The Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that throughout the past year, approximately 386 individuals who had reconciled their security statuses were arrested by the Syrian regime. Additionally, citizens returning to their original areas from internally displaced and refugee populations residing abroad were detained.
The network elaborated in its report issued this Tuesday that recent amnesty decrees issued by the regime resulted in the release of 7,351 individuals held under arbitrary detention. However, the Syrian regime still holds an estimated 135,253 prisoners or forcibly disappeared individuals.
According to the report, Syrian regime forces have not ceased the pursuit and detention of those who have settled their security situation in areas where settlement agreements were previously signed. This includes civilians who previously worked with armed opposition factions, defectors from Syrian regime forces, and former medical and relief activists.
The report added that these arrests were concentrated in the governorates of Rural Damascus, Daraa, Deir ez-Zor, and Raqqa, mostly occurring during mass raids, arrests, and at checkpoints.
At least 386 cases of arbitrary arrest or detention in 2023 were documented for individuals who had settled their security conditions.
Arrests also targeted refugees and displaced persons returning to areas under control of regime forces. Notably, May of the previous year saw a peak in these detentions, coinciding with Lebanese authorities conducting raids and arresting Syrian refugees in Lebanon and their subsequent forced deportation to Syria.
The report states that in 2023, Syrian regime forces conducted at least 156 arbitrary arrests and detentions — among them two children and five women — of individuals returning to their original areas under regime control, most of whom voluntarily returned from Lebanon.
Additionally, the report documented the arrest of 97 individuals among the refugees forcibly returned from Lebanon, with the majority apprehended by the Military Security detachment of the Syrian regime forces in the border area of Al-Masnaa.
Overall, the Syrian Network for Human Rights confirmed that in 2023, the Syrian regime arrested or detained no less than 2,317 individuals, including 129 children and 87 women, with 232 cases reported in December alone.
