The Assad regime has intensified arrests against civilians, including women. On Friday, regime forces detained five women in the town of Ruhayba northeast of Damascus on charges of being married to members of the ISIS extremist group.
According to the local media outlet Smart News Network, elements of the Assad regime’s Military Security detained the women in a raid on their homes in Ruhayba. The raid instilled fear in the town as the residents did not dare to ask about the fate of the detainees.
Assad regime forces routinely carry out raids and arrests in the areas under their control. Many young people were detained to be taken into compulsory military services and on political charges.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said it that had registered the arrests of at least 31 women in Syria in January 2019. Most of the arrests were carried out by the Assad regime and its security forces.
In a report published late last year, the Network said that the Assad regime has detained more than 8,000 women, including 300 girls under the age of 18 since the start of the revolution in March 2011. It noted that about 2,000 more women has been forcibly disappeared.
The Assad regime usually levels dozens of false accusations against the detainees and subjects them to brutal torture and inhumane treatment. Observers said that the Assad regime uses the detention of women as a weapon of warfare to put pressure on the opposition and prevent any form of dissent. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
