4 stories for 2026-03-16 · Political repression, arbitrary detention & extrajudicial violence
A television program featured testimony from a former head of intelligence for the Golan Heights faction, revealing details about the faction's fall in 1967 and his subsequent abduction from Beirut. He disclosed spending 28 years in Syrian prisons.
Damascus is working with the SDF (Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces) to close files on political detainees held by both sides. Families from Hasaka province have called for the release of their relatives detained in Alaya prison in Qamishli.
Arrests of social media content creators in Egypt have increased in recent weeks. Authorities are targeting individuals posting dance videos that authorities characterize as violating standards of decency.
Iranian authorities have launched a widespread detention campaign targeting approximately 500 individuals accused of spying for hostile entities and providing intelligence that facilitated strikes on military and sensitive installations within the country.