The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.. Arrests of members of the Kurdish National Council and burning of political party headquarters

Yekiti Media

The report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria addressed a series of violations committed by the militants of the Democratic Union Party in Syrian Kurdistan during the current year, which focused on arrests of activists and politicians, kidnapping minors, and burning of party headquarters.

It is noteworthy that the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic was established by the United Nations Human Rights Council on August 22, 2011 to investigate human rights violations during the Syrian civil war and to determine the facts and circumstances that may amount to these violations and to investigate the crimes committed and identify those responsible for them with the aim of ensuring accountability for the perpetrators of these violations.

Arrest for political reasons.. In paragraph (B), which was titled “Unlawful deprivation of liberty,” it stated: Against the backdrop of ongoing political tensions and planned local elections, the Syrian Democratic Forces and Asayish forces continued to arrest civilians, including political activists who are seen as opponents of the Democratic Union Party and the Autonomous Administration.

In early April, Asayish forces arrested and beat a Kurdish political activist opposed to the Democratic Union Party in Al-Malikiyah (the report refers to the arrest of journalist Ahmed Sofi in the city of Derik).

On the same day, a journalist was arrested in Ma’badah by masked gunmen belonging to the Syrian Democratic Forces (the report refers to the arrest of journalist Rakan Ahmed).

A day later, another journalist was arrested in Al-Rumaylan, after a group of masked men speaking Kurdish and wearing military uniforms stopped his car and took him to an unknown location (the report refers to the arrest of Marwan Hussein Layani, a journalist in the Kirkuk locality of the Kurdish National Council).

A month later, the SDF arrested an anti-PYD activist at a checkpoint in the city of Amuda manned by the SDF (the report refers to the arrest of a member of the Kurdistan Yekiti Party-Syria, Majdal Haj Qasim).

On the same day, the Asayish forces in Amuda arrested two teenagers who had organized a commemoration a few months earlier of the tenth anniversary of the killing of several anti-PYD activists, while they were returning from school (the report refers to the arrest of two members of the Khanaf folklore group affiliated with the Kurdistan Yekiti Party-Syria, Saleh Bakari and Saad Kanrash).

The Commission says that at the time of writing, they were all still being held incommunicado.

Yekiti Media, through its website and social media pages, published the news of the release of Majdal Haj Qasim, Saleh Bakari and Saad Kanrash, while the others are still under arrest.

In paragraph (115), the report talks about the burning of the offices of the Kurdish National Council and its political parties, and it states: The committee also received reports that several headquarters of political parties considered to be in opposition to the de facto authority were attacked and set on fire between March and May, including an office of a Kurdish political party in central Qamishli, by a group of masked men in the middle of the night on April 24, 2024. The Internal Security Forces (Asayish) have not yet investigated the incident.

In paragraph (116), the report talks about the intimidation of farmers in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor and the arrest of civilians against the backdrop of protests against low wheat prices, and the investigation is still ongoing, according to the committee.

Paragraph (117) talks about the arrest of an Assyrian activist who was arrested by the Syrian Democratic Forces in November 2023 and disappeared in the context of an operation against ISIS in April 2024 after local authorities denied his presence in their custody, which contradicts previous statements.

It is worth noting that the report addresses violations in Serekaniye and Afrin and the file of kidnapping minors and will be published successively.