Kurdish Christian man released after seven months in detention

CSW welcomes the news that Radwan Muhammad, a Syrian Kurdish English teacher and headmaster, was released on 1 March, after being detained for over seven months by the Islamist group Failaq Al-Sham.

Mr Muhammad, 40, was arrested on 30 July 2020 at his home in Jaqmaq Kibir village in northwest Syria, and accused of apostasy by Failaq Al-Sham fighters. He had reportedly refused the group’s orders to hand his school building over to them so they could turn it into an Islamic school.

Mr Muhammad’s wife died prior to his arrest last year, but the group had prevented the family from washing and shrouding her body according to the customs of that region. She had previously converted from Islam to Christianity.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: “CSW welcomes the news of Mr Muhammad’s release and we pray for his continued wellbeing and safety; however, he should not have been arrested in the first place. We urge the international community to press the Turkish authorities to ensure international humanitarian and human rights law are respected in areas under their control in northern Syria, to restrain the various Islamist Militia groups functioning under their command, and to immediately bring to an end all forms of violence and violations in the region.”

Failaq Al-Sham is an Islamist group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. It functions in northwest Syria under the Syrian National Army, an umbrella group for various Islamist factions under direct Turkish command.