Lelun Afrin
With the beginning of the year 2024, cases of imposing taxes and collecting financial ransoms from indigenous people have not stopped, as the date set by the armed factions for the people approached and the cases of seizing agricultural crops decreased with the end of the olive harvest season. The faction of Sultan Suleiman Shah (Al-Amshat) had announced that the end of last year, 2023, is the last date for paying the taxes imposed by them on the agricultural crops and Olive press owned by the indigenous people in the villages that undergo their control, especially, the villages affiliated with the Sheikh Al-Hadid district, which “Lelun” was able to verified some information and data through its field researchers, while it was not possible to verify other information that was received about the villages of Maabatli/Mabato district, due to people’s fear of providing information for fear of being arrested and tortured by the aforementioned faction, so we did not include them in the report.
The armed factions are devising new methods to collect financial ransoms from the people. This time, the Sultan Suleiman Shah faction (Al-Amshat) resorted to forcing residents in the villages under its control to share to the Turkish Electricity Company, even though most of the people have solar energy that supplies them with electricity 7/24 hours and without additional costs. They threatened everyone who refrained sharing in order to obtain the amounts they added to the subscription fee.
The percentage of fruit tree felling operations, especially olive trees, which received their share of unjust felling, decreased during the past month, due to them resorting to cutting down forest trees in the areas of Maabatli/Mabato and Sheikh Al-Hadid, which we did not mention in the report also due to the lack of access to sufficient information regarding the area of cut trees and the parties involved.
In addition, the pace of arrests did not diminish with the aim of collecting financial ransoms under various pretexts, while other violations were observed by displaced civilians supported by armed factions, including the “Al-Mawali” clan. In addition to cases of theft that did not stop, especially in the Afrin city by unknown persons who were likely to deal with these crimes.
The report also showed the case of the displaced person who filed a complaint against an olive oil merchant in order to return him the money he earned in purchasing a quantity of oil cans, which indicates a clear bias by the armed factions towards the displaced at the expense of the indigenous Kurdish population residing in Afrin.
Through the “Lelun” team’s monitoring of events and incidents, we were able to confirm that the following violations occurred in various places in the Afrin region, which are:
(19) cases of arrest, (13) cases of imposing financial taxes and ransoms, (2) cases of cutting down fruit trees, (8) cases of other violations that included two cases of beating and torture, one case of fraud, one case of forcing a citizen to transport firewood with his agricultural tractor and it crashing, two cases of theft in فhe Afrin city, in addition to three cases of collecting taxes from three villages and imposing a tax estimated at about $25,000 on more than 500 subscribers to the Turkish company’s electricity in Sanara and Anqala villages in the Sheikh Al-Hadid district.
The report also recorded the names of the parties involved in committing violations against the indigenous people of the Afrin region as follows:
(12) cases of violation by the Sultan Suleiman Shah (Al-Amshat) Division, (14) cases of violation by the Military Police, (4) cases by Turkish Intelligence, (1) a case by the Hamza Division, (1) a case by the Civil Police, (2) cases of unknown persons, (1) a case of violation by the displaced “Mawali” clan, (1) a case of Ahrar al-Sharqiya Division.
The violations recorded by “Lelun” and confirmed by its field researchers, which were committed by various parties and factions in the Afrin region during the month of January 2024, are as follows:
First: Cases of arrest:
At the beginning of 2024, Kamiran Shawkat Habash, 35 years old from the Jenderes city, was arrested by the military police two weeks after he came from the Shahba area. He spent an entire week in prison during subjected to torture. He was released after paying an amount of $400. The financial ransoms paid by citizen Kamiran Shawkat Habash to the military factions amounted to $2,600, and are as follows: $400 to the court for his release, $1,500 to the military police to prevent his torture, $200 to the military police as well, $100 for obtaining identification cards for his family members. On 29th January 2024, he paid $400 to obtain a liability release. He paid all these amounts because he was distributing bread to the people during the previous period of self-administration in Afrin.
