Lebanon’s General Security directorate issued a decision on 5 September to deport six Syrian refugees accused of entering the country irregularly, despite the grave risks awaiting them in Syria. Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said:

“The Lebanese authorities are well aware of the grim fate which awaits these men back in Syria. In our latest report we documented how the Syrian authorities specifically target people who fled the country, subjecting them to torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance upon their return to Syria. Deporting these men would be a flagrant violation of Lebanon’s international obligations, including under the UN Torture Convention.

“Our message is loud and clear: Syria is not safe for returnees. The Syrian authorities continue to commit appalling human rights violations and atrocities, and sending refugees back to Syria is tantamount to knowingly putting their lives in danger. We urge the Lebanese authorities to stop all forced deportations and respect pledges made on refugee rights, including on legal protection and nonrefoulement.”

As per the Lebanese law, these men should be able to legally challenge their deportation order. They should be allowed to meet their lawyers and to contact their families.

Lebanon is home to over 1 million Syrian refugees, who now make up more than a quarter of the population. In a December 2020 letter to Amnesty International, the General Security Office confirmed that the authorities had deported 6002 Syrians since May 2019, including 863 in 2020.  Deportations were partially halted in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Our message is loud and clear: Syria is not safe for returnees.

Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa

On 28 August, the Lebanese army’s intelligence directorate announced the arrest of six Syrian men outside the Syrian embassy in Baabda, after they received calls from the embassy inviting them to come collect their passports. The men were accused of entering the country illegally and handed over to the General Security directorate. They have not been allowed contact with their lawyers or relatives since their arrest. Their lawyers believe that at least one of them has been subjected to torture. Following complaints and several requests, the General Security gave their lawyers an ultimatum: secure the men with visas to a third country within 48 hours or they will be deported to Syria. Their lawyers tried to collect their passports from the embassy, but their requests were refused by embassy staff. The brother of one of the men also attempted to collect a passport today – following the General Security’s instructions that only a relative could do so – but to no avail. Lawyer Mohammed Sablouh has written to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture calling for intervention in the men’s case.

Five of the six men are believed to be from Daraa governorate in southern Syria, where violent clashes between Syrian government forces and armed groups have intensified in recent months. Hundreds have been killed or injured and tens of thousands of civilians have fled the area. Government forces have also placed a deadly siege on Daraa al-Balad.

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Responding to widespread reports that the Taliban are using unlawful force against peaceful protesters and journalists at gatherings across Afghanistan, including using gunfire to disperse crowds and cables to lash protesters, Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner, said: 

“The Taliban have repeatedly insisted that they will respect human rights, yet these claims are completely at odds with what we are currently seeing and hearing in cities across the country.

“Afghans who have taken to the streets, understandably fearful about the future, are being met with intimidation, harassment, and violence – particularly directed at women. Multiple journalists attempting to cover the protests have reported being detained, beaten up and having their equipment confiscated.

“There have already been reports of casualties, and the risk of a major incident is extremely high. We urge the Taliban to de-escalate the tension and allow people to exercise their fundamental right to gather peacefully and protest.

“Journalists must also be permitted to report on the protests without fear of violence. For its part, in ongoing negotiations with the Taliban, the international community must use all leverage to demand that these basic rights are protected.”

Background

According to media reports, peaceful protests in Kabul, Badakhshan and Herat over the past two days have been dispersed by Taliban fighters firing rifles into the air, while some female protesters have reportedly been lashed with cables.

Amnesty International has independently verified videos of Taliban fighters firing guns into the air to disperse protests in Kabul, and also verified videos of violence against women protesters between 4 and 7 September in Kabul committed by the Taliban.

Journalists and cameramen from Afghan media outlets Ariana, Tolo and Etilaat-e- Roz have said that they were beaten up and detained by Taliban fighters while trying to cover protests, before having their equipment confiscated or their footage destroyed. 

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Syrian security forces have subjected Syrians who returned home after seeking refuge abroad to detention, disappearance and torture, including sexual violence, Amnesty International said today. In a new report, “You’re going to your death,” the organization documented a catalogue of horrific violations committed by Syrian intelligence officers against 66 returnees, including 13 children. Among these violations, Amnesty International documented five cases whereby detainees had died in custody after returning to Syria, while the fate of 17 forcibly disappeared people remains unknown. 

