Lelun Afrin
At the end of May 2023, The Military Police in the Rajo district of Afrin summoned a group of civilians from Dimelya/Al-Umsiya village by their mayor, for interrogation on charges of “dealing with terrorism” in the past, in reference to dealing with the Autonomous Administration and its previous institutions.
On Monday, 22nd May 2023, a group of six young men and a woman from Dimelya/Al-Umsiya village were summoned by The Military Police in Rajo, they are: (Sh. Ahmed and A. Bakr, nicknamed “A. Ose”, A. Mustafa, R. Sheikho and Z. Sheikho), all of whom are in their fourth decade of life. The main charge that was brought against them was that they went out on guard shifts during the controlling period of the Autonomous Administration, which was in control until 2018. While the charge of “providing meals to the fighters of the People’s Protection Units YPG” was charged to Mrs. R. Mahkah, who is in her fifties.
The military police detained five of them after the summons, while they returned both (A. Bakr and Sh. Kor Ahmed) on the condition that they be summoned again at a later time.
The detainees from the Military Police station were released after each of them paid a ransom of $200, while (Sh. Shendi) was not released for unknown reasons.
It is worth mentioning that both (A. Mustafa and A. Bakr) had been arrested earlier by the “Mohammed Al-Fateh Brigade” faction that controlled Dimelya village and had severe torture then.
A local source for the Lelun Association (who refused to reveal his identity for security reasons) confirmed that there is a list of the names of most of the village’s men that were handed over to the mayor. They will be summoned to The Military Police in successive batches at later times. There are real fears that they may be detained, interrogated, and blackmailed after paying the ransom and obtaining a “clearance” from the Military Police Department afterwards.
It is important to note that The Military Police summons all men and women, even those who have been arrested and interrogated by the various armed factions several times on charges of dealing with the Autonomous Administration, as a form of collective punishment and as a tool to fund the faction.
This is the second campaign against the residents of the village by the Military Police, who had previously detained a group of its residents for two weeks and interrogated them on charges of belonging to the Asayish (Internal Security) forces and on charges of dealing with the former Autonomous Administration institutions. Those detained paid a financial ransom for their release.
Earlier, The Military Police also summoned civilians from Baadanli village in the Mobato/Maabatli district, on the same charges and for the same reasons as well.
Dimelya/Al-Umsiya of Rajo district is located west of the town of Baadanli, in the confines of a mountain. It includes more than 300 houses. Indigenous people live in about 170 houses, while displaced families coming from other areas live in the rest of the seized houses, whose owners were subjected to forced displacement during Turkish Operation “Olive’s Branch”.
The village was controlled by the “Muhammad Al-Fateh Brigade” and “Al-Muntasir Brigade” at the beginning of the occupation of the region. The latter left early, while the “Muhammad Al-Fateh Brigade” stayed for a long time.
Now, it is under the control of the “101 Division” faction of the Syrian National Army. The village was destroyed during Operation Olive Branch, and its residents were subjected to widespread arrests and severe torture by “Muhammad Al-Fateh Brigade” faction in 2018 and 2019.