Abuses in Syria's Kurdish enclaves

Child soldiers, arbitrary arrests, failing and unresolved judiciary processes for many killings and disappearances has now been reported in Northern Syria’s three Kurdish enclaves, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Democratic Union Party (PYD), an offshoot of the Turkish Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), effectively ruled the three predominantly-Kurdish enclaves after Syrian government forces withdrew from the areas in 2012. In January 2014, the PYD and their allies created a “transitional administration” in the three northern regions of Afrin, Ain Al-Arab and Jazira. They have formed councils akin to ministries and introduced a new constitutional law, police force and judicial systems.

HRW published a report documenting both arbitrary arrests of the PYD’s political opponents, abuse in detention, and their unwillingness to address unsolved abductions and murders. In addition, it also documented the use of children in the party’s police force and armed wing, the People’s Protection Units (YPG).

“The Kurdish-run areas of Syria are quieter than war-torn parts of the country, but serious abuses are still taking place,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The PYD is firmly in charge, and can halt the abuse.”

A visit to the PYD held areas

The PYD allowed HRW to visit the areas in their control, but because of security concerns only a visit to Jazira was possible. There, they visited two prisons and documented several cases where the PYD-run police – the Asayish – appear to have arrested members of the Kurdish opposition parties due to their political activity, and convicted them in seemingly unfair trials, with no prior access to see a judge and undergoing extended detention under abuse. They were usually suspected for their alleged involvement in bomb attacks.

At least nine political opponents of the PYD have been killed or disappeared over the past two and half years in areas that the party partially or fully controlled. The PYD has denied responsibility for these incidents but has apparently failed to conduct genuine investigations. By contrast, the party-run security forces have carried out rapid mass arrests after most bomb attacks, presumably carried out by extremist Islamist militant groups.

“The Kurdish leadership in northern Syria can do much more to protect the human rights of everyone in the areas it controls – Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, and others,” Houry said. “Even in an interim administration it should govern inclusively with respect for critical views.”

ISIS and YPG

The YPG maintains external security in the three PYD-run areas, and is fighting armed Islamist groups, primarily Jabhat Al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).

On May 29, ISIS forces entered the village of Al-Taliliya near Ras Al-Ain in Jazira and executed at least 15 civilians, including six children, village residents and first responders told HRW. In recent months, ISIS has also reportedly abducted hundreds of Kurdish civilians in the province of Aleppo and executed several Kurdish civilians they suspected of belonging to the YPG.

Some detainees told Human Rights Watch that the security forces had beaten them in while they were in custody and the perpetrators were never held to account. In two recent cases involving the Asayish, the victims were beaten to death. In one case the force member who beat the prisoner was punished. In the other, the Asayish said the victim had killed himself by striking his head against a wall. But a person who saw the body said the victim’s wounds – including deep bruises around the eyes and a laceration on the back of the neck – were inconsistent with self-inflicted blows to the head.

Persisting failure in ending the use of child soldiers

HRW found that, despite promises from the Asayish and YPG in 2013 to stop using children under the age of 18 for military purposes, the problem persists in both forces. On June 5, the YPG publicly pledged to demobilise all fighters under the age of 18 within one month.

The internal regulations for both forces forbid the use of children under the age of 18. International law, applicable in Syria for non-state armed groups, sets 18 as the minimum age for recruitment and participation in direct hostilities, which includes using children as scouts, couriers and at checkpoints.

The complete report: Under Kurdish Rule: Abuses in PYD-Run Enclaves of Syria is available at: Human Rights Watch

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