In January 2026, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported it had documented the SDF’s involvement in more than 3,700 cases of enforced disappearance since 2012. Some 122 people had been killed due to torture and mistreatment within SDF detention centers over the same time period.
Earlier this month, the SNHR also confirmed the death of a Syrian national who had been in SDF custody since October 2025. Alaa al-Amin had Swedish citizenship and returned to his hometown of Qamishli to marry and resettle a month before his arrest. According to SNHR, he had been held for months without being formally charged and his body showed clear signs of torture when it was returned to his family.