The security forces in Syria have subjected Syrian refugees who returned to the country to detention, disappearance and horrific torture – including sexual violence – Amnesty International said today in a shocking new report.

Amnesty’s 51-page report – You’re Going To Your Death – documents appalling human rights violations committed by Syrian intelligence officers against 66 returnees, including 13 children. Five people died in custody, while the fate of 17 forcibly disappeared people remains unknown.

The report – coming against a backdrop of the Damascus authorities publicly encouraging returns and refugee-hosting countries increasingly pressuring people to go back – shows how the Syrian authorities have explicitly targeted returning refugees because of their original decision to flee Syria, accusing them of disloyalty or “terrorism.”

Amnesty’s report documents 59 cases of men, women and children who were arbitrarily detained after returning to Syria, most frequently following broad accusations of “terrorism”. In 33 of the cases, returnees were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment during detention or interrogation. Intelligence officers used torture to force detainees to confess to alleged crimes or to punish them for alleged opposition to the government. In some cases, returnees were targeted simply because they came from parts of Syria which had been under opposition control. [Continue reading…]