Military hostilities may have subsided, but the Syrian government’s propensity for egregious human rights violations has not.

Marie Forestier, Researcher on Refugee and Migrants Rights

With a number of states – including Denmark, Sweden and Turkey – restricting protection and putting pressure on refugees from Syria to go home, the harrowing testimony in Amnesty International’s report is proof that no part of Syria is safe to return to. Returnees told Amnesty International that intelligence officers explicitly targeted them for their decision to flee Syria, accusing them of disloyalty or “terrorism.”   

“Military hostilities may have subsided, but the Syrian government’s propensity for egregious human rights violations has not. The torture, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary or unlawful detention which forced many Syrians to seek asylum abroad are as rife as ever in Syria today. What’s more, the very fact of having fled Syria is enough to put returnees at risk of being targeted by authorities,” said Marie Forestier, Researcher on Refugee and Migrants Rights at Amnesty International. 

“Any government claiming Syria is now safe is wilfully ignoring the horrific reality on the ground, leaving refugees once again fearing for their lives. We are urging European governments to grant refugee status to people from Syria, and immediately halt any practice directly or indirectly forcing people to return to Syria. The governments of Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan must protect Syrian refugees from deportation or any other forcible return, in line with their international obligations.”  

Amnesty International’s report documents serious human rights violations committed by the Syrian government against refugees who returned to Syria from Lebanon, Rukban (an informal settlement between the Jordanian and Syrian borders), France, Germany, Turkey, Jordan and UAE, between mid-2017 and spring 2021, based on interviews with 41 Syrians, including returnees and their relatives and friends, as well as lawyers, humanitarian workers and Syria experts.  

Targeted for fleeing the country 

The authorities have targeted returnees to Syria, accusing those who fled the country of treason or supporting “terrorism”. Amnesty documented 24 cases where men, women and children were targeted as a direct result of these perceptions, and subjected to human rights violations including rape or other forms of sexual violence, arbitrary or unlawful detention, and torture or other ill-treatment. In some cases returnees were targeted simply because they came from parts of Syria that had been under opposition control.

They see us as terrorists because we went to Lebanon.

Ola*

For example, security members arrested Karim* four days after he returned from Lebanon to his village in Homs province. Karim recounted one interrogation which took place during his six-and-a-half months of detention:  

“[An officer] said: ’You came to ruin the country and complete what you started before you left.’ I said that I was coming to my home country, to my village[…]They [security officials] told me that I’m a terrorist because I’m from [a renowned pro-opposition village].   

Karim told Amnesty International that he was tortured during detention: 

A security officer said, “You’re a terrorist … Syria is not a hotel that you leave and return to when you want”.

Noor*

“After I was released, I couldn’t see anyone who visited me for five months. I was too scared to speak to anyone. I had nightmares, hallucinations. I was talking during my sleep. I used to wake up crying and scared. I’m disabled because the nerves of my right hand are damaged due to [torture]. Some of the discs of my back are also damaged.”  

Sexual violence

The punishments for those who fall under government suspicion are brutal. Amnesty International documented 14 cases of sexual violence committed by security forces, including seven cases of rape, committed against five women, a teenage boy and a five-year-old girl. Sexual violence took place at border crossings or in detention centres, during questioning. Testimonies are consistent with well-documented patterns of sexual violence and rape committed against civilians and detainees during the conflict by pro-government forces.  

When Noor* returned from Lebanon she was stopped at the border by a security officer who said:

“Why did you leave Syria? Because you don’t like Bashar al-Assad and you don’t like Syria? You’re a terrorist … Syria is not a hotel that you leave and return to when you want.”

The officer subsequently raped Noor and her five-year old daughter in a small room used for interrogation at the border crossing.

The officer said, “You will not forget this humiliation in all your life”.

Yasmin*

Yasmin* returned from Lebanon with her teenage son and three-year old daughter. Security forces arrested them immediately at the border crossing and accused Yasmin of spying for a foreign country. Yasmin and her children were transferred to an intelligence detention centre, where they were detained for 29 hours. Intelligence officers raped Yasmin, and took her son to another room where they raped him with an object. 

The officer who raped Yasmin said:

“This is to welcome you to your country. If you get out of Syria again and come back again, we will welcome you in a bigger way. We are trying to humiliate you and your son. You will not forget [this] humiliation in all your life.” 

