Syria/Afrin: 155 Syrian Organizations Condemn the Killing of Kurdish Civilians on the Eve of Celebrating Newroz

Syria/Afrin: 155 Syrian Organizations Condemn the Killing of Kurdish Civilians on the Eve of Celebrating Newroz

The signatory organizations call on the United Nations to take all necessary measures to protect the civilians in Afrin and throughout Syria and immediately cease the massive violations against them

On the eve of Newroz, corresponding to March 20, 2023, some fighters of Jaysh al-Sharqiya Faction/The Construction and Liberation Movement, affiliated with the Turkish-backed opposition Syrian National Army (SNA), killed four unarmed Kurdish civilians in Jindires city in Afrin countryside, northwestern Syria, on the backdrop of celebrating Newroz Day and lighting its bonfire; one of the most essential rituals adopted by the Kurds annually, with the participation of other peoples in Syria and throughout the region.

The signatories of this statement stand in solidarity with families of this attack’s victims, wishing the injured a speedy recovery for the wounded, and affirm that they stand alongside all the victims and survivors across Syria. The signatories also call on all the inhabitants in Afrin, both natives and the displaced, to synergize to counter human rights violations committed by SNA armed groups and urge them to reject attempts to create a rift between local communities in Syria.

It is not the first time Afrin-occupied by Turkey and its proxies SNA factions since March 2018- has witnessed crimes and human rights violations. Several independent local and international organizations and UN commissions have documented repeated and systematic patterns of human rights violations, such as murder, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, ill-treatment, torture, looting, and property seizure, in addition to forcing the Kurd inhabitants to leave their houses, obstructing the return of the native people and practices of Turkification and demographic changes.

It is worth mentioning that this crime took place at a time when Jindires city, among other areas, has yet to recover from the impact of the destroying earthquake in February 2023, which claimed the lives of hundreds of residents. Around 1,100 people died in Jindires alone due to the earthquake. Thousands of buildings were damaged, leaving at least two thousand families homeless, while several armed groups were politicizing, diverting assistance, and denying access to populations in need.

Following the crime of murder, massive public demonstrations took place in Jindires and other areas in Afrin. Protestors denounced the de-facto authorities and demanded the ousting of the SNA’s factions from the region and providing international protection for the civilians to put an end to the violations committed by those factions. The signatory organizations declare complete support for these demands and call on:

The United Nations:

To take all necessary measures to protect the civilians in Afrin and across Syria, as well as pressure Turkey as an occupying power to assume its legal responsibilities in ensuring public order and safety and maintaining law and order;
To pressure the Turkish government to stop the demographic changes in Afrin, Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê, and other regions, commit to the provisions of the 1907 Hague Agreement and hand over the administration of those areas to their Syrian indigenous people;
To take adequate measures to stop the expansion of the terrorist-designated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)/formerly al-Nusra Front in Afrin and other northern Syria regions. The terrorist-designated organization took this crime as a pretext to advance in Jindires and its countryside and take control of the SNA’s headquarters in Jinderis.

The United States government and the European Union:

to operationalize the sanctions against entities and commanders of the armed Syrian factions involved in committing human rights violations and extend the sanctions to include the rest groups and individuals responsible for the violations in northern Syria, including Turkish officials who effectively run those areas.

To War Crimes Units in the countries, their enactments allow trials under the principle of universal jurisdiction, the International Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM), and the competent international organizations:

Intensify their work on documenting all violations by all parties, particularly those in Afrin and throughout northern Syria targeting specific racist, religious, or ethnic groups.

The International Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic:

To release a briefing on the human rights situation in northern Syria, particularly in the areas under the effective control of Turkey, including Afrin, Ras al-Ayn/Serê Kaniyê, Tall Abyad, A’zaz, and al-Bab.

In addition, the organizations signing this statement call on the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), as well as all political bodies under its umbrella, to assume their legal, political, and moral responsibilities toward all the crimes committed in Afrin and call them to intervene to halt the violations of its armed groups and support the demands of the local population.

Organizations and Associations Signing the Statement: