Mostly accused of “planning to stage sit-in protests and demonstrations” | Regime security services arrest 70 civilians since early August across Syria

Syrian regime continues repressing Syrian civilians in areas under its control throughout Syria through tightening security measures and arbitrary arrests on fabricated charges, the most prominent of which are “evading the mandatory and reserve conscription in the regime army,” “communicating with foreign bodies,” and “cybercrimes.”

 

The escalating arbitrary arrests coincided with the disastrous living conditions, especially on the Syrian coastline, where the Syrian regime is concerned about possible chaos and disorder which may go out of control, especially with the escalating protests throughout Syria and ongoing criticism by the residents of the Syrian coastline against Bashar Al-Assad and his wife Asmaa Al-Akhras.

 

In this context, SOHR sources have reported that 70 civilians, including two children and six women, were arrested arbitrarily by regime security services in all Syrian provinces since early August, over a half of whom were arrested for “planning to stage sit-in protests and demonstrations.”

 

The arrested civilians can be distributed regionally as follows:

 

• Aleppo: 22 persons, including four women and two children.

 

• Rif Dimashq: Nine persons, including two women.

 

• Deir Ezzor: 13 persons.

 

• Latakia: 11 persons.

 

• Tartus: Seven persons.

 

• Damascus: Six persons.

 

• Hama: Two persons.

 

Here are further details of the circumstances of arbitrary arrest cases in regime-controlled areas in August:

 

• August 4: Regime forces arrested three university students from Daraa, after storming the campus in Aleppo City and took them to an unknown destination, while sources suggested that the students were arrested to perform compulsory services.

 

• August 6: A man, who is aged 65 and suffers from poor health condition, had been summoned for interrogation at a regime security centre in Damascus, but he was arrested at the centre for unknown reasons..

 

• August 8: Regime security services arrested four men in Rif Dimashq for unknown reasons.

 

• In the first ten days of August, regime forces arrested 14 civilians, mostly of the Alawite community, for criticising the dreadful living conditions; they are distributed as follows: four in Tartus, three in Jableh, three in Latakia, two in Hama and two in Damascus.

 

• August 13: Regime military intelligence service arrested 18 people, including four women and two children, after having been forcibly deported from Lebanon to Aleppo city.

 

• August 13: Regime forces arbitrarily arrested two civilians in Damascus for “planning to stage a sit-in protest.”

 

• August 14: Members of the state security branch arbitrarily arrested a man from Ifrah village in Rif Dimashq and his wife in Blodan city in Rif Dimashq, taking them to a security centre.

 

• August 18: The political security branch arrested a 55-year-old Syrian woman, after having been forcibly deported from Lebanon to Yabroud city in Rif Dimashq.

 

• August 18: Regime security services arrested three civilians in Tartus for “planning to stage sit-in protests to protest the current tragic situation.”

 

• August 19: Members of the 4th Division stormed a shop in Al-Jabbah town in Rif Dimashq, arresting its owner for unknown reasons.

 

• August 20: Members of the state security service stationed at Al-Layramoun checkpoint arrested a civilian from Afrin for unknown reasons, while heading from the northern countryside of Aleppo to Aleppo city. The civilian was taken to a security centre in Aleppo city.

 

• August 20: Regime security services arrested an activist called “Ahmed Ibrahim Ismael,” from Jableh city on the Syrian coastline for frequently criticising the ruling class and the disastrous living conditions and highlighting the sufferings of Syrian civilians.

 

• August 22: Members of the regime forces in a military checkpoint in Deir Ezzor City that is held by the regime and Iranian militias, arrested a young man after arriving from Damascus to visit his family, where he returned from Saudi Arabia where he worked.

 

• August 23: Security services arrested four persons from Latakia province for unknown reasons, but sources suggested that they were arrested for “criticising the dreadful living conditions.”

 

• August 24: Members of regime military intelligence service beat seven civilians and arrested them in Al-Qosour neighbourhood in Deir Ezzor city, while they were trying to stage a sit-in protest against the Syrian regime and Iranian-backed militias and to condemn deteriorating living and economic conditions in regime-held areas.

 

• August 24: Members of the military intelligence service arrested a civilian in Rankous town in Al-Qalamoun area in Rif Dimashq province following a malicious report after a verbal altercation with another civilian in Rankous barren mountains and disagreements over herding sheep.

 

• August 26: Security services arrested five persons in Deir Ezzor city for “planning to stage a sit-in protest.”

 

SOHR confidently estimates that the total number of the arbitrarily arrested people is much higher. However, some victims’ families preferred to keep the identities of their sons secret, fearing persecution and punishment by the bodies that had arrested them.

 

SOHR attaches the highest importance to this issue of detainees and always strives to highlight their and their families’ plight and sufferings. SOHR also warns against using “terrorism” as an excuse to arrest politicians and human rights activists, using laws of counter-terrorism to justify arbitrary arrests.

 

We also call for the inspection of prisons in the entire Syrian geography, especially in regime-held areas, so that the real issue and conditions of detainees are unveiled. Furthermore, the fate of the missing and detainees who have been killed must be disclosed.