Syrian government is responsible for crimes committed in Afrin

The second human rights forum on human rights crimes in occupied Afrin continues its work, by shedding light on the crimes committed against women in Afrin by the Turkish state and its mercenary factions, and the legal means to hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable in accordance with international law.

The axis included a lecture given by Majdolin Hassen, a lawyer who holds a diploma in international and diplomatic law, a member of the Women's Advisory Council of the Special Envoy to Syria and head of the Syrians Committee for Detainees and Abductees.

Majdolin Hassen explained that since the occupation of Afrin, the mercenary factions affiliated with Turkey have committed grave crimes against the people of Afrin, especially Afrin women, hundreds of Afrin people have been killed by the Turkish factions, there are several reports indicate these crimes.

Majdolin Hassen indicated that the Turkish occupation has committed many crimes against women in Afrin, including kidnappings, rape and extortion, and that addressing what is happening in Afrin, holding mercenary factions accountable and prosecuting the perpetrators are an international responsibility.

Turkey bears responsibility for the crimes committed in Afrin

Majdolin Hassen explained that Afrin issue is a national Syrian issue, and therefore all Syrian human rights organizations must adopt what is happening in Afrin because its residents are Syrian.

Majdolin Hassen indicated that international human rights organizations are required to hold the perpetrators accountable and refer them to the UN Security Council court, and confirmed that the Turkish government bears responsibility for the crimes committed in Afrin in addition to the Syrian coalition which is a reference for the mercenary factions there.

Regarding the silence of the Syrian government about Turkey's crimes and practices against Afrin, Majdolin explained that the government is afraid of the democratic project adopted by the people of Afrin and north-east Syria. She said: "The authoritarian regime in Damascus must be ended."

There is no international law protects women

Majdolin Hassen noted: "Women's files can be handed over to the European Court through personal claim by the victimized people, and this court can carry out its procedures in accordance with the Security Council resolutions and refer them to the International Criminal Court. She noted: "There is no law that protects women within the international laws; rather, there are general provisions, but there are no specific provisions for women."

The interventions of the second axis confirmed that the crimes committed against women in Afrin are systematic, and they aim at undermining the struggling women's will. She indicated that there is international recognition of the existence of kidnapped women in Afrin, women in Afrin have been subjected to all kinds of crimes, and Turkey is directly responsible.

Discussions took place about how to help women who are subjected to crimes and activists to obtain their rights by supporting them, documenting crimes, moving lawsuits, and organizing events to convey the voice to the international forums, and they explained that this must be applied on the ground. The interventions noted that in Geneva, when they talked about women, they did not talk about the Kurdish women who fought, nor about the women who were subjected to torture and kidnapping, and whose fate is still unknown.

The interventions noted that the Syrian government bears responsibility for the crimes committed against women in Afrin from a moral and humanitarian standpoint because the occupation of Afrin took place through a barter deal between the Syrian government and Turkey sponsored by Russia in exchange for Ghouta, and the government does not move about the crimes that are being committed there.

After that, the lawyer and lecturer at the Faculty of Law in Alexandria and a member of the Arab Lawyers Union - Egypt, Ahmed Rajab Shehatah Mahmoud, spoke about the legal means to condemn the crimes committed against Afrin's women and people, and said: "Turkey has committed grave crimes against the people of Afrin."

Ahmed Rajab Shehatah stated that the first of these crimes is the occupation of the lands of a member state of the international community, and the second is crimes against humanity, including racial discrimination, displacement of more than 300,000 people, demographic change processes, targeting minorities, and replacing the indigenous people of the region with another people. He said: "Turkey has committed all of the crimes mentioned in international charters and covenants."

Ahmed Rajab stressed that the Security Council should issue a resolution to hold the perpetrators of the crimes in Afrin accountable, similar to the court established in Yugoslavia and the court established in Lebanon to pursue the killers of Rafik Hariri. He said: "One of the best ways is to resort to the Security Council and the United Nations to issue a decision to the Prosecutor General and then to the International Criminal Court to hold Turkey accountable for its crimes."

D.H