The Human Rights organization in Afrin holds Turkey responsible for war crimes in the Syrian north and call on the International organizations to intervene
The Human Rights organization in Afrin today issued a statement condemning the Turkish military operation, delivered by member of the organization Hihan Ali in “Sardam” camp, in which she said that the Turkish military operation called “Peace Spring” came under “flimsy and false pretexts that have no ground and no legal basis, contrary to the Charter of the United Nations, in particular Article (2) of it which obliges all states to respect the sovereignty of other member states and to refrain from using force against territorial integrity, and the political independence of another member state of the United Nations.”
The Turkish State unleashed its mercenary escorts of the remnants of ISIS and al-Nusra who are under the name of the Syrian National Army, of which the Syrian National Coalition is its political umbrella, and they have been able to spread terror among innocent civilians, by committing heinous crimes against them in front of the world, these are crimes that rise to war crimes as defined by the Charter of the Nuremberg International Military Court of 1945, and Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998, such as the intentional killing and ill-treatment of civilians, the killing of hostages, the looting of private property, and field executions, as in the case of the execution of the politician woman Hefrin Khalaf and several of her companions.
There other offences such as the use of internationally prohibited weapons, prohibited by the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868, and also the degrading and ill-treatment of war prisoners in violation of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Protocol attached to it in 1977, in particular, article 4-3, which imposes on the state that hold the prisoners to “humanely treat prisoners of war to protect them from all acts of violence, intimidation, insults, and public curiosity”.
Perhaps the most striking example of this degrading and inhuman treatment by the Turkish occupying country and its mercenaries for prisoners of war; is what happened with the captive Jijek Kobani, who was photographed and threatened by the armed groups to be slaughtered in front of the world, in addition to swearing and insulting her, in contrast to article 14 of the 3rd Geneva Convention.
The statement also says: “we the signatories below, hold the Turkish occupation state and its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the Major General Salim Idris who is the commander-in-chief of the so-called Syrian National Army, and the Major Yasser Abdul Rahim who is the leader of the faction that detained the female captive; we legally hold them responsible fully of the war crimes committed, and continue to be committed in the northeast of Syria against the safe civilians of intentional killing, field executions, the use of internationally prohibited weapons, and the degrading non-humane treatment of captives according to the Article 12 of the 3rd Geneva Convention 1949.
And as a human rights organization operating in northeast of Syria, we appeal to all humanitarian and international organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the world conscience; to do their responsibility under international laws and conventions to intervene and monitor the treatment of prisoners, and demand their immediate release, and send them back home because of the end of the military operations in accordance with Article 4 of the 3rd Geneva Convention 1949.”