LAMIS NASIR

Damascus- A group of civilians and women activists departed from Sweida to participate in a workshop in Raqqa; however, they were stopped and arrested near Homs by an armed group. Then, they were transferred to a prison in Harem, district of Idlib. After being held in prison, they were released from prison.

“We were subjected to physical violence, insults, death and sexual assault threats,” the women activists told NuJINHA.

‘We were threatened with death’

“We were stopped by gunmen at a checkpoint in Homs,” said Safaa Shuja, one of the women activists arrested by the armed group. “They separated men and women. They insulted and beat us and did not allow us to talk. We were arrested for going to Raqqa in order to participate in a workshop. They forced us to hang our heads down, handcuffed us and put us on a bus. When we arrived in Sarmada, the armed gunmen told us that they would kill us. For five hours, death seemed more likely than survival.”

“We have received an order not to harm you but we want to learn why you tried to go to Raqqa and if you have any connections with the Kurds,” one of the officials told the women during the interrogation in the prison.

‘We will not remain silent’

Safaa Shuja and other women were released from prison after hours. “Although we faced inhuman treatment in the prison, we will keep working for women’s rights. We will not remain silent. What we faced must be documented so that the world knows that we are arrested and humiliated because of our identity and our activism.”

“Cameras were installed in the prison. A female officer insulted and mocked us. We met other women arrested in various areas. Some of them were subjected to torture, while others were held in solitary confinement. A young woman was put in solitary confinement for objecting to maltreatment in prison.”

‘They insulted us when they found out that we are Druze’

“They insulted us when they found out that we are Druze,” said Rima Azzam, one of the activists arrested in Homs. “They told us, ‘you are pigs, your sheikhs are traitors’. We were oppressed because of our religious identity. They forced us to hang our heads down. One of them told us that they would kill us at around 04:30 AM. I was ready to die, but not for the humiliation we would be subjected to.”

‘I was subjected to verbal abuse’

“I was not subjected to physical violence but I was subjected to verbal abuse,” said Ranim El-Rıdvan. “What I experienced makes me no longer feel safe outside of my city. I don't dare to travel anymore. We are afraid of going to another city and of checkpoints. An indescribable fear has been instilled in us.”

In the region, women activists are oppressed by armed groups of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) for their religions and ethnic identities.