The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that it recorded at least 147 cases of arbitrary detention across Syria in May 2020, including against 10 children and four women. It noted that the Assad regime is responsible for around 44 percent of the arrests.
In a report issued on Tuesday, the Network said that of the 147 cases of arbitrary detention, 95 turned into enforced disappearance, adding that the majority of the arrests took place in the provinces of Deir Ezzor, Raqqa, and Aleppo.
The report indicated that the Assad regime detained 64 people in May, including seven children and a woman, while the PYD militia detained 41 people, including three children. Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham detained nine people, while unidentified groups detained 33 people, including two women.
The monitoring group warned that the lives of approximately 130,000 detainees who are still held by the Assad regime are at serious risk of contacting the coronavirus in view of the inhumane conditions in the regime’s detention centers.
The Network called on the UN Security Council to follow up on the implementation of resolutions 2042, 2043 (2012), and 2139 (2014) calling an end to the enforced disappearance.
The Network also called upon the UN Human Rights Council follow up on the issue of detainees and enforced disappearance in Syria; raise the issue during the periodic annual meetings, and coordinate with local human rights organizations operating in Syria. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)