Mother of Martyr Hevrin Khalaf: My daughter's killers are still roaming free

 Suad Mustafa, the mother of martyred Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf said that her daughter's killers are still free without being held accountable for their heinous crime.

The Kurdish politician and Secretary-General of the Future Syria Party, Hevrin Khalaf was assassinated on October 12, 2019, on the international highway (M4) with her driver Farhad Ramadan, and her body was mutilated by mercenaries of the Turkish occupation during the Turkish occupation state's occupation attack on the cities of Serekaniye and Gire Spi.

 In February 2020, the mother of the martyr Hevrin Khalaf attended a session in the European Parliament and filed a lawsuit before international courts to hold her daughter's killers accountable.

 Today, 5 years after the assassination of Khalaf, silence regarding holding those responsible for the crime accountable is still the norm.

In this regard, the mother of the martyr Hevrin Khalaf, Suad Mustafa, said that Hevrin's efforts were entirely focused on politics and the true representation of the project of the brotherhood of the people and the freedom of women in North and East Syria.

  She continued her talk about the failure of the parties to whom the lawsuit was filed to take any measures to hold accountable those who caused the assassination of Hevrin Khalaf and the mutilation of her body.

"I went to European countries, specifically to the International Court to file a lawsuit against the perpetrators of the assassination of my daughter. The crime of assassinating her is a violation of all international and humanitarian laws," she said.

 She also stated that she had filed lawsuits against the Turkish mercenaries and those responsible for the assassination of her daughter in German, Swiss and Belgian courts, in addition to Italian women also filing a lawsuit against Hevrin's killers, noting that she had not yet received any positive results regarding these lawsuits.

 Mustafa said that " Despite the existence of sufficient evidence to convict those responsible for the crime, European courts and international powers have not taken any legal or judicial measures to hold the perpetrators and their accomplices accountable.

 Mustafa confirmed that she is still in contact with lawyers to prevent criminals from escaping punishment.

 "I am still in contact with lawyers in an attempt to achieve human justice for my daughter Hevrin and not allow the two criminals to escape punishment," she added.

 Regarding the targeting of Hevrin Khalaf, her mother said they wanted to frighten women and keep them away from the political arena, but hundreds, even thousands of women today in NE Syria, find Hevrin a role model for them, and they have pledged to continue her struggle.

 Political assassination "murder" is a blatant violation The right to life, as stated in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."

The first clause of Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that "Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life."

The Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, dated August 12, 1949, also requires in its first article that the High Contracting Parties undertake to "respect and ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances."

Article (32) of the same convention states that "The High Contracting Parties expressly prohibit all measures of a nature to cause physical suffering or extermination of protected persons in their power."  Article 2 of the convention considered the policy of killing in all its forms and at all times and in all places to be prohibited acts, and willful killing is considered a grave breach, according to Article (147) of the same convention.

On the other hand, the United Nations Principles for the Effective Prevention of Extrajudicial Executions prohibit all forms of extrajudicial executions under any pretext, even in times of war, according to the first principle, which states: “Governments shall prohibit by law all extrajudicial executions and shall ensure that any such acts are recognized as war crimes under their criminal laws and are punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account the seriousness of these crimes.

 Internal political circumstances or any other state of emergency may not be invoked as a justification for carrying out such executions.” Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 1998 stipulates that the killing of members of a group is considered genocide, and according to Article 7, willful killing is considered a crime against humanity.

a.k

ANHA