Some families chose for women to return to Syria ahead of their husbands, assuming they would be less likely to be arrested than men – partly because women are not subject to compulsory military service.

However, Amnesty International documented the arbitrary or unlawful detention of 13 women, some of whom were interrogated about their male relatives, and of ten children, aged between three weeks old and 16 years old, who were arrested along with their mothers. Security forces subjected five children to torture and other-ill treatment. Women are as much at risk as men when they return to Syria, and should therefore be granted the same level of protection. 

Torture and enforced disappearance 

In total, Amnesty International documented 59 cases of men, women and children who were arbitrarily detained after returning to Syria, most frequently following broad accusations of “terrorism”. In 33 cases, returnees were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment during detention or interrogation. Intelligence officers used torture to coerce detainees into confessing to alleged crimes, to punish them for allegedly committing crimes, or to punish them for alleged opposition to the government.

They electrocuted me between the eyes. I felt my whole brain was shaking, I wished I would die.

Ismael*

Yasin* was arrested at a checkpoint just after he crossed the border with Lebanon, and spent four months in prison.  

He said: “I don’t know how much time I spent being tortured in this room[…] Sometimes, when [an agent] hit me, I counted every hit. Sometimes it reached 50 or 60 and I passed out. Once it reached 100.”  

Ismael*, who was detained in four different intelligence branches over three and a half months, said:

“They electrocuted me between the eyes. I felt my whole brain was shaking[…] I wished I would die. I didn’t know if it was the morning or the night. I wasn’t able to stand on my feet anymore, even to go to interrogation. They had to hold me to take me there and bring me back.” 

After I was released, I was too scared to speak to anyone. I had nightmares, hallucinations. I used to wake up crying and scared.

Karim*

Amnesty recorded 27 cases of enforced disappearance. In five cases, authorities eventually informed families that their disappeared relatives had died in custody; five were eventually released; the fate of the other 17 people remains unknown. 

Ola*, who returned from Lebanon with her brother in 2019, said security forces had arrested her brother at the border crossing. In the following weeks, they also visited Ola at her home and interrogated her about her reasons for leaving and returning to Syria.

“They see us as terrorists because we left to Lebanon,” Ola said.

Five months later, authorities informed Ola’s family that her brother had died in detention. 

Ibrahim* told Amnesty that his cousin, alongside his wife and their three young children, aged 2, 4 and 8 years old, had been arrested upon returning from France in 2019. At the time of writing, the family has been subjected to enforced disappearance for two years and eight months. 

Amnesty documented 27 cases where returnees were detained as a means of extortion, with families paying on average between 3 and 5 million Syrian pounds (the equivalent of USD 1,200 to USD 27,000) for the release of their relatives.

No part of Syria is safe ​

The level of fighting in Syria has decreased significantly in the past three years, with the Syrian government now controlling more than 70% of the country. Against this backdrop, the Syrian authorities have publicly encouraged refugees to return home, while several host countries have begun to reconsider the protection they offer to people from Syria. In Lebanon and Turkey, where many refugees face dire living conditions and discrimination, governments have put increasing pressure on Syrians to return. 

In Europe, Denmark and Sweden have reassessed residency permits of asylum-seekers who come from regions they consider safe for return, including Damascus and the surrounding countryside. It is notable however, that a third of the cases documented in this report involve human rights violations that took place in Damascus or the Damascus area.  

Countries hosting Syrian refugees must
ensure ongoing protection from the Syrian government’s atrocities.

Marie Forestier

Based on the findings in its report, Amnesty International concludes that no part of Syria is safe for returnees to go back to. In addition, people who have left Syria since the beginning of the conflict are at real risk of suffering persecution upon return, on account of perceptions about their political opinions or simply as punishment for having fled the country.

“The Assad government has attempted to depict Syria as a country in recovery. The reality is that Syrian authorities are still perpetrating the widespread and systematic human rights violations that contributed to millions of people seeking safety abroad,” said Marie Forestier. 

“We call on Syrian authorities to ensure the protection of returnees and to end human rights violations against them, as well as ensuring the respect, protection and fulfilment of the human rights of all people in Syria. Countries hosting Syrian refugees must continue to provide refuge, and ensure ongoing protection from the Syrian government’s atrocities.” 

*All names have been changed  

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