Special / Geostrategic Network for Studies
Not a day passes in Afrin without the armed groups of the Syrian opposition and the Turkish occupation committing transgressions and crimes against civilians, whether by beating or seizing property from homes, farms and trees.
These groups have turned the Afrin region into a closed prison-like area, in which extremist elements that are formed from the remnants of ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as Al-Qaeda, and are led by the Turkmen battalions supported by Turkey to carry out operations of demographic change, expel the Kurds from the region and settle the Turkmen and the families of the armed elements to the Syrian opposition.
In the face of these daily crimes, the international organizations concerned with human rights and protection, affiliated with the United Nations, are still silent, which gives room for extremist elements to increase the frequency of daily violations against innocent citizens.
The following is a detailed report on the daily violations of the armed groups of the Syrian opposition affiliated with the Turkish occupation in the Afrin region.
The violated village of "Maratea", vandalism and theft of the monuments of Saint Maron and Cyrus, kidnappings, arrests, assault on the elderly, chaos and violations
A released detainee told us that the Turkish occupation authorities took a captive Kurdish young man to the terrifying Al-Ra’i prison in April 2018, while he was wounded in the foot, without treatment. His wound became infected and worms began to appear in it, so the young man had to collect his urine in a vial and pour it on the wound to combat it; This is one of the tragic images of the Afrin disaster; Here is what we documented of violations and crimes:
= Marateh village:
It is 5 km away from the city center of Afrin, and it consists of about 500 houses, in which were about two thousand original Kurdish residents. After the occupation, about 1,100 people remained, and about 750 people were settled there.
During the war, two houses belonging to the citizens, "Ibrahim Ahmed Seydou and Ahmed Jarnaz", were destroyed, and during the control of the "Al-Hamzat Division" militias on the village, they seized / 150 / houses and stole all their contents, and took the houses of "Muhammad Nour Abdullah, Salah Othman" as military headquarters. All cables, equipment, and poles of the electricity and public landline networks, agricultural machinery and tractors by "Hussein Kilij and Ibrahim Murad Seydou", a microbus by "Mohammed Ali Haido" and /4/ motorcycles for "Mohammed Ibrahim, Saeed Sheikh Rashid, Sherif Jamil" were also stolen. Bassam Hassan.
The residents of the village were subjected to various types of violations, including arbitrary arrests of dozens of its residents during three years, accompanied by insults, torture, and the imposition of ransoms or financial fines. Ben Adnan, 20 years, who were forcibly disappeared and unknown, and the young citizen, Joan Muhammad Jaqli, 35 years old, has been missing for more than three years.
Among the villagers, the citizen "Muhammad Hussein Alo / 65 / years old" was martyred on 12/3/2018 AD in his field near the irrigation canal, and "Ahmed Sheikh Deh Do bin Jamal / 35 years old", on Tuesday afternoon, April 28, 2020, as a result of A large explosion in front of the popular market in Rajo Street in Afrin, and "Issa Hussein / 17 / years old" on 24/6/2020 AD, as a result of detonating an explosive device in a garbage container in the Mahmoudiyah neighborhood - Afrin.
In addition to seizing about 7 thousand olive trees, including for "Fawzi Bakr, Muhammad Hussein, Bakr Sido, Anwar Othman", the total royalties imposed by the militias on olive seasons amount to 50% of the production, and a $50 excavation tax, i.e. An artesian well, and / 5 / thousand SP per month for each agricultural tractor, and / 12 / thousand SP per month for each shop / shop.
The militias cut down 15 olive trees for "Mustafa Omo" from the trunk, and three perennial oak trees that served as blessed shrines, and set fire to thousands of forest trees in the vicinity of the village, in addition to the overgrazing of sheep flocks between fields and agricultural lands. It dug the Maratha hill with heavy machinery and stole valuable antiquities from it, and destroyed some of the graves of the village's dead.
= Effects of Saint Maron and Cyrus:
- A local source confirmed that the castle of "Kalotê" - Sherwa was bombed and its remaining walls were damaged during the Turkish army targeting the village on the night of 5/6/2021 AD, killing a girl and wounding others, as well as damaging houses, which are located to the west of the village at 300 m. In the first century AD, it was a church during the reign of Saint Maron, which is registered in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Since early June, the "Elite Army" militia and its leader, "Brigadier Moataz Raslan", returned to digging and razing the site of "Al-Nabi Hori-Syros" and its surroundings. Located 2/km to the west of the village, in broad daylight, using heavy machinery and behind earth mounds, to excavate and steal antiquities under the supervision of Turkish intelligence, where there is a headquarters for the Turkish army near the site of Syros.
