Kidnapping Civilians

Background The Islamic State (IS), locally known as Daesh, has been ramping up its activities in parts of Deir ez-Zor’s countryside and al-Hasakah’s southern areas, where the Syrian Democratic Forces…

Today completes seven years since the disappearance of the four activists. On December 9, 2013, the joint office of the Violations Documentation Center (VDC) in Syria, the office of the…

In September 2020, arbitrary arrests/detentions and enforced disappearances spiked dramatically in the Syrian Kurdish-majority region of Afrin, slamming the demands of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian…

Introduction Southern Syria has been descending into security chaos since the Syrian government and armed opposition groups signed the so-called settlement/reconciliation agreement in August 2018. In the years following the…

Introduction On 28 May 2020, eight women at least with a newborn were found held in a military headquarters of the Hamza/Hamzat Division affiliated to the National Army, operating under…

Background On 27 March 2020, the village of Al Qrayya in As Suwayda suburbs witnessed clashes and confrontations between fighters of the 5th Corps,[1] headed by Ahmed al-Awdeh, and local…

Six years ago, the joint office of the VDC, LDSPS and Rising for Freedom in Douma in Eastern Ghouta (north of Damascus) was raided by armed men who abducted four…

Introduction The areas, held by the armed opposition groups/anti-Syrian Government factions, in the provinces of Idlib and Hama are yet suffering a state of rampant insecurity, with which robberies and…

Ransom kidnappings by “unknown” persons continue to occur in Syria’ Afrin, the Kurdish-majority city which is controlled jointly by the Turkish Army and the Syrian opposition’s National Army. STJ has…