At least 157 Arbitrary Arrests Recorded in Syria in May 2025 [EN/AR]

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) revealed in its latest report released today that no fewer than 157 arbitrary detentions were documented in May 2025.

The 26-page report stresses the urgent need for the Syrian leadership to establish legal regulations that will put an end to the harrowing era of arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, and ensure respect for the basic human rights of individuals, in the wake of the major political and military changes brought about by the downfall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, with the regime having been succeeded by a transitional government.

As such, this report summarizes the record of arbitrary arrests/detentions, and releases of detainees from various detention centers during this transitional period following the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, with particular focus on the cases documented in May 2025.

As the report reveals, 157 arbitrary detentions, including four children and three women, were documented in May 2025. The transitional government was responsible for 93 of these cases, including one woman, while the remaining 64 arbitrary detentions, including four children and two women, were carried out by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The report also shows the distribution of May’s cases across all Syria’s governorates. Analysis of the data reveals that Homs governorate saw the highest number of arbitrary arrests/detentions in May, followed by Deir Ez-Zour, then Raqqa governorate.

The report revealed that members of the Internal Security Command, affiliated with the Ministry of Interior of the transitional government, carried out detention operations during a security campaign that included several villages in the countryside of the city of Qusayr in Homs Governorate, targeting individuals suspected of involvement in smuggling operations across the Syrian-Lebanese border. The campaign included raids and searches of civilian homes, and violations of their property were recorded. Most of the detainees were released within hours of their arrest.

Cases of detention have also been documented in Latakia Governorate, targeting individuals suspected of committing criminal offenses. According to information from witnesses, charges were brought against them without providing clear legal documents or evidence.

In Hama and Damascus governorates, a number of civilians were detained without any clarification of the legal grounds behind their arrests. No information was available regarding the charges against them or their place of detention. This constitutes a violation of the procedural safeguards guaranteed by domestic law and international standards relating to human freedom and the right to a fair trial.

On the other hand, the report documented the continued detention of civilians by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during mass raids carried out under the pretext of pursuing ISIS cells. Cases of detention aimed at transporting individuals to SDF training and recruitment camps were also recorded. These operations were concentrated in areas under their control in northeastern Syria, particularly in the eastern and northern countryside of Deir Ez-Zour, the countryside of Raqqa governorate, and several neighborhoods in Raqqa city.

SNHR also documented the Syrian Democratic Forces' detention of civilians in dozens of villages in the northern and eastern countryside of Deir Ez-Zour and Raqqa governorates, as well as several neighborhoods in Raqqa city. The detentions were carried out for expressing critical opinions about its policies in areas under its control. These operations also included the detention of relatives of defectors from its ranks, with the aim of pressuring them to surrender. Cases of individuals injured during raids were also documented, as they were arrested from medical facilities while receiving treatment.

SNHR also documented instances of physical assault against women during some of the raids, as well as the seizure of personal property belonging to the families of detainees, including sums of money, gold jewelry, and mobile phones.

We also documented continued cases of children being detained for transfer to Syrian Democratic Forces training camps, without informing their families, preventing them from communicating with them, and without disclosing their fate, indicating a pattern of forced child recruitment.

Releases

The report documented the transitional government’s release of about 83 individuals in May 2025, with those released having been detained for periods ranging from a few hours to one month. Most of those detained and released are originally from Homs Governorate.

The report also documents the SDF’s release of six detainees from their detention centers, with those freed having been imprisoned for periods ranging from a few days to one month. Most of the freed detainees were from the governorates of Deir Ez-Zour and Raqqa.

The report revealed that in May 2025, members of the Internal Security Command, affiliated with the Ministry of Interior in the transitional government, carried out raids and detention campaigns targeting at least 97 individuals accused of committing gross human rights violations during the Assad regime's rule, particularly in the governorates of Latakia, Homs, Hama, and Damascus. These operations included former military personnel, government employees, and doctors who worked in military hospitals linked to the security services. Large quantities of weapons and ammunition were confiscated during the operations. The detainees were transferred to central prisons in Homs, Hama, and Adra in the Damascus countryside.

In addition, SNHR documented the detention of individuals suspected of being linked to armed groups that launched attacks in March 2025 on security sites belonging to the Ministries of Defense and Interior in the transitional government. These groups are linked to or affiliated with remnants of the former regime. These operations were concentrated in the provinces of Latakia, Tartus, and Hama, and those attacks in March resulted in hundreds of extrajudicial killings.

