​​​​​​​Nadine Maenza: international community must shoulder its responsibilities towards ISIS

On the evening of January 20, ISIS mercenaries carried out an attack on Al-Sina'a prison in the city of Al-Hasakah with the aim of smuggling mercenaries.  The detained mercenaries also joined the attack.  The simultaneous attacks of the occupying Turkish state on Tal Tamr, Shingal and Ain Issa showed that the attack was a planned and comprehensive attack.

In the aftermath of the attack, statements issued by the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria stated that the attack was carried out as part of a comprehensive plan.  The confessions of the detained ISIS mercenaries also revealed that the scheme had been prepared in the areas occupied by the Turkish state and its mercenaries.  The Internal Security Forces and the SDF responded quickly to the attack, thwarting the plan as the sweeping operations continued.

From the first day, discussions began about how and the goals of carrying out this attack, which has become the talk of the hour in the world, and how it was planned and who participated in this scheme.  About these discussions, the Vice-President of the American Commission on International Religious Freedom, Nadine Ma.enza, spoke to our agency about ISIS attacks on Al-Hasakah and the possibility of trying them in an international court.

She said that the attacks of the Turkish state are rejected and said: "Many of the ISIS mercenaries who surrendered in Al-Hasakah prison came from the areas occupied by Turkey, and this is a matter of concern."

She noted that targeting civilians with drones and bombing civilian areas, as well as Syriac villages liberated from ISIS by the Turkish state, contradicts the goals of the international coalition to defeat ISIS, and added: “When Turkey was launching air strikes on the area against the Syrian Democratic Forces, at the same time, the United States was launching air strikes against ISIS in Al-Hasakah prison with the Syrian Democratic Forces, how can the United States or the international community accept this?

'States must put in place legal mechanisms'

She noted the importance of the January 4 online meeting between Morse Tan, US Ambassador-at-Large for International Criminal Justice, Academy of International Law founder Matthew Daniels, and Ambassador of the Global Office of Women's Issues, Roving Kelly E. Corrie.  Badran Jia Kurd, deputy co-chair of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, as well as to the call launched by the leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Nowruz Ahmed, who called for the implementation of this call.

She pointed to the difficulty of taking care of more than 10,000 ISIS mercenaries of 70 different nationalities, and stressed the need not to leave all this on the shoulders of the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian Democratic Forces, and said: "In order to prosecute those who cannot return to their countries, the international community must fulfills its responsibility by establishing legal mechanisms.”

'Autonomous administration deserves to be recognized politically'

She said that the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria deserves to be recognized politically as a regional and legitimate government, and that this matter is one of the recommendations of the American International Commission for Religious Freedom.  Maenza described the Autonomous Administration as "the only successful government in Syria," adding: "It guarantees religious freedom and gender equality. If the international community rejects the return of foreign ISIS militants or does not put in place legal mechanisms to prosecute them, it should support the Autonomous Administration in resolving these issues."

A

ANHA