syria National Army’s (SNA) territories in the suburbs of Jarablos city in eastern Aleppo, where personnel from the Syrian Civil Defence (White Helmets) received it and transferred it to the Military Hospital in Afrin city, which is under the control of the SNA. Hassan’s family received his body there on December 31, 2022.

Our information confirms that Hassan’s family was blackmailed by regime forces who forced them to pay large sums of money in return for his body. His family were also told by informal sources within the Syrian regime that the cause of Hassan’s death was an acute rise in his blood sugar levels. On December 31, 2022, SNHR obtained a number of photos which clearly show and prove that Hassan Ali Hassan was deliberately starved and suffered food deprivation and medical negligence during his imprisonment.

International law unequivocally prohibits torture and other forms of cruel, degrading, and inhumane treatment. This has attained a ‘customary rule’ status, meaning it cannot be disregarded or balanced against other rights or values, even in times of emergency. Violating the prohibition of torture is a crime under international criminal law. Those who gave orders for or assisted in inflicting torture are criminally responsible for such practices.

SNHR condemns all practices of arrest and torture carried out 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 into this cruel incident. We also underline the imperative need for holding all those who are involved in this incident accountable, from the individuals who issued orders to those who carried out the acts of torture. The findings of these investigations and accountability processes must be made public to the Syrian people, and all those who have been involved in arrest and torture practices must be exposed and discharged, while victims must be compensated for the harrowing physical and psychological harm they have suffered.

In light of the global COVID-19 pandemic outbreak—qualified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the World Health Organization (WHO)—we, the undersigned organizations, express grave concern over the situation of detainees and prisoners across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). While certain states in the region have taken some positive steps to protect the general population, the prison population remains particularly vulnerable.
 
Several countries in the MENA region have overstretched health systems and infrastructures, some of which have also been considerably weakened by years of armed conflict. In these countries, prisons and detention facilities are often overcrowded, unsanitary, and suffer from a lack of resources; accordingly, detainees are routinely denied proper access to medical care. These challenges are only further exacerbated during a health emergency, subjecting detainees and prisoners to heightened risk and placing weak prison health infrastructures under immense stress. Moreover, individuals in detention regularly interact with prison wardens, police officers, and health professionals who engage with the general population. Failure to protect prisoners and prison staff from COVID-19 may have negative implications for the population more broadly.
 
Under international human rights law, every individual has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. States have an obligation to guarantee realization of this right. In addition, states have the obligation to ensure that detainees and prisoners are treated humanely and with respect for their dignity and not subject to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The Nelson Mandela Rules require equivalence in healthcare—meaning that healthcare in prisons must meet the same standards as healthcare outside of them. This does not change during a pandemic.
 

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The conditions of incarceration in the detention facilities of the Syrian government pose a great danger to the lives of the detainees, who number approximately 90212. This number has been confirmed by the Violations Documentation Center in Syria (VDC) but the true figure is likely to be greater than this. These detainees were arbitrarily arrested because of their participation in peaceful protests, or expression of opposing political opinionsو, furthermore, those arrests were largely made arbitrary with no cause. Thousands of arrests turned into enforced disappearances after the Syrian government refused to acknowledge their detention or reveal the fate or whereabouts of detainees. Armed groups throughout Syria are also arbitrarily detaining thousands of civilians without any legal justification. Other than depriving opinion detainees from the pardon decrees succesively issued by the head of the regime excluding the majority of the opinion and political detainees from these decrees, detainees are being killed in detention centres as a result of systematic torture, denial of medical care, and from detention in cramped, unhygienic and unventilated cells. These factors threaten the immune systems of detainees. With the spread of the Coronavirus around the world, and despite the government denying it has spread in Syria, the situation will be disastrous if the virus spreads inside a detention center. Additionally, the Syrian government refusal of releasing health records of detainees is really concerning, either those who were killed in the past or recently arrested people who have chronic diseases or in need of specialized health care.
 
Based on the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners of 1955, which include the principles of providing healthcare during imprisonment including for prisoners held without charges, principles that were approved by the Economic and Social Council, And also, based on the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that enshrine prisoners’ right to safe and healthy places and their right to be provided with adequate healthcare services and medicines as well as special protection for prisoners at risk, we the signatory organisations demand that:
 

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While the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of families who keep looking for any information about their missing loved ones during the ongoing conflict in Syria is still going on, a new glimmer of hope emerged as the Security Council issued its first resolution on the question of missing persons on Tuesday, June 11, 2019. Unanimously, the UNSC reaffirmed the priority of the issue of missing persons in armed conflict in a new international attempt to put an end to the instrumentalization of enforced disappearance in armed conflict.
 
