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2023-06-27 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
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Torture by Turkish-backed factions rampant in north Syria – watchdog
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[NPASyria] Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ), a local watchdog, found the widespread use of torture by Ottoman Turkish-backed factions against civilians living in occupied regions of northern Syria. The report says that Kurds were particularly targeted for abuse.
The torture is based on first-hand testimonies of 62 residents of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in north of Hasakah and Tel Abyad in north of Raqqa, two cities The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
 ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
and its allied Syrian National Army (SNA) occupied in 2019. The invasion displaced around 100,000 residents from the region and killed scores of civilians. The STJ had released a similar report back in 2021.
The organization says it found "blatant targeting of Kurds." One surveyed victims describes how when they "arrived in Ras al-Ayn [...] At one of the military checkpoints, armed members opened the door of our bus. They asked whether any pigs (in reference to Kurds) were in the bus [...]. None of us dared declare our ethnicity, fearing a likely assault. We crossed seven checkpoints. At several of these barriers, the personnel showered Kurds with insults."
Yet Arabs were not spared abuse. 46 of the collected testimonies belong to Kurds, the STJ says, 16 to Arabs.
Several victims describe being subjected to torture, including being "beaten across the body, [...] slapped on the face, bunched, or kicked. Others narrated that they were hit with sticks or with rifles’ butts or flogged with thick cables or plastic pipes, locally known as ’Lakhdar Brahimi’. A number recounted that they were electrocuted, given burns, or subjected to the al-Shabeh with a Dolab (tire), or Farouj (chicken on a spit) torture techniques."
The torture targeted mainly men, though at least seven women also underwent torture. Others recount being threatened with rape. Five victims were over 70 years old.
In most cases, the witnesses say, the SNA factions charged them with collaborating with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), affiliation with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) or planning attacks. However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
"victims’ accounts demonstrate that the actual reasons that propelled the arrests and torture were primarily monetary. The testimonies corroborate that the gangs initiated the arrests to financially blackmail the victims, coerce them into paying them ransoms, and ultimately force them to abandon their properties and flee their home areas," according to the STJ.
The watchdog also recorded the SNA militias involved, where possible. Three groups — namely, the Hamza Division, the Sultan Murad Division, and the Mu’tasim Division — were responsible for nearly two-thirds of all reported cases of torture and arbitrary arrest (40 out of 65). This is notable, as these three groups are concentrated in Kurdish-majority Sere Kaniye, whereas other SNA factions control the Arab-dominated Tel Abyad region. The split further denotes an implicit anti-Kurdish policy in how torture is being applied.
Several victims quoted in the report say torture was applied as a tool to displace residents or dissuade them from reclaiming property lost to the SNA militias during the 2019 invasion. " The only purpose of the arrest and torture was to force me into fleeing the area," one Sere Kaniye resident says. " One of [the turbans that arrested me], a Kurd from A’zaz, said, ’Spare yourself and just escape. They would not let you live if you remained here.’ It was when I left [the city], never to return. They continue to provoke me. They film themselves in my house and ask me for an impossible ransom of nearly $5,000 just not to burn it down."
More torture statistics for the UN’s special torture day: 53 tortured to death in Syria in first half of 2023
[NPASyria] The Monitoring and Documentation Department announced on Monday that 53 people were tortured to death after they were arrested by the parties to the conflict in Syria since the beginning of 2023.
This came with the advent of The United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
International Day in Support of Victims of Torture that marks June 26.
12 people including a troop were killed by the Syrian government, 22 people including three women at least were killed by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else
 ...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS), 3 people were killed by the Ottoman Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), one person was killed by the Iranian-backed militias, and three people were killed by the Ottoman Turkish forces.
The Department recorded the killing of 12 people including three children and three women under torture after they were kidnapped by unknown parties.
"26 June is an opportunity to call on all stakeholders including UN Member States, civil society, and individuals everywhere to unite in support of the hundreds of thousands of people around the world who have been victims of torture and those who are still tortured today," says UN Secretary-General António Guterres. 
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Posted by trailing wife 2023-06-27 01:46||
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