A man from al Boukamal city in the eastern suburbs of Deir Ez-Zour governorate, named as Ayyash Eleiwi al Najm, who was aged 95 at the time of his arrest, was detained by Syrian Democratic Forces personnel in February 2019 while he was passing through a checkpoint near al Baghouz town in the eastern suburbs of the governorate as he left the town along with his family. He was then taken to a detention center in Hasaka governorate. On December 27, 2020, SNHR received information confirming his death in an SDF detention center. Our data from numerous sources confirms that since he was in a good health at the time of his arrest, it’s likely that he died as a result of torture in addition to lack of healthcare.
SNHR notes that about 3,337 Syrian citizens are still detained or forcibly disappeared in the SDF’s detention centers, constituting a grave threat to their wellbeing given the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
SNHR also notes that approximately 57 Syrian citizens have died due to torture in SDF’s detention centers.