We, the signatory civil organizations, welcome the advanced step taken by the Security Council and at the initiative of the State of Kuwait, to adopt the unprecedented resolution No. S/RES/2474 on the issue of missing persons and disappeared in armed conflict. We call upon, member-States to the Security Council and States supporting Human Rights and peaceful resolution to armed conflicts, to pressure the parties to the conflict in Syria to take clear and concrete measures in response to the provisions of the international resolution by revealing the fate of thousands of kidnapped and missing persons, and ensuring the establishment of an independent and transparent investigation and accountability mechanism under international supervision and guarantees a fair and transparent accountability and punishments to perpetrators.
 
Today, undetermined number of Syrians remain unaccounted after being subject to arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance. Their families are still waiting for any notification or information about the whereabouts and condition of their loved ones. And while the Syrian government is progressively and unofficially cleansing its records through issuing death notices and death certificates for missing persons after years of disappearance while security and judicial authorities in Syria refrain from opening an independent and transparent investigation into the causes of their death, the place and circumstances of the disappearance, or releasing their remains. In this regard, we demand from your respected council to assume its active role on this issue and to exert all possible efforts to put an end to these practices as to the policies of impunity standing against any possibility of sustainable peace in Syria.
 
As adopting the resolution unanimously reflects an advanced international will to address the issue of the missing persons in Syria and other war torn countries, we, as part of the civil society forces around the world, look forward to an effective role for the United Nations and the Security Council’s member States to remain seized of the matter and follow up closely the situation of the missings and detainees, victims of Daesh, the government and armed factions, and to pressure all warring parties and their allies to fully and unconditionally cooperate in revealing the fate of detainees and missing persons and identify perpetrators as a first step to achieving justice and building the State of rule of law in Syria.
 

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SNHR has learned that Yahya Sharbaji’s family was shocked to find out that Yahya is dead as they were going through the process of obtaining a family statement from the civil registry department in Darayya city, Damascus suburbs governorate. Yahya’s family were informed by an employee that he is recorded as dead in the civil record. The family was surprised that his dead date was listed as January 15, 2013 in civil records, with no details on place or cause of death. SNHR, who learned of Yahya’s death through contacting his family, managed to acquire a copy of the family statement that we have stored in our records. As with tens of thousands of Syrian families, Yahya’s family was unable to take any legal action to find out the cause of death or even receiving his dead body as the Syrian regime strictly refuses to hand over dead bodies. SNHR has no knowledge of the fate of the hundreds of thousands of dead bodies or where they are being kept.
 
Yahya’s family told SNHR that Air Force Intelligence officers arrested Yahya’s brother Mohammad, whose family learned of his death the same way they learned of Yahya’s through the civil registry department. However, Mohammad died on December 13, 2013. According to Yahya’s family, the Air Force Intelligence forced Mohammad to call Yahya and tell him that he is injured in Sehnaya area, Damascus suburbs governorate, and that he has to come to his aid. As soon as Yahya arrived at the location described by his brother, he found out that he has been ambushed as the Air Force Intelligence arrested him along with the activist Ghiath Matar who was with him. This was on September 6, 2011. While Ghiath Matar was killed shortly after his arrest and his dead body was delivered to his family with signs of barbarian torture on it only four days later, Yahya’s fate has been unknown ever since.
 

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Today, on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, thousands of Syrian detainees continue to suffer torture and inhumane treatment in secret, makeshift and official detention camps and facilities across Syria. They include numerous human rights defenders who have made efforts to document disappearance, detention and torture – who are now victims of these very same practices.
 
We, the undersigned organizations, hereby call upon the international community to assume its responsibilities towards victims of torture and their families and to support them in victims’ efforts to hold perpetrators accountable and to preserve their right to justice and reparations, as the only way to abolish all forms of torture in Syria.
 
The Syrian government continues to detain undetermined numbers of Syrians in inhumane conditions and to exercise institutional and systematic torture. It disregards its responsibilities to end these unlawful practices and to hold those responsible to account. This is in clear and deliberate violation of all international humanitarian standards, as well as Syria’s legal obligations to international treaties and conventions to which it is a party, including the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which Syria joined in 2004. The Syrian government’s systematic use of torture represents a stark challenge to the international community and efforts to establish a world free of torture and impunity.
 

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