On 12th January 2024, the mayor of the Kurziel village in the central Afrin district, “Abdo Ahmed Najjar,” was summoned by the faction of the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (Al-Amshat) in the Qarzihel village, led by the security official, “Abu Rahmoun.” While entering the headquarters, he was beaten, tortured, and insulted before they could talk to him or ask him anything. After beating, insulting, and torturing him, they imposed an amount of $5,000 on him. Al-Mukhtar pledged to go to Afrin and lend the money from his relatives. On this basis, he was released on the same day, and “Abdo” went to Afrin, where he reported and filed a complaint against Al-Amshat to other parties. After that, the Al-Amshat faction contacted Abdo and waived the amount imposed on him on the condition that he declare in front of the camera that the media hype that took place regarding his and his aide’s arrest and beating is baseless and they had to deny the news in exchange for their release.
On 12th January 2024, “Ibrahim Muhammad Abdo” from Kurziel village in the Markaz district was arrested by the Sultan Suleiman Shah (Al-Amshat) Division, after summoning him to the headquarters. He is considered the assistant mayor of the village and a member of the local council in the village. They beat, insulted and tortured him and demanded a ransom of $5,000 for his release. They also forced him to record a video clip with Al-Mukhtar to exonerate Al-Amshat of these acts in exchange for his release after waiving the ransom demand.
On 14th January 2024, Turkish intelligence arrested three citizens in the “Gulyan Tahtani” village in Raju district, namely: “Rayhana Muhammad Youssef, Fatima Muhammad Suleiman, and Ali Mahmoud Suleiman,” on charges of working with the former Autonomous Administration in Afrin.
On 14th January 2024, the civil police arrested “Ali Quddo,” 47 years old, from the Terinda neighborhood in the Afrin city due to a complaint filed against him by a settler from the Damascus Ghouta, demanding $95,000. The citizen “Ali” owns an olive quizzer in the Terinda neighborhood. During the olive season he bought olive oil from the settler worth $30 per can, and the settler paid him $9,000 at the time for all the oil he bought. After the end of the olive season, the price of a tin of oil rose, so the settler began trading in the oil sold to the professor again, demanding $95 for each tin instead of the $30 he had paid for at the time. He filed a complaint against him with the civil police, which sided with the settler, canceled the first sale, and arrested the citizen. Ali Quddo.”
On 18th January 2024, the military police in the Azaz city arrested the Kurdish citizen “Abdo Rashid Hanan Haj Abdo,” a resident of the “Khadria” village in the Bulbul district in the Afrin region, after he went to the Azaz city. He is still under arrest.
On 22nd January 2024, the Hamza Division faction (Al-Hamzat) arrested the citizen “Muhammad Mustafa Muslim,” born in 1989, from the Jouqieh/Al-Khadraa village in the Maabatli/Mabato district. They threatened to transfer him to “Al-Rai Prison” if he did not pay an amount of $5,000.
On 23rd January 2024, the military police arrested the citizen, Zainab Muhammad Klosho, from her home in the Maabatli/Mabato town on charges of dealing with the Autonomous Administration. They took her to the military headquarters after Zainab Klosho returned from the Aleppo city to settle her situation and issue an identification card. Zainab was arrested three times on the same charge, and each time she was forced to pay a financial ransom in exchange for her release. The first time, she paid $3,500 and the second time $2,000 and her fate is still unknown.
On 24th January 2024, Turkish intelligence and the military police arrested the Kurdish citizen “Firas Khalil Nouri,” 40 years old from the “Der Sawan” village in the Shara/Sharan district from his place of work, where he works as a (basta bazaar) seller in the center of Afrin city on charges of he headed the commune during the rule of the previous Autonomous Administration. Note that he recently returned from Lebanon, settled his situation, obtained the identification card issued by the Shara/Sharan Council and obtained a bazaar sales license from the municipality of the Afrin city. He was taken to an unknown destination and his fate remains unknown.
On 27th January 2024, the military police arrested six people, including a woman and a child. They are: “Mustafa Muhammad Hussein (Abu Gandhi) and his brother Sheikh Amin Muhammad Hussein, Maher Abdul Rahman, Rupaleen and her son’ who is two years old deaf and mute. In addition to a taxi driver named “Barzani Muhammad,” 45 years old, from the Khalnier village in the central Afrin district. Mustafa Muhammad Hussein and his brother Sheikh Amin were arrested at noon from the sewing workshop in Afrin where they work. Maher Abdul Rahman Muhammad was also arrested from his work, while Rupaleen and her son were arrested from her home along with the driver, “Barzani Muhammad,” who was waiting for her to take her to her home. It is worth noting that “Mustafa Muhammad Hussein” was arrested more than twice, and each time he remained in prison for more than two years, and he was released two months ago until he was arrested again. Maher also released after two years in prison, while Rupaleen and her son were deported recently from Turkey when she was trying to cross into Greece.
