HESNA MIHEMED

Shehba - On March 18, 2018, Turkey occupied Afrin. Since then, women, who decided to stay there to resist, have faced many rights violations. Turkey and Turkish-backed factions target Kurdish women who want freedom. In the last four years, the demographic structure of Afrin has been changed by cutting down many olive trees, destroying historic places, changing the names of the villages, and forcing children to learn Turkish at schools. Lawyer Roşin Hido, a member of the Human Rights Organization in Afrin, spoke to NuJINHA about the rights violations in Afrin.

Women are targeted

Roşin Hido told us that inhumane practices have been carried out in Afrin for four years.

“The people of Afrin are murdered, raped, harassed, and kidnapped every day by the Turkish state for various reasons. Since the beginning of the invasion of Afrin, their aim is to displace the Kurds from their houses and change the demographic structure of the city. While the Turkish state carries out a policy to destroy the identity of the Kurds, it is changing the essence of Afrin by placing others in this area instead of the people of Afrin. But Erdoğan wants more. For this reason, he changed the names of the historic places in the city; he banned the Kurdish language in Afrin. Before Afrin was occupied, women of Afrin had achieved their freedom and rights in every aspect of life during the Autonomous Administration period. Since Erdoğan doesn’t want women to be free, women were targeted and they are still targeted in Afrin.”

Ongoing rights violations in Afrin

Emphasizing that they, as the Human Rights Organization, should document and reveal many rights violations in Afrin, Roşin Hido said, “According to reports, more than 667 people have lost their lives in torture and attacks since the beginning of the war. More than 8,180 people have been abducted and there is no news from many of them. 60 historical sites have been destroyed. More than 28 holy places have been destroyed. 34,057 olive trees have been cut down. More than 12,000 olive trees have been burned.”

More than a thousand women have been abducted

Speaking about rights violations against the women of Afrin, Roşin Hido said, “Women are most targeted in occupied Afrin. The women of Afrin are murdered, kidnapped, raped, and forced into marriage. Until now, 86 women have been murdered in Afrin. Six women killed themselves due to oppression on them. More than 216 women have been injured in prisons. More than a thousand women were kidnapped by the Turkish state intelligence agencies and the members of the Turkish-backed factions and 70 women have been subjected to rape and torture in prisons. In addition, the rights of children have been violated in Afrin.”

Stop crimes against humanity

Emphasizing that a solution must be found as soon as possible to the incidents in Afrin, Roşin Hido said, “The practices taking place in Afrin and our occupied regions are war crimes. The Turkish state must account for these crimes. There are many more rights violations than we have documented. Relevant organizations should be a wall against crimes to protect civilians. The Turkish state violates all international laws and conventions and so far it has not been held accountable. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) must intervene and stop these crimes. We, as the Human Rights Organization in Afrin, call on the international community to stop crimes against humanity in all occupied regions.”