Occupation of Afrin ... extermination of women

SHARVIN MUSTAFA

In this Dossier, we will highlight how was the situation of Afrin women before the Turkish occupation of Afrin canton, how is the case of women in Afrin and what has happened after the Turkish occupation.

The women have been known in Afrin city to be in high rank in the society, even some of the ancient Afrin families were named with women's names.

Women's institutions which are interested in women's affairs have developed with the beginning of Rojava Revolution, these institutions were able to organize all women, support them and help them to raise the awareness of women and support Afrin them.

The women's ranks in Afrin formed the most organized segments of the society. They were the first to assume the presidency of the Executive Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA).

Turkey's fear of women's organization

Most countries that claim democracy and gender equality lack what they claim to be, including the Turkish occupation state which legitimates the crime of raping minors and marrying them at a minor age. According to the website of "Crimes against Women," which monitors the crimes against Turkish women, 1,915 women have been killed within 6 years.

When the Turkish state have occupied Afrin, it launched attacks on all fields especially social, political and cultural. At the beginning of the aggression, it began its violations of human rights. It did not differentiate between children, men and women, and the first example of the moral decay was the crime of beating and mutilating the corpse of the fighter of the Women Protection Units (YPJ) in early February this year. Avista Khbour took avenge for her comrade as she carried out an operation against a group of the Turkish occupation army's elements in Hamam village in Janders district, inflicting heavy losses to the ranks of the occupiers.

Women and children in Afrin have been exposed to live bullets of the Turkish occupation army. During the resistance which lasted for 58 days, the martyrdom of 56 women and 46 children was documented, as well as 104 women were wounded with different injuries.

Afrin women's life has been turned from light to darkness

Afrin women used to live a special kind of life due to their strong relationship with agriculture and nature. They participated in all fields of the life.

Most of the women in Afrin city were not forced to follow a special kind of the life. 80% of them were educated. Their percentage was obvious in their participation in educational, administrational, political and economic fields.

Afrin women's strong relationship with agriculture and industry pushed them to open economic projects to support themselves and their families. Afrin market witnessed the opening of markets by women and they have participated in the popular market in Afrin and owned a number of shops in the market.

And now, the situations, customs and even the kind of the life have been changed. The women's lives turned into hell. Afrin women could no longer leave their small room for fear of being kidnapped or raped as the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries are imposing the same kind of the system imposed by IS' gangs against women.

Where the streets of the city is witnessing another kind of women's clothes represented by the dress of the settlers which replaced by the Kurdish folkloric dress that is distinctive with its bright colors. Billboards urging the imposition of the veil spread in the squares and streets.

In some villages dominated by some mercenary gangs linked to Jabhet al-Nusra and IS, uniforms imposed on the people instead of the Kurdish clothes. Afrin canton has become a large prison for women. Recently, teaching students in mixed schools has been banned, and males and females have been separated in the schools.

More than 145 cases against women have been documented

After the Turkish occupation of Afrin canton, the women have been deprived of all their rights that they used to enjoy them under Democratic Autonomous Administration's ruling. This war caused damage and worsened women's status in Afrin city, where direct violence; killing, kidnapping and selling women practiced against them. 145 women were kidnapped in Afrin city in the lasted statistics and this number is increasing day by day. The indirect violence; widowhood, poverty, unemployment, low educational level, displacement and the marriage of minors witnessed in the area. This indicates that the Turkish state committed a cultural genocide against the women and the people of Afrin. 

Abducting, assaulting, raping and murdering Afrin women documented

After the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries occupied Afrin canton, 145 women, including a pregnant were kidnapped, raped, assaulted and murdered at hands of the Turkish army and its mercenaries.

We will review some cases documented by ANHA with the help of the humanitarian and human rights organizations in addition to private sources, while there are many cases whose details are unknown.

The citizen Fatima who is at 45 was abducted from her home and subjected to physical and psychological torture for15 days in a row, while her family has not had information about her destination until the mercenaries demanded $ 3,000 from the family.

Fatima faced atrocities while she was staying in Afrin in the presence of the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries. She said, "We were prevented from leaving the house, as if we had lost light in life, even working in the agricultural lands is forbidden. They forced us to wear hijab and long dress, and fear has come to govern us when we were kidnapped and even at home.

