Shafaq News – Damascus

Hundreds of residents in Syria’s Suwayda province gathered on Saturday in Karama (Dignity) Square to demand information on missing persons allegedly held by government forces.

Carrying banners describing independence as a "sacred right," demonstrators condemned the continued disappearance of women and called for the release of abductees, according to Shafaq News correspondent.

Similar demonstrations erupted in Shahba city, where participants made the same demands.

Syria's Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri's September 4 statement reinforced the movement’s momentum by reaffirming commitment to self-determination "regardless of sacrifices" while emphasizing the humanitarian priority of securing immediate unconditional release.

Protester Reem al-Salem told our agency that "dozens of Suwayda residents including women remain missing while the central government makes no efforts to recover them or reveal their fate."

Al-Salem called on human rights organizations and the United Nations to "exert greater pressure on the Syrian government for immediate release and ensuring their security."

"Suwayda and its people have the right to self-determination after experiencing systematic killings and massacres due to their sectarian affiliation,” she added.

Amnesty International announced on September 2 that it had verified evidence of Syrian government forces executing 46 Druze community members during recent violence. Syrian authorities, meanwhile, confirmed their readiness to reveal those responsible.