Returning IDP faces torture, loss in Turkish-occupied home in NE Syria

By Dilsoz Youssef

HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – Eight days after Turkish forces, along with affiliated armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), occupied the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in northeastern Syria in 2019, Abdullatif Abdullah attempted to return to his village, al-Hardana, in the west of the city.

With the fighting in the city seemingly over, Abdullah believed the journey back would be straightforward, especially since he had not been affiliated with any military force or civilian institution of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), an accusation charged to anyone who wanted to return.

However, his attempt to return quickly turned into a horrific ordeal. He was arrested by SNA factions and endured 28 days of torture in their notorious prisons. When he was finally released, Abdullah was left with nothing, having lost everything he owned and all he had worked for throughout his life.

Speaking from outside his tent in Sere Kaniye IDP camp in the countryside of Hasakah, 43-year-old Abdullah recounted “most terrifying” days of his life to North Press, expressing how he had often wished for death during his imprisonment.

Turkish forces and SNA factions took control of the cities of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad after launching “Operation Peace Spring” on Oct. 9, 2019. This offensive led to the displacement of approximately 300,000 people, according to human rights reports.

“I hid in a bathroom”

Abdullah, a father of six children, recalls when the Turkish military operation began he was in Qamishli. His brother helped evacuate his family and sought refuge in the Abdulaziz Mountain in the countryside of Hasakah.

By the eighth day, with the fighting having subsided, Abdullah was determined to return to his village with his mother, wife, and six children.

Abdullah believed the SNA factions would not stand in his way. He thought that at worst, he would pay them off so they would not take his construction equipment, which were worth over $150,000.

However, the next day, Abdullah received a call from a local resident warning him that the factions were actively searching for him and a cousin of his. His cousin later lost his life, prompting Abdullah to flee to a nearby village.

“I hid in the bathroom of a house from noon until evening,” Abdullah recounts.

As days passed, Abdullah wanted to leave, but military patrols in his village began increasing at night, forcing him to hide again.

Abdullah’s fears were realized the next morning when he returned home. The SNA militants raided his house, covered his head with his jacket, seized his phone, and took him to a nearby village.

When he asked why he was being arrested, they demanded 600,000 Syrian pounds (SYP, equals about $40) in exchange for his release, assuring him that after this payment, no one would trouble him again.

Torture room

Despite being assured by SNA militants that he would not be harmed again, Abdullah’s fear of arrest lingered. He wanted to leave but several of his relatives urged him to stay, warning that everything he owned would be looted if he left.

Just an hour after that conversation, an armed patrol stormed his village and took him to one of their posts.

“As soon as I reached the entrance, they started beating me. They hit me relentlessly until I was thrown into a prison cell,” Abdullah said.

In the prison, Abdullah was taken to what he describes as a “terrifying” torture room. “They shoved me inside a dulab [tyre], and beat me until I lost consciousness.”

He adds that they splashed water on his face, tied his hands behind his back, and continued striking him on the head and chest until he could not even recognize who was standing in front of him.

For 28 harrowing days, Abdullah endured constant torture. “They would start beating me in the evening and continue until dawn,” he recounts.

He explains that the justification for his detention was his alleged affiliation with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). “It’s a convenient accusation they use against anyone trying to return,” he says.

Abdullah insists that their true motive was financial. “They do not care about freedom, as they claim. They are mercenaries. They steal and fight for money.”

“They stole everything I own”

After enduring 28 days of torture, Abdullah was finally brought out of his prison cell and seated in the lobby, where he saw the sun for the first time since his arrest.

The SNA militants, whom Abdullah identifies as belonging to the Hamza Division, had already stolen his car and also demanded $10,000 to secure his release.

The militants had already looted the rest of his possessions without his knowledge. Desperate for answers, Abdullah asked to see his mother to find out what was happening outside.

Abdullah’s mother told him the factions had stolen 450 grams of his wife’s gold, two cows, 45 beehives, and five sheep that he owned, along with 75 million SYP (about $4,900).

He managed to convince the militants to pay $6,000 until after he was released and guaranteed he reached safety.

Abdullah explains, “They forced me to sign papers whose contents I did not know. Then they wrapped me in a blanket, put me in the trunk of a car, and drove me to my village.”

“My cousins paid the money, and the driver demanded an additional 100,000 SYP for transporting me from the prison to the village.”

“Living without souls”

Abdullah spent 33 days in prison before his release, emerging thin and weak. He was deprived of food, only drinking water from the toilet.

Fearing another faction would soon arrest him and demand a ransom, Abdullah reached out to a relative, asking for a car to help him escape.

Abdullah eventually fled using smuggling routes, leaving behind everything he owned, and found refuge in a camp for displaced people in Hasakah.

The torture he endured at the hands of SNA militants has left him with severe heart problems. He also suffers from nerve pain in his legs, a lingering consequence of the abuse.

As he reflected on the darkest moments in prison, Abdullah could not hold back his tears. “I wished for death when they told me, ‘If you do not pay us the money, we will bring your daughter and rape her in front of you,'” he said.

Now, five years later, Abdullah speaks with a heavy heart. “We are dead inside, living without souls. They have left us no way to live. All we want is to return home safely.”