The witnesses testified to recurrent systematic and widespread ethnic-based property rights violations against civilians who did not take part in any fighting. The violations included arbitrary seizure, destruction, and looting of civilian homes, businesses, and agricultural land with crops and livestock.
PÊL—Civil Waves organization, based in northeast Syria, was established to activate the role of different societal groups in political, social and economic life, to launch initiatives and projects that seek to consolidate coexistence and peace, and to provide an appropriate climate to activate civil life in society.
Witnesses’ accounts reflected the de facto powers’ inaction towards these violations and their disregard for the victims. In turn, the victims do not dare to claim their rights, given intimidation by the SNA factions in light of the state of lawlessness in the region.
In addition, no judicial, administrative, or implementing solutions are available to protect or redress the victims, according to the report.
The Kurdish city of Afrin has been under the occupation of the
The operation caused the displacement of about 300,000 of the original inhabitants of the Kurds of Afrin who have been taking shelter in 42 villages and five camps in Aleppo northern countryside, locally known as Shahba region, since then.
Seizing civilians’ properties, mainly the Kurds and Yazidis, combined with arrests, beating, and threats, led to mass waves of displacement, contributing to a serious demographic change in the area.
The witnesses reported 18 cases of fully or partially damaged houses belonging to the witnesses themselves or their relatives or neighbors.
PÊL documented the seizure of 124 residential houses, 47 real estates, and businesses, 13 private cars, 9 tractors and other agricultural machinery, 20 cycle of violences, and 10 industrial factories machineries by the
The organization documented the seizure of 37,856 olive trees, 9,340 fruit trees and grape vines, and 245 livestock, as well as the loot of 653 tanks of olive oil and three tons of laurel oil soap.
Additionally, the witnesses confirmed the cut of at least 2,764 trees as well as the burn of 270 fruit trees belonging to the witnesses and their families.
Only in one out of the 90 documented cases, the victim managed to regain his seized house. While the rest did not dare to claim their property for fear of being beaten, arrested, or insulted, as done to those who tried to do that before, according to the report.
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...failed to fulfill its obligations as an occupying power in Afrin, including the protection of civilians and their property, the report read.
These violations constitute clear breaches of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the Geneva Conventions, and in most cases, they amount to war crimes.