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A/HRC/33/55 13 captured a member of the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as a father and son accused of being YPG informants. All three were executed. Prior to retreating, ISIL fighters reportedly captured and burned alive no fewer than four YPG soldiers who had been manning a checkpoint. In late March, the terrorist group also reportedly kidnapped, brutally tortured and executed seven armed group fighters in the town of Tafas, Dara’a. 74. In late May, after government forces retook Palmyra, Homs, from ISIL, a mass grave containing more than 60 bodies was discovered. The corpses are believed to be government soldiers and members of the allied National Defence Forces who were either executed at close range or beheaded. B. The disappeared and the missing 75. Civilians, mainly men of fighting age, continue to vanish from the streets of the Syrian Arab Republic. Tens of thousands of Syrians are missing, many in circumstances that suggest they have been forcibly disappeared. 76. Enforced disappearance infringes the victim’s fundamental human rights, including the rights to liberty, to personal security and to a fair trial. A crime under international law, enforced disappearance is a violation that persists for as long as the victim’s whereabouts remain unknown. It often serves as a gateway to other violations, including torture and murder. 77. In a pattern that began in March 2011 and which continues to this day, Syrians are arrested or abducted by State agents and thereafter disappear from public view. Relatives continue to report cases of those who disappeared between 2011 and 2015. Common sites of arrest and abduction include checkpoints, hospitals, workplaces and homes. 78. Throughout the Commission’s existence, Syrians have recounted the terror they feel when passing through government checkpoints for fear of being taken and never heard from again. Some women indicated the final trigger for their becoming refugees was the fact that their adolescent sons faced increasing risks of being held at checkpoints. This fear is well justified: many Syrians have had family members vanish following arrest or abduction by government forces. One man, recently interviewed, did not know the whereabouts of 10 members of his family, who all disappeared in Rif Damascus in 2013 and 2014. 79. Other victims have disappeared while imprisoned, having been transferred from a known detention centre to an unknown location. A man disappeared after being arrested in Damascus in 2012 and held at an official detention centre for more than two years. Attempts by his family to locate him, including through bribes to government officials, have been unsuccessful. 80. Payment of bribes to officials remains commonplace. Families spend large sums attempting to purchase information that sheds light on the fate of their loved ones. The amounts paid vary, and are seemingly dependent on the families’ resources and the importance of the person being sought. 81. Armed groups have adopted practices leading to acts tantamount to enforced disappearance. Amongst the missing individuals are human rights defenders Razan Zaitouneh, Samira al-Khalil, Wael Hamada and Nazem Hammadi, who were abducted in Douma — then under the control of Jaysh al-Islam — in 2013. 82. During the reporting period, Jabhat al-Nusra abducted and detained individuals in Al-Ghouta al-Sharkiyah, Rif Damascus. One man was held in December 2015 and released almost a month later. Jabhat al-Nusra fighters, on receiving inquiries from the man’s relatives, denied that he was in their custody