It is noteworthy that we wrote in several reports about the violations that affected the site, and that the Idlib Antiquities Center / the opposition, after an inspection tour of a specialized team from it, published on July 13, 2018, a report on damage to the site in detail and with pictures, called “Muhammad As’ad Alloush – antiquities dealer.” From Idlib,” he published in mid-November 2019 on his Facebook page, pictures of mosaic panels exposed and removed from the dirt while they are on the ground, and he says in one of his responses to the comments (Afrin by the Prophet Hori), but this publication was deleted after causing a media uproar about it, and the Syrian Observatory was Human Rights had previously published a video clip showing the dredging and excavation operations affecting the site; Moreover, the Turkish authorities restored a mosque and a Roman pyramidal burial shrine/tomb at the site, to show it as an Ottoman monument and landmark, after (tampering with the shrine, vandalizing its mausoleum, excavating its floor and replacing it with modern tiles, replacing the old mausoleum with a modern one, as well as vandalizing the Roman house that was uncovered, restored and rebuilt by the mission The Syrian-Lebanese period between 2006-2011, according to the report of the Idlib Antiquities Center / the opposition published on July 13, 2018 AD), the theft of its contents, excavation of its yard and uprooting of trees by militias during the invasion of the area in March 2018 AD; The site of Syros is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The encroachments that have occurred and are still taking place on all archaeological sites and hills in the Afrin region, in a widespread and systematic manner during more than three years, are a grave violation of the Hague Conventions 1907 and 1954, and Protocols I and II 1977 AD additional to the four Geneva Conventions, and bear its responsibility In the first place, Turkey, as it occupied the region with its army and imposed its effective control over it.
= Kidnapping and arbitrary arrests:
- On May 27, 2021 AD, the “Military Police” checkpoint at the Clock Tower in Azaz city arrested the two brothers “Ali / 30 / years old and Rashid / 27 / my son Mustafa Rasho”, from the people of the village of “Dirswan” - Shara / Sharran, and then released They were released after a week of severe torture and a fine of 1,000 Turkish liras was imposed on each one, and their families showed the two decisions to release them to the Afrin Court in a previous arrest operation.
- On 1/6/2021 AD, Turkish intelligence arrested the young man, Dersim Hamo bin Muhammad Ali, from the village of “Chieh / Al-Jabaliya” - Rajo and residing in the village of “Afraz” - Mapta, on charges of having relations with the former Autonomous Administration, and took him to the “Police” station Rajo,” to be subjected to interrogation under torture for more than a week, then was transferred to “Maratha” prison in Afrin, knowing that he was previously arrested in April 2018.
- On 2/6/2021 AD, the young man, "Mohammed Khalil Ibish" from the village of "Iska"-Shirwa, was arrested by the "Trendah village" military checkpoint at the southern entrance to Afrin, and he was arrested on the previous time by the militias of "Faylaq al-Sham".
- On 6/6/2021 AD, the "Ahrar al-Sharqiya" militia kidnapped the citizens "Muhammad Ahmed Brim, Bahri Khalil Brim, Abdo Faeq, Sheikh Hassan Dink" from the people of the village of Miske Fawqani, although the latter two returned from Turkey to the village and they were not there during the Autonomous Administration She took them to her prison in the village of "Ajgla", where she released three of them after two days, and the young man "Muhammad Ahmed Prem" on Friday 11/6/2021 AD, after chapters of torture and the imposition of a ransom on them.
- The occupation authorities in the city of Afrin arrested Abdo Jamil Qarata, 30, from the village of Shaltat - Shara/Sharran, for a month, and released him at the beginning of this June.
- At seven in the morning of 6/6/2021 AD, an armed group intercepted the road of the citizen "Ahmed Rashid Daoud / 52 / years old" from the village of "Afraz" - Mabta / Maabatli, near the junction of the village of "Joqa" - Rajo Road, while he was going by motorcycle From Afrin to the village with the intention of working between the olive fields, and forced him to return to Afrin, claiming that he was wanted by the "military police", and because they were unable to take him to the olive fields or to a secondary road in order to finish him off or kidnap him, she forced him to stand and shot him in the leg and hit On his head with magazines and rifle butts, he kept escaping, despite the crowded road with pedestrians and cars, as no one dared to deter the attackers or arrest them. The victim was taken to the “military” hospital and then to Bab al-Hawa Hospital for surgery and treatment.
The occupation authorities also released:
- On 7/6/2021, on the authority of the citizen "Hanan Ali Arfu" from the village of "Qibara" - Afrin, after three years and three months of detention and enforced disappearance.
- On 3/6/2021 AD, the citizen “Abidin Ali Hamo / 30 years old” from the village of “Shiltaat” - Shara / Sharran after the arrest of three and a quarter years; On June 4, 2021 AD, the citizen "Horik Rashid Selo / 30 years old" from the same village, after being arrested for three years and a month and a half, spent most of the two periods of their detention forcibly hidden in Al-Ra'i prison - Al-Bab area.