Although these operations were conducted as part of security campaigns, we have yet to verify whether they were carried out based on lawful judicial warrants. The Syrian Network for Human Rights stresses the importance of adhering to legal procedures and the need to publicly announce the names of detainees and guarantee their legal rights.

The report also indicated that SNHR documented 123 cases of release from various detention centers, most of whom were residents of the Damascus countryside and As-Suwayda governorates. They were detained in connection with the security incidents that took place in the areas of Jaramana, Ashrafieh Sahnaya, the Damascus-Suwayda Road, and a number of villages in Suwayda governorate between April 29 and May 4, 2025. They were released after investigations were completed and their involvement in those incidents was not proven.

As the report further notes, SNHR’s data is viewed as a reputable principal source of information by many UN bodies, being used in numerous statements and resolutions, including the draft resolution on the human rights situation in Syria (A/C.3/78/L.43), passed by a vote on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, condemning the Assad regime’s continued serious violations of international law. This resolution also acknowledged that the documented number of people detained and forcibly disappeared in Syria during the regime’s rule exceeded 135,000. Relatedly, the resolution holds the deposed regime responsible for the systematic use of enforced disappearance, which, it notes, constitutes a crime against humanity.

In the end, the report outlines a number of conclusions and recommendations:

Conclusions

• Failure to comply with fair trial procedures: The data documented shows that many detentions have been carried out without judicial warrants or legal guarantees, which is an explicit violation of Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that prohibits arbitrary arrests and affirms detainees’ right to know the cause of their detention and to appear before a court as soon as possible following their arrest.
• Violating the dignity of detainees and the prohibition of torture: The report documents physical and psychological abuses against detainees, including torture and degrading treatment, that explicitly contravene the 1984 Convention Against Torture, which compels all parties to take effective measures to prevent torture and to hold those who carry out torture accountable.
• More must be done to ensure the legal and organized release of detainees: While we have documented the release of some detainees, these processes currently lack any clear judicial procedures or transparent investigative processes, which raises concerns about arrests continuing outside the relevant legal frameworks, in violation of the principle of the arbitrary deprivation of liberty, as established in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• More must be done to protect victims’ rights and their families: The fact that enforced disappearance persists without the fate of forcibly disappeared persons being revealed or any official information about them being provided to their families is a violation of the 2006 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which compels states and organizations to reveal detainees’ place of detention and to enable families to know their loved ones’ fate.
• Absence of accountability mechanisms and transitional justice: Despite the political changes in Syria, insufficient measures have been taken to date to ensure accountability for past violations or to achieve justice for the victims, reflecting an inadequate level of commitment to the requirements of transitional justice which necessitates establishing investigation and accountability mechanisms, in addition to ensuring that these violations do not recur in the future.
• Armed opposition factions/SNA have carried out arrest and torture practices against some residents in areas under their control.
• The SDF has committed violations of basic human rights, including torture and enforced disappearance even though it possesses a political structure, which means that it is also obligated to comply with international human rights law.

Recommendations

UN Security Council and international community

1. Refer crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC), and apply diplomatic pressure on government and international stakeholders, including the Russian government, to ensure the extradition of those responsible for crimes, such as Bashar Assad and his close aides, to the competent international courts for trial.

2. Freeze and seize the funds of the former regime

• Take legal action to freeze and confiscate the funds and assets of the former regime’s officials who were involved in violations, and use those resources to support transitional justice programs and compensate victims.

3. Support international efforts to reveal the fate of missing persons and achieve national reconciliation

• Secure the necessary resources to support the efforts of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic (IIMP) and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP), including training local teams on advanced search techniques to identify the missing.
• Fund programs to support national reconciliation, and provide psychological and social support for the families of forcibly disappeared persons.

UN Human Rights Council

• Continue to focus on the issue of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons in Syria and regularly highlight this issue in all annual meetings.
• Promote cooperation and coordination with active local human rights groups in Syria to support the efforts of documentation and accountability**.**

Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (COI)

• Launch in-depth investigations into all the arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance cases included in this report and previous reports.
• Focus on the issue of forcibly disappeared persons and ensure the monitoring of the status of forcibly disappeared persons following the Assad regime’s downfall.
• Cooperate with human rights groups, including SNHR, to secure the necessary evidence.

International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM)

• Collect and analyze evidence on the crimes of arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and torture included in this report.
• Support the exchange of information and expertise with Syrian organizations working in the field of documenting violations.

