At least 229 Arbitrary Detentions Documented in January 2025 [EN/AR]

The Hague – The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) revealed in its latest report released today that no fewer than 229 cases of arbitrary detention were documented in January 2025. In the report, SNHR stresses that legal regulations and a judicial process must be implemented in all detentions carried out as part of security operations

The 22-page report stresses the urgent need 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 fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, with the regime having been succeeded by a transitional government.

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

As the report reveals, 229 cases of arbitrary detention, including of three children and eight women, were documented in January 2025. The transitional government was responsible for 129 of these cases, while 41 others were carried out by armed opposition factions/Syrian National Army (SNA), and the remaining 59, including three children and two women, were carried out by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The report also shows the distribution of January’s cases across all Syria’s governorates. Analysis of the data shows that Aleppo governorate saw the highest monthly number of arbitrary arrests/detentions, followed by Homs, then jointly Damascus and Deir Ez-Zour, then Hama, and then Raqqa.

Meanwhile, the report compares the number of arrests and releases, noting that the number of prisoners released from the transitional government’s detention centers exceeds the number of arbitrary detentions carried out; this was mainly due to the transitional government’s release of hundreds of detainees from Homs Central Prison who had been arrested over their alleged connections to the Assad regime after its downfall on December 8, 2024. Elsewhere, a number of detainees were released from operation centers operated by SDF and armed opposition factions/SNA.

The report notes that the transitional government’s General Security Directorate carried out campaigns involving raids and detentions in various areas under the government’s control, with a particular focus on the governorates of Latakia, Homs, Hama, and Damascus, as part of a crackdown on individuals accused of committing violations during Bashar Assad’s rule. These operations targeted former military combatants and former regime employees, with large quantities of weapons and ammunition being confiscated.

Moreover, the SDF has continued its policies of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance. In pursuit of these policies, SDF personnel carried out mass raid and arrest campaigns that targeted civilians on the pretext of being ISIS affiliates. The report also documented SDF arrests/detentions targeting civilians over their alleged cooperation with Arab tribal forces and the SNA, and over accusations of taking part in Operation Deter Aggression, which was launched on November 27, 2024. Additionally, SDF arrested and detained civilians over their participation in the popular celebrations of the fall of the Assad regime. These arrests were concentrated in Raqqa city and SDF-held areas of Raqqa governorate. The SDF also arrested/detained civilians over their voicing criticism of the SDF’s practices in the territories it controls.

As the report further reveals, all armed opposition factions/SNA also carried out arbitrary arrests/detentions, mostly of groups of people, targeting individuals coming from SDF-controlled areas, including women. The report also documented arrests/detentions that exhibited an ethnic character, which were concentrated in areas under the SNA’s control in Aleppo governorate. Most of these arrests/detentions were carried out without any judicial authorization or any involvement of the police, which is the only body officially vested with judicial authorization to carry out arrests and detentions. Moreover, the report recorded arrests/detentions by the SNA of civilians over their alleged cooperation with the SDF, with these arrests being concentrated in a number of villages that are administratively a part of Afrin city in Aleppo governorate. Others targeted for arrest/detention by the SNA included a number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to their homes in SNA-controlled areas, with these arrests also being concentrated in Afrin city. In addition, the report documents arrests/detentions by the SNA’s al-Sultan Suleiman Shah Division targeting a number of farmers in order to pressurize them into paying fees to the division for their own olive trees. These arrests were concentrated in Merkan village which is administratively a part of Afrin city.

Releases

The report documents the transitional government’s release of 641 individuals in January 2025, with the freed prisoners having been detained for periods ranging from a few days to one month. Most of those detained and released are originally from the governorates of Homs, Hama, and Latakia, with the majority having been released from Homs Central Prison in small groups.

The report also documents the SDF’s release of 12 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, Aleppo, and Raqqa. The SDF also released two other individuals as part of a prisoner exchange deal with the SNA, carried out on January 7, 2025, in the Deir Hafer area of eastern rural Aleppo governorate. The two freed prisoners had been held for a month-and-a-half.

The armed opposition/SNA, meanwhile, released nine individuals who had been detained for a few days. Most of those released were from Aleppo governorate. The SNA also released three other detainees as part of an exchange deal with the SDF, carried out on January 7, 2025, in the Deir Hafer area of eastern rural Aleppo governorate. Those released had been held for about one month.

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 detainees in Syria 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.

The report concludes by outlining a number of conclusions and recommendations:

Conclusions

• Violating the dignity of detainees and the prohibition of torture: The report documents physical and psychological abuses perpetrated 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 momentous political change 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 abide by international human rights law.
• Lack of compliance 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.

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 in 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 the parties involved.

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 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 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 mechanisms

• 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 the 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 security apparatus in line with international human rights standards.

5. Provide psychological and social support for those affected

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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Address misinformation campaigns

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

9. 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.

10. Expedite settlement procedures for wanted individuals

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

11. Involve civil society in decision-making

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