Source from Turkey's mercenaries reveals "hidden prisons of death" in occupied Afrin

A security source revealed that there are 7 secret prisons in occupied Afrin containing hundreds of citizens kidnapped by the Turkish occupation forces and its mercenaries, noting that these prisons are the worst notorious in northern Syria.

9 June, 2021 16:41

NEWSDESK

Nasr al-Hariri's visit to the "Military Police" prison in the village of Maratha / Maratah in the occupied canton of Afrin, late September 2020, was an attempt to embellish the very bad reputation of his mercenaries' prisons, claiming that they are subject to human rights standards and international law. While human rights organizations and international bodies have documented more than 3,000 kidnappings against indigenous Kurdish citizens in Afrin canton, which has been under Turkish occupation since March 18, 2018, the organizations have documented the loss of more than 300 lives under torture.

Even the women did not survive the kidnappings carried out by the Turkish forces and their mercenaries in Afrin, where it was documented that about 1,000 Kurdish women and girls had been kidnapped and forcibly disappeared.

These organizations indicate that among them there are minors, some of whom were released, in exchange for ransom, while the fate of more than 400 abducted women is still unknown to this day, and they are subjected to psychological and physical torture and cases of rape.

Announced prisons

The prisons of “Maaratta, Maabatli, Raju and Sharan” are prisons open to all local and international human rights organizations and associations, and food and drink are provided to them, and they include people who have been charged with light charges.

secret prisons

While a security source within the mercenary groups affiliated with the Turkish occupation revealed, in an interview with the North Pulse network, the secret prisons inside Afrin canton. He said that the Kafr Jannah camp prison was emptied some time ago, and it included all the prisoners and abductees of the "Syrian Front" mercenaries from Afrin residents who were part of the Self-Defense Forces and the Community Protection Forces, where various types of torture and starvation of prisoners were practiced.

While he said that the military police prison, "the former Legislative Council building", is where the abductees are imprisoned in the basement of the building, and according to the same source, the prison witnessed many cases of murder under torture, and is subject to strict control, and every Kurdish citizen kidnapped by the mercenaries' intelligence is transferred to that prison.

He added: "There are about 50 people kidnapped in that prison. The security officials of the factions and the Turkish intelligence call the kidnappers the name of the secretaries, and it is allowed to kill 10 to 30 abductees, and after revealing their case, it was transferred to a semi-civilian prison."

With regard to the major prisons supervised by the Turkish intelligence, which are the prisons in which the kidnapper stays and disappears there or is transferred to unknown places, and what is known about some of the kidnapped people is that they have been transferred to the Turkish Suruç Prison in Urfa or Al-Ra’i Prison (Al-Furqan Prison), which contains: Approximately 2,000 detainees are under the control of "Sultan Murad" mercenaries.

The source explained that the Amir Ghobari school in the city of Afrin, turned into a headquarters for the commando forces or rapid intervention, and continued, saying: “When you enter the prison in the basement, you find a completely closed prison. Visits or entry to the headquarters are prohibited, even those who enter do not leave, military and civil intelligence Turkey sends civilians there. Including the transfer of two fighters from the Afrin Liberation Forces who were captured last April near the Turkish base in the village of Kemar in Sherawa district, and from there they are transferred to an unknown destination.”

The same source confirmed that the mercenaries of the "Jaysh al-Islam faction" turned the former Transportation Directorate building in the center of Afrin into a prison that is considered the worst known, and includes hundreds of abductees, and all prisoners were kidnapped on charges of "party cells" in reference to the People's Protection Units, and the prison witnessed many killings. Many of them suffered deformities and physical disabilities, according to the source.

The security source pointed out that the former building of the Martyrs' Families Foundation in the city has turned into a prison and is affiliated with the so-called central apparatus, and neither civilians, armed factions, military police or commandos are allowed to interfere in it. It is a closed prison and housed about 40 detainees until a short time ago.

Transferring the abductees to HTS prisons

A source in Mahmoudiya Prison (the former building of the General Command of the Internal Security Forces) in Afrin, which is under the control of the Hamzat Division, indicated that some prisoners in the aforementioned prisons were transferred about 20 days ago to Darat Izza and from there to Sarmada prison, which is under the control of the mercenaries of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, It is known that those who are transferred there are sentenced to death.

The source said: "About 35 prisoners from the People's Protection Units, including three female prisoners from the Women's Protection Units, were transferred, accompanied by members of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham under the direction of Turkish intelligence."

According to the source, two weeks ago, 730 abductees were transferred to Al-Mahalaq prison in Azaz and supervised by the mercenary Hisham Derbala. They were brought from the prisons of Al-Ra'i, Kafr Jannah and Al-Mowaslat commandos. They were scheduled to be released, but were imprisoned again.

Source: North Pulse