UN and international community

• Apply pressure on all parties to compel them to publish lists of detainees’ names and reveal the location of these prisoners’ detention according to a fixed timetable.
• Allow UN and international organizations, particularly the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), to access detention centers to assess the humanitarian conditions there.
• Support organizations working on documenting violations and torture, and provide sustainable support for victim rehabilitation programs.

UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances

• Increase the capacity of the team working on the issue of forcibly disappeared persons in Syria, especially in light of the high numbers and extensive scope of enforced disappearance cases in the country.
• Prepare periodic and more detailed reports on developments to maintain pressure on involved parties.

UN Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP)

• Look into all the cases included in this report and cooperate with SNHR to obtain the necessary data.
• Ask the transitional government to start working cooperatively with the IIMP in Syria to document the cases of the missing and take effective steps to ensure transparency and accountability.

Russian government

• Cooperate with the international community to extradite Bashar Assad and other fugitives implicated in war crimes to the custody of the transitional government or the competent international courts.
• Support the efforts aimed at promoting transitional justice in Syria to ensure fair reparation for the victims.

All parties to the conflict and the controlling forces

• Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances must be ended immediately; the fate of all detainees and forcibly disappeared persons must be revealed.
• Families must be allowed to visit detainees immediately, and the bodies of detainees who have died as a result of torture must be returned to their families.
• Ensure the unconditional release of all arbitrarily arrested detainees, especially those who have been imprisoned merely for exercising their political and civil rights.
• Allow international monitors, such as those with the COI and the ICRC, to access all detention centers with no restrictions.
• A UN-supervised impartial international committee must be formed to monitor and periodically assess the release of detainees
• End the policy of carrying out arrests without presenting legal warrants, and ensure that detainees appear before courts within a reasonably short period of time following their arrest.

Syrian transitional government

1. Cooperate with international organizations

• Issue official invitations to independent UN and international agencies, including:
• International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM)
• Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
• International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP).
• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
• Enable these organizations to have unrestricted access to detention centers and crime scenes.

2. Protect evidence and crime locations

• Document burial sites and prisons and prevent any interference or evidence tampering.
• Adopt clear measures to preserve all articles of evidence and ensure their use in fair trials.

3. Promote transitional justice and accountability

• Ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and grant the ICC retroactive jurisdiction.
• Devise a comprehensive plan to hold those responsible for crimes accountable, compensate victims, and enhance transparency in investigations.

4. Reform Syria’s judicial and security system to prevent future violations

• Enact new legislation that ensures the autonomy of the judiciary and prohibits all forms of arbitrary arrest.
• Restructure the country’s security apparatus in accordance with international human rights standards.

5. Ensure the highest standards for detentions carried out within the context of accountability

• Activate judicial oversight over detentions carried out in the context of accountability to ensure compliance with the law and international standards.
• Publish periodic lists of detainees held in the context of accountability, along with the reasons for their detention, to ensure transparency.
• Develop an independent judicial review mechanism for detentions carried out within the context of accountability to prevent any violations.
• Ensure protection of the rights of detainees arrested in the context of accountability to access independent legal representation and fair trials.
• Emphasize that all accountability processes follow clear legal procedures while preventing any violations that may constitute human rights violations.
• Establish a human rights monitoring mechanism to ensure that the pursuit of accountability does not become a tool used to justify arbitrary detention.

1. 6. Provide psychological and social support for those affected

• Establish specialist programs to rehabilitate torture and detention survivors, and provide support for victims’ families.

7. Enhance monitoring and accountability for the state security services

• Establish independent monitoring committees to ensure the non-recurrence of violations during security services’ operations.
• Hold those responsible for human rights violations accountable to ensure non-recurrence.

8. Improve communication with families and enhance transparency

• Hold regular meetings with local community representatives to clarify security policies and ensure that no groups are specifically targeted.
• Publish periodic reports on arrests and releases to ensure transparency.

9. Address misinformation campaigns

• Establish official platforms on social media to publish accurate news.
• Cooperate with independent media to ensure professional coverage of events.

10. Respect human rights during security operations

• Train security forces in how to treat detainees in a humane way.
• Commit to releasing any suspect who was part of the Assad regime if it’s been established that they were uninvolved in perpetrating any violations.

11. Expedite settlement procedures for wanted individuals

• Implement a fair process to resolve the situation of wanted individuals and encourage them to reintegrate in society.

12. Involve civil society in decision-making

• Enhance the role of the local community in decision-making mechanisms to ensure fair representation for all groups.