Endless suffering: Families of those missing by ISIS continue to search for their children

Stories from the series Returning from Death, collected by ASO News Network, show the tragedy of civilians who suffered pain during the period of ISIS rule, realistic novels and stories that express the extent of terrorism and extremism in affecting the structure of society.

“Back from death”

A series of testimonies from the heart of the tragedy… Civilians who died under ISIS rule in North-East Syria

A series of special reports produced by the ASO News Network, published for the first time consecutively, highlighting the terrible violations that the city of Tabqa witnessed during the period of ISIS control.

Horrific stories from eyewitnesses who lived through the terrorist organization’s nightmare, where families were subjected to the harshest types of physical and psychological torture; From humiliating punishments that waste human dignity, to dark prisons from which only a few emerge alive, and ending with the destruction of schools and turning them into death factories.

We share with you these living testimonies to highlight the extent of the suffering and pain, and to present a true picture of what happened during that dark period.
All rights reserved to ASO News Network
Northeast Syria 2024

From Al-Tapqa written by: Hassan Al-Ahmad

The file of missing persons by ISIS is considered one of the files that is still open to the families of the victims who are searching for the unknown fate of their children, after the defeat of the organization in the region more than seven years ago, at the hands of the Syrian Democratic Forces and the international coalition to combat ISIS.

The fate of many people is still unknown, due to the extreme secrecy of the organization’s members about their places of detention or their fate. Despite the passage of years, hope remains alive among some families who believe that their children are still alive, while others have lost hope after the defeat of the organization, and are searching for any answer that will relieve them of the torment of waiting, even if that answer is negative.

A large number of families do not know the fate of their children, whether they are alive, or if they were killed. Therefore, not knowing the fate of the missing leaves the families waiting for a glimmer of hope, as long as they do not know the fate of their children. A group outside Syria has formed an organization concerned with those missing at the hands of ISIS, the families are trying to come together to find out the fate of their children, to no avail so far in resolving this issue.

Stories of missing people
Hoda Youssef (pseudonym), a citizen of Al-Tabqa countryside, says that her 22-year-old brother went missing during his trip from Damascus, where he was studying philosophy at university. She explains that her brother was taken off the bus in 2015 at AlRasafa checkpoint south of the city of Mansoura in the southeastern Tabqa countryside, based on information they received from some of the passengers who were with him.

Hoda adds that contact with her brother was completely cut off, and they did not receive any news about his arrest except from a friend of his from the city of Raqqa, who told them that he was arrested on the way without knowing the charge, and was transferred to Raqqa. Since that time, the search for him began within the corridors of ISIS, from the “Hisbah” to the police and the courts, without success in finding his name.

The organization was classifying the travel of people from its areas to other areas under the control of the Syrian government or the Syrian Democratic Forces, as a charge of being an employee. It was also classifying those studying in Syrian universities as studying at the Syrian government’s universities. Many realistic stories and narratives witness the organization arresting and killing women and men on charges of going to Syrian government areas or autonomous administration areas, or studying in those areas.

Hoda narrates that they learned from a local member of the organization that her brother is being held in the governorate prison in Raqqa, on charges that he is a soldier with the Syrian government. However, their attempts to inquire from the organization’s security officials were in vain, as they told them that they did not have his name, or that he had been transferred with a group of prisoners to Deir Al-Zour or to a secret prison in the Deir Al-Zour desert near Jabal al-Bishri.

As for the accusation of a member of the Syrian army or a fighter in the ranks of the Syrian Democratic Forces or other armed factions, it was sufficient for the organization to declare retribution against the person.

Hoda points out that someone told them, a year after his arrest, that he was in a prison in the city of Al-Mayadeen in the eastern countryside of Deir Al-Zour. However, the search there also did not result in finding his name among the prisoners. After the liberation of Tabqa and Raqqa, they received information indicating that he was executed in the city of Al-Shaddadi in Al-Hasakah countryside, while other information indicated that he was transferred with the detainees to the town of Al-Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir Al-Zour, the last stronghold of ISIS.

Hope for the fate of the missing

Despite all this conflicting news, Hoda confirms that her brother’s fate is still unknown, but her family has not lost hope of finding him alive, given the lack of a grave confirming his death. She believes that her brother may have been slaughtered by the organization, but the hope of finding him still exists after these many years.

Through the ASO News Network, Hoda appeals to international organizations working in the field of fact-finding and local and international media, to open the file of missing persons with ISIS as widely as possible, in an effort to find solutions or find out the fate of these missing persons, whose number is estimated at hundreds, as their families live between hope and waiting.

In the same context, Umm Mohammad narrates that her son went missing in late 2014 at the hands of ISIS at one of their checkpoints in Maskanah in the eastern countryside of Aleppo, after he came in his car from the city of Al-Bab. Although she did not leave any means that she tried to search for him during the time of the organization’s control, she did not find any trace of him.

Umm Mohammad says that she has heard dozens of stories about her son’s fate, which leaves her confused. Among those who say he was executed, others claim that he joined the organization, and a third claims that he escaped from ISIS prisons to Turkey. Despite all these stories, she is still waiting for news about him.

Umm Mohammad demands opening this file, organizing conferences, and forming fact-finding committees, to alleviate the suffering of mothers and families and end the torment of waiting to know the fate of their children, noting that she and dozens of mothers still live in the hope of meeting their children one day.

The families who lost their children to the organization, and do not know their fate, are still hoping that there will be fairness in the search for their children, and they demand that their fates not remain unknown, because that leaves families who do not know the fate of their children in hope, anxiety, and permanent grief.