September 2024 | SOHR documents nearly 350 arrests and kidnappings across Syria
SOHR calls for immediate release of detainees and disclosing the fate of kidnapped people
While more voices call for revealing the fate of the detainees and kidnapped people across Syria, arbitrary arrests and kidnaps continue amid “timid efforts” by international bodies, like the United Nations and human rights organisations concerned with the Syrian issue.
As a human rights organisation, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitored and tracked kidnappings and arrests across Syria in the past month. In September 2024, SOHR documented the kidnapping of 45 people, including a woman and three children, and the arbitrary arrest of 301 others, including two children.
Arrests
–Areas under the control of Ankara-backed factions
123 people, including two children, were arrested on different charges, the most prominent of which were “communication with the Kurdish forces, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Autonomous Administration and ISIS cells.” Here is a breakdown of these arrests:
- “Olive Branch” area: 48 people.
- “Euphrates Shield” area: Three persons, including two women.
- “Peace Spring” area: 72 persons, including two children.
–Areas under the Syrian regime control
132 people were arrested on different charges, the most prominent of which are “evading the mandatory and reserve conscription in the regime army, communicating with foreign bodies and “cybercrimes.” They are distributed regionally as follows:
- Daraa: 22 people.
- Rif Dimashq: 26 people.
- Homs: 18 people.
- Deir Ezzor: 39 people.
- Hama: Ten persons.
- Aleppo: 14 people.
- Al-Suwaidaa: Three persons.
Meanwhile, SOHR documented the death of six civilians under torture in the regime prisons and detention centres in September 2024.
–Areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration
39 people were arrested on different charges.
–Areas under the control of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham and opposition factions
Seven persons.
Kidnaps
–Areas under control of Ankara-backed factions: 11 persons, including a child:
- “Peace Spring” area: Four persons.
- “Euphrates Shield” area: Seven persons, including a child.
–Areas under regime control: 30 people, including a child and a woman; they are distributed as follows:
- Daraa: 12 people.
- Homs: 11 people, including a woman.
- Al-Suwaidaa: Four persons.
- Deir Ezzor: A little girl.
- Rif Dimashq: Two persons.
–Areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration: Four persons, including a child.
–Areas under the control of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham and opposition factions: No kidnaps were documented in September 2024.
SOHR has verified the cases of arrests and kidnaps mentioned in this report and documented most of the names. SOHR also confidently estimates that the total number of kidnapped 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 and kidnapped them.
We, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), warn against the repercussions of violating and non-complying with international accords signed by Syria, as well as the ongoing indifference by the warring powers in Syria to the issue of detainees and forcibly disappeared. We also appeal to the international community to seriously intensify its efforts to disclose the fate of the detainees and forcibly disappeared people, and identify and hold the perpetrators accountable
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.