call for urgent action to release female captives

On November 27, the mercenaries of "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" launched a large-scale attack on the city of Aleppo, and were able to control the city without any significant resistance from the Damascus government forces, and the latter announced its withdrawal from the city, and in the meantime, the residents of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods organized themselves to defend the two neighborhoods and protect the residents, under the name of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh Protection Forces, which consists of the sons and daughters of the two neighborhoods.

While confronting the mercenaries, a number of wounded young men and women from the Sheikh Maqsoud Protection Forces were captured by them, according to the Women's Protection Units.

The units said in a statement (December 2) that "these mercenaries, who know absolutely no morals or laws of war, greatly insulted the dignity of the young captive women, and used this as a means of propaganda through their media outlets to promote themselves. With their words: 'We will sell you again in the markets', they showed their attitude towards women."

While the units condemned these actions, they considered them "anti-humanity" and must "not be accepted in any way."

The units called on the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, and all women's rights organizations, community institutions, democratic figures, and freedom seekers to adopt the cause of the young captive women, and to expose the truth of the terrorism and barbarism of the occupying Turkish state and its mercenaries in the Middle East and the world as a whole, and to hold them accountable for their actions.

For her part, the administrator of the Kongra Star Academies, Berivan Younis, condemned the violations and crimes of the Turkish occupation mercenaries against the Syrian people, especially against the young female prisoners.

Berivan pointed out that many incidents occurred during the attacks of the Turkish occupation state mercenaries on the Afrin, Shahba and Aleppo cantons, and said that the crimes of killing and capturing civilians trapped in Shahba and Tal Rifaat, and not allowing them to leave, all amount to 'war crimes' and a blatant violation of international and human rights laws.

Berivan Younis did not express her surprise at the crimes of the Turkish occupation state mercenaries and the violation of the rights of female prisoners and mockery of them, and said: "It is not new and strange for them, as these mercenaries are famous for their crimes and violations."

She mentioned that these crimes are being repeated again against the people of the North and East Syria region, drawing attention to the occurrence of "such crimes and violations in the past." There are many documents and evidence that reveal the extent of the crimes committed by the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation state against the people, especially the crime of torturing the martyr Barin Kobani and photographing her body and publishing it on social media, as well as the crime of assassinating the Secretary-General of the Future Syria Party, Hevrin Khalaf. All of this is just the tip of the iceberg of the crimes of the occupation and mercenaries against the people and women."

Berivan Younis pointed out that despite the malicious of these crimes, the international community did not show any clear reaction and remained silent, and she said: "All of this happened in front of the eyes of the United Nations and the UN Security Council, which preferred to remain silent, despite these mercenaries violating all international charters and covenants."

She explained that the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, dated August 12, 1949, stipulates the protection of their rights from armed conflicts and the provision of shelter for them, and prohibits attacks on life and physical integrity, in particular murder in all its forms, mutilation, cruel treatment, torture, hostage-taking, and attacks on personal dignity, especially humiliating and degrading treatment, but what we see is contrary to what is stated in the agreements, and the mercenaries clearly violate these provisions without accountability or comment from the organizations and parties that claim to protect human rights and women.

Berivan Younis also stressed the necessity of these organizations leaving about its silence and carrying out its duties, and obligating all parties to respect the provisions of these agreements and not to remain ink on paper, and to hold accountable anyone who violates the provisions of these agreements in international forums.

T/Satt.

ANHA