= chaos and disorder:
- A local source confirmed that /9/ members of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (Jabhat al-Nusra), on 2/6/2021 AD, were wandering in the market of the town of Rajo, then they went to the headquarters of the “Local Council” loyal to Turkey, to issue them identification cards such as those It is imposed on the residents of the area and those brought to it.
- On 7/6/2021 AD, a video was published showing a gunman assaulting a “pharmacist” and threatening him with a weapon; This took place within the “Al-Hakim” pharmacy in the city of Afrin against a young man recruited, according to several local media sources, followed by the publication of another video with a scandalous charade about the “military police” arresting the aggressor and questioning him; There are daily similar cases that occur with the Kurds in the city and its villages, owners of shops, shops, groceries, pharmacies and others, if they are insults, imposing royalties, robbing goods, buying on debt without paying later, or doing work without pay, where the abused Kurds do not dare to submit complaints or Publishing videos about the incident, and if they do, the occupation authorities do not hold the aggressors accountable, and in the best cases, they make peace at the expense of the aggressors. It is reported that there is a wide demand by the gunmen to buy “Sudafed, Tramadol, similar to Bioglobin” and other drugs that lead to “a feeling of euphoria.” From pharmacies that have problems with them, because these pills are usually sold only under a prescription.
- On 7/6/2021 AD, one of the shells fired by the Turkish army from its position near the town of “Jalma” towards Mount Lilon fell on a tent west of the village of “Iska” - Sherwa, inhabited by immigrants from the town of Anjara - the western countryside of Aleppo, which led to material damage. And the killing of a girl, daughter of "Rajab Juma'a".
- On Tuesday morning, June 8, 2021 AD, a taxi was detonated with an explosive device on Al-Jami Street in the Mahmoudiyah neighborhood - Afrin, causing material damage but no injuries, as local media sources confirmed that the car belonged to the leader of the "Ahrar Al-Sharqiya" militia in the neighborhood called "Abu Omar" oriental”, as such operations are repeated there.
= Other violations:
- Last week, the militia of the "Samarkand Brigade", which controls the town of "Kafr Safra", assaulted and severely beat Najib Esso, 50, and threw his body in the yard of his house, because he refused to hand it over to a basement belonging to him, which he uses as a warehouse for his home and livestock supplies.
- At four o'clock in the morning of Monday, June 7, 2021 AD, masked gunmen stormed the house of the elderly Kurdish "Ahmed Hamo bin Hassan / 77 years old" in the city of Jindires. "Fahima / 75 / years old" and gagged her during her ablution, and they severely beat the husband after he was tied up and gagged as well, and stole from the house gold jewelry, the wife's earrings, her wristwatch, sums of money and olive oil, where "Hamo" stated in a video posted on social media pages that he had to He gives them the keys to the doors of his house because of torture, and that after five days he is still suffering from bruises and pain, and that the thieves stole everything that is valuable from the house, noting that the militias are present in the vicinity of his house.
- Since the militias of the "North Brigade" fabricated the accusation of assaulting women recruited against the citizen "Khaled Naasan" in the village of "Afraz" - Mabta / Maabatli and raided his house on the night of 5/5/2021 AD, detained and beat a number of men from the village, and expelled the family of "Khaled" “His sick brother with his old father” and “Younis Ahmed’s family residing in his sister’s house” consisted of three houses, and three families of the recruits lived in them, without returning them to their owners until now despite promises made repeatedly, in addition to the house of “Shaaban sleepy” brother Khalid was previously captured.
- A local source confirmed that the "Al-Sham Legion" militia had stolen all the machinery and equipment of an olive press in the village of "Draclia-Sharra/Sharran" belonging to the citizen "Salah al-Din Sidoarsh" from the people of the village of "Aboudan" since the spring of 2018, and after "Sido" learned Recently, with his press in another place in the district and being operated by the leaders of these militias, he is trying to file complaints with the occupation authorities in order to retrieve it, but he is afraid of being attacked because of it.
= In the context of efforts to encourage newcomers to own property and consolidate settlement, traders from the town of Anjara - western Aleppo countryside purchased an olive field (450 trees) belonging to the citizen "Khalil Muhammad Haj Abdo" from the town of "Kafr Safra, located next to the village of "Ylanquz and Kafr Safra" - Jendires, at a price of $450 per tree, and they announced that it was divided into real estate records designated for construction and sold at a price of $8 per square meter.
This is the "safe zone"! What Erdogan, his party and his followers from the Syrian-Brotherhood coalition, mercenary militias, sheikhs and Thorjieh spoke about, on the eve of their invasion of the Afrin region, and still, there is no security or stability, generalized corruption, demographic change and war crimes and other crimes against humanity, which are systematic and widespread.
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- Information about violations in the report: Media Office of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria.
- Translating information from Arabic into English: The Geostrategic Working Group for Studies.