On 28th January 2024, the military police arrested two citizens, one of whom was named “Khaled Waqqas,” on charges of carrying out sabotage.
Second – Imposing taxes and financial deductions:
On 3rd January 2024, the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (Al-Amshat) faction once again announced the imposition of taxes on the villages of Sheikh Al-Hadid, Sanara, Anqala, Hekecha, and other villages. Among the people who were included in the taxes were: “Shukri Hassan, $1,900 from Hekecha, Farah al-Din, $3,000, from Hekecha, Mustafa Sheikh Muhammad, $3,500 from Sanara, Nabi Horo, $2,000 from Sanara, Hussein Muhammad, $1,000 from Sanara, Izzat Muhammad, $2,900 from Anqala, Asaad Mukhtar Hamo, $4,000, and Ibrahim Khalil, $3,000. The amount of sums imposed by Al-Amshat on those villages was estimated as follows: Sheikh Al-Hadid, 250,000 dollars, Sanara, 100,000 dollars, Hikecha, 100,000 dollars and other villages that fall under the control of Al-Amshat we did not obtain enough information from Lelun’s sources. These taxes were imposed under the pretext of asphalt and repair of the road. The tax value depends on each person and the number of olive trees he owns.
On 28th January 2024, the security official of the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (Al-Amshat) faction, “Abu Talal,” threatened the people to register on the Turkish electricity meters from all the families in Sanara and Anqala villages in the Sheikh Al-Hadid district. Everyone who registers must pay $150, while the subscription fee in other villages is 90 or 100 dollars and the faction takes 50 dollars according to what private sources told “Lelun”. However, half of the villagers have solar energy, so they did not register their names, so the security official, “Abu Talal,” sent instructions to the mukhtar threatening those who did not register that they would face harsh penalties. As a result, all the villagers were forced to register their names and each participant paid a $150 fee subscribing for fear of the consequences. Each village must have at least 200 subscribers in order for the company to provide them with electricity. The number of subscribers in the two villages exceeded 500, meaning more than $25,000 obtained by the Al-Amshat faction as a result of this operation from the villages.
Third – cutting trees:
At the beginning of January 2024, unknown persons cut down 28 olive trees and two fig trees, owned by the citizen Akram Abu Azad, 55 years old, from the village of Mirkan, in the Maabatli/Mabato district.
On 18th January 2024, members of the “Al-Mawali” clan, accompanied by a resident of the “Tal Tawil” village called “Ahmed Rashid,” who works with the “Ahrar al-Sharqiya” faction, cut down 80 olive trees owned by “Rinas Hanan,” a resident of the village. Tal Tawil village, affiliated with the city center of Afrin, and all the cut trees were cut down and transported to the faction headquarters.
Fourth – Other violations:
After midnight on Wednesday, 24th January 2024, the Hamdosh flower shop in Afrin was robbed by unknown persons who stole a motorcycle worth $800, also owned by the citizen “Abu Hamdush” from the village of Gamruk, whose shop is located close to the headquarters of the well-known Sultan Murad faction known by the name of “the Sheshani headquarters.”
The faction of the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (Al-Amshat), led by “Abu Rabie” and the security official “Abu Talal,” forced the citizen “Mustafa Hassan Ugrash” from the “Sanara” village in the Sheikh Al-Hadid district to transport pine wood with his agricultural tractor without compensation (for free) from the Wadi Jarjam forests on 25th January 2024, but the tractor fell into the valley with the firewood and the driver was able to survive. The tractor is still at the bottom of the valley and Al-Amshat did not help him get it out. Later, some of the pieces were dismantled and stolen by residents of the camp near the site. Note that the owner of the tractor bought it on credit and has not yet paid the remaining amount and this trailer ownership of the trailer belongs to his uncle.