Fatima pointed out that two female relatives had been kidnapped with their father and uncle for months. The men were released after paying ransom, but the women had not known yet where they were. She confirmed that a girl was kidnapped in front of her school while she was getting out of the school. This matter increased the fear of the parents about sending their children to schools which led to the deprivation of children to study, especially the females.

Fatima's family was able to pay a ransom to the mercenaries, release her, and exit her from Afrin

A reliable source from Tel-Salor village in Janders district said that earlier, a woman was raped in the village by the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries, and various methods of violence practiced against her because she refused to cooperate with them. In addition, the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries told the villagers that they had kidnapped the woman in Janders district.

On the other hand, local sources from Afrin reported that the Turkish occupation army and its mercenaries abducted the girl "Zuzan Bashir Suleiman" at Terneda checkpoint leading to the city of Afrin on Friday, 20 April this year.

On the victim's tongue

On the tongue of the woman (Sh,M) who was kidnapped by the Turkish occupation army's mercenaries, tortured severely and still living at the hands of the mercenaries in Afrin, she says through an audio recording, "They broke into our house. They were men with long beard and they arrested my friend, her mother, her brother who is 13 years old and me under pressure and threat."

"We were blindfolded so that we did not know where they took us, and then, we realized that we were taken to the court of Afrin center. We were about 18 women. All women were tortured to the point where they could not get up."

And (Sh,M) stated that she and her friend were tortured with electroshocks and she added, "I did not know how long the torture continued, but when I woke up, I could hardly breathe. Then, I suffered from fainting and insomnia. When I looked at my girlfriend, she was suffering like me, and when I asked her that what they did to us, she could not answer me due to the severity of the torture."

The mercenaries also kidnapped the woman (Kh,R) from Shia district who was 21 years old, married six months earlier to her abduction, and she was pregnant in her second month, and her fetus was aborted by the brutal action.

Residents of the village of Kurka Foqani of Mobata district have also found the body of an unidentified woman in the third decade of age lying in a house. There were effects of torture on her body, her hands were cut, and signs of strangulation were clear on her neck.

According to sources from the village of Shitka in ​​Mobata district, the mercenaries raped two women, in addition to abducting 13 young women from the village on the pretext of interrogating with them. Three young women were also abducted from the village of Obaidan in Bulbul district, and their fate is still unknown.

What is shameful is that the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation army raped three young girls at the age of fifteen. The mercenaries also remove earrings from the ears of the women with their hands.

The minors' marriage

The story of the girl Yasmin who is at 12 is one of the hundreds of stories and tragedies suffered by the people of Afrin and remained hidden. Yasmin was forced to marry a mercenary who is two decades older then her. Despite the refusal of her parents, the mercenaries took from the home of her family in Shia district after they threatened the family with murder if they refuse.

Rape is a crime under international law issued by the International Criminal Court in February 1998.

Women's revolution against the occupier

The women enjoyed freedom before the occupation. they did not remain silent under the occupation too. Many women were beaten and insulted as a result of standing against the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation and trying to prevent them from arresting their children and stealing their property, including (S-M), one of those who revolted in the face of the occupation and prevented the mercenaries from kidnapping of her son. This mother lives in one of the villages of Sherawa and she is known among the people of the village with her strength and motivation the people of the village to stand in solidarity in the face of the occupation.

Protection of women's rights in international law

There has been considerable controversy over the capacity of international law to prevent the use of violence against women in the times of conflicts and armed conflicts and in the period after those battles since the international law is still limited to achieve that protection.

The issue of the protection of women at present, whether within interior or international laws, occupies a large and prominent place. The evidence is the existence in the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols of approximately 40 articles out of 560 articles specialized to women.

Although these rules have become international, violations have increased considerably. In 1974, the General Assembly issued the declaration on the protection of women and children in emergencies and armed conflicts.

As well as the adoption of the resolution 1989/24 on human rights in times of armed conflicts by the Sub-Commission of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since 1991.

However, a mechanism for justice does not mean that it can be applied in practice, as there are still those who are not held accountable for cases of sexual assault or rape during the conflicts.

In spite of the United Nations' resolutions to provide health care to post-conflict victims, adequate resources are not allocated to protect women's rights.

(T/S)

ANHA