Human Rights Watch (HRW) said over the weekend that an Australian teenager wrongfully detained at a prison in Syria’s northeastern city of Al-Hasakah has died.
Yusuf Zahab’s family reported that he was forced as a child to live under Daesh/ISIS before he was detained, the HRW said in a statement.
The statement indicates that the family was informed by Australian authorities on Saturday that their son died of uncertain causes.
The teenager was last heard from in January this year, when he sent “desperate pleas for help” from his cell in al-Sina’a prison, which was under siege by Daesh/ISIS, the New York-based rights group said.
Furthermore, Letta Tayler, associate crisis and conflict director at HRW, expressed, “Yusuf Zahab should be no surprise to Australia and other governments that have outsourced responsibility for their nationals held in horrific conditions in northeast Syria.”
