{"id":1892,"date":"2024-01-07T20:57:50","date_gmt":"2024-01-07T19:57:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lelun-afrin.org\/?p=1892"},"modified":"2024-01-11T23:56:03","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T22:56:03","slug":"leluns-report-about-human-rights-violations-in-the-afrin-region-during-december-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lelun-afrin.org\/en\/leluns-report-about-human-rights-violations-in-the-afrin-region-during-december-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLelun\u201ds report about human rights violations in the Afrin region during December 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

The pace of human rights violations in the Afrin region at the hands of armed factions affiliated with the Syrian National Army did not diminish by the end of 2023. Rather, these violations diversified and focused on the taxes imposed on olive harvests. The year ended with the arrest and torture of harvest owners.<\/p>\n

The areas under the control of the Sultan Suleiman Shah faction, known as Al-Amshat, in the Afrin region witnessed widespread violations, amounting to a noticeable increase over other areas under the control of the National Army factions, according to what Lelun researchers monitored the ongoing violations in the region during the month of December 2023.<\/p>\n

The faction’s violations included cases of arrest and torture of indigenous civilians, most of whom were elderly, and the collection of previously imposed taxes, which they had given people to pay until the end of 2023, in addition to intimidation campaigns to force people to pay taxes, In addition to demolishing and bulldozing civilian homes.<\/p>\n

Most of the arrests took place in the Afrin region on charges of dealing with the Autonomous Administration. While in the months of agricultural seasons, especially in cases of tax collection, the charge was often the failure or delay in paying the taxes imposed by the armed faction on the people, which were exorbitant and exceeded the ability of most of the indigenous people to pay their payments, which in some cases exceeded 50,000$ made them vulnerable to violations.<\/p>\n

Sources reported to \u201cLelun\u201d that the violations of the aforementioned faction (Al-Amshat) included indigenous people who were late in paying taxes or who refused to pay them, because they were unable to pay the full amount imposed.<\/p>\n

Through communicating with families and relatives of victims of violations and monitoring and following up on open-source news sites, the \u201cLelun\u201ds team was able to confirm the occurring of the violations included in the report.<\/p>\n

During the month of December 2023, \u201cLelun\u201d was able, after monitoring and follow-up, to document the following cases of violations, which included:<\/p>\n

(12) Cases of civilians arrest, (12) Cases of cutting down fruit trees, (6) Cases of imposing taxes on agricultural seasons, (4) Cases of torture, (3) Cases of demolition and bulldozing of homes, (2) cases of paying of fines or financial ransoms, (1) A case of intimidation and threats to the people, (1) A case of seizing private property.<\/p>\n

\u201cLelun\u201d was also able to count the names of the parties and factions involved in the violations, as follows:<\/p>\n

(23) Cases of violations by the Sultan Suleiman Shah Brigade (Al-Amshat), (7) cases by the Hamza Division (Al-Hamzat), (4) cases by the Sultan Murad Brigade, (4) cases by Turkish Intelligence, (2) cases by the Military Police, (1) a case by the Civilian Police.<\/p>\n

The multiple and varied violations that occurred in the Afrin region during the month of December 2023, as documented by the \u201cLelun Association For Victims,\u201d are as follows:<\/p>\n

First: Cases of arrest:<\/strong><\/p>\n