Tents for Torture, Secret Detention Uncovered in Syria’s al-Hol Camp

Part of the security campaign that as launched on August 25 inside al-Hol camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Part of the security campaign that as launched on August 25 inside al-Hol camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Tents for Torture, Secret Detention Uncovered in Syria’s al-Hol Camp

Part of the security campaign that as launched on August 25 inside al-Hol camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Part of the security campaign that as launched on August 25 inside al-Hol camp. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Kurdish Internal Security Forces (Asayish) and the special female units of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have found a tent used by ISIS-linked elements for torture and detention inside al-Hol refugee camp, east of al-Hasakah governorate.

Security forces liberated four women who were chained up to a concrete wall.

This came as part of the second phase of the Operation Humanity and Security, which was launched by Asayish in the overcrowded refugee camp on August 25, in light of the increase in acts of murder and violence.

A video published by the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) Information and Documentation office showed the raid on a tent and how chained up women were liberated by female security forces.

“YPJ forces liberated four women in total in Sunday’s ongoing operation in al-Hol camp,” the YPJ said.

Two of these women said they came from Iraq and showed signs of torture.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, head of the SDF Media Center Farhad Shami said that in coordination with Asayish and the international coalition forces, the SDF launched an investigation to find those involved in torturing and chaining up the displaced women in the camp.

Shami said 23 suspects have been arrested so far, including six women, who operate in ISIS-affiliated cells.

He revealed that seven secret trenches were found under the tents, while the security forces demolished eight sites that were used by ISIS as training centers and courts for imposing executions and torture sentences.

The forces also confiscated quantities of hand grenades, Kalashnikov warehouses, military bags, SIM and memory cards and computers buried underground.

The camp, located 45 km east of al-Hasakah city in northeastern Syria, is considered one of the largest refugee camps in Syria. It houses about 56,000 people, most of whom are displaced Syrians and Iraqi refugees.

It also includes a special section for ISIS families, housing 10,000 people from 54 Western and Arab countries.

According to the figures published by Asayish on its official website, more than 100 suspects have been arrested since August 25, and about 110 tents that were used as training centers and courts for imposing executions and torture sentences were demolished.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.