SYDNEY, Australia — An
Australian teenager
is believed to have died in a Syrian jail after being held for three years, his
family said Monday as they pleaded for the return of other detained women and
children.
اضافة اعلان
Yusuf Zahab, 17, died from “uncertain causes” in
northeast Syria at the Al-Sinaa prison,
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
Kurdish-led forces have held Daesh suspects at the
prison, which was the site of intense fighting between Daesh fighters and
US-backed troops earlier this year.
“We are heartbroken and angry,” Zahab’s family said
in a statement released by HRW.
“Yusuf didn’t need to die. The previous Australian
government knew about Yusuf’s predicament for more than three years,” they
added.
Born in Sydney, Zahab was 11 when he was taken to
Syria by relatives before being detained by
Syrian Democratic Forces in 2019.
He had previously begged for help in audio messages
released by the human rights group, and described watching fellow child
prisoners being killed in front of him during a raid on the prison.
“There’s a lot of bodies, dead bodies, and there’s a
lot of injured people screaming from pain,” he had said.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs said it
was still seeking to confirm the death but was offering consular assistance to
the family.
“The Australian government remains deeply concerned
about the situation of Australians in northeast Syria, including the welfare of
those detained in prisons and other detention centers,” a department
spokeswoman said in a statement.
‘Please act’
Western countries have faced
a dilemma on how to handle their citizens detained in
Syria since the end of
military operations against Daesh in 2019.
Thousands of extremists joined the group as
fighters, often bringing their wives and children to live in the “caliphate”
Daesh declared in territory it conquered in Iraq and Syria.
According to HRW, more than 41,000 foreign citizens
— the majority under 12 years old — are being held in camps and prisons in
northeast Syria over alleged Daesh links.
A spokeswoman for Australian detainees’ families
said that up to 80 Australian nationals — including 19 women and 29 children —
are among them.
The Zahab family pleaded with the Australian
government to act.
“Please repatriate the remaining Australian women
and children. Please act before another life is lost,” the family said in a
statement.
HRW associate crisis and conflict director Letta
Tayler accused Australia and other foreign governments of having “outsourced
responsibility” for their nationals left in “horrific conditions”.
Zahab’s death “should prompt these countries to
urgently bring their detained citizens home,” Tayler said.
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