Turkey and affiliated armed groups kidnapped more than 100 people in Afrin during the last month of 2019 – Human Rights Center

Turkish-backed armed opposition groups in Afrin

North-Press Agency

 

As part of the strategy of clamping down the people of Afrin region, with the aim of forcing them to flee their homes and lands, the Turkish military and its affiliated armed groups are deliberately detaining and kidnapping more local people of the region and forcing them to pay ransom in order to release them.
The Violations Documentation Center in Northern Syria (VDC-NSY) has documented the detention of at least 103 people in the Syrian-Kurdish region of Afrin during December of last year.
The Violations Documenting Center affirmed the documentation of the names of the detained people noting that: “The actual number is greater, especially since there are names whose families have reservations over mentioning them.”
The Center pointed out there are cases of detention which haven't been reached, pointing to "following up and documenting the killing of civilians under torture, and cases of multiple violations.” VDC-NSY said: "A court in Afrin ruled in a fictitious verdict – without allowing the accused to hire a lawyer, or objecting – on 9 people of life sentence, who were arrested in Afrin on the charge that they had took part in an attack that killed two Turkish soldiers during the Turkish invasion of Afrin.”
The Center also clarified that, the arrests targeted all districts of Afrin region: Sharra, Sherawa, Sheikh-Hadid, Muabatli, Bulbul, Jinderis and Rajo, in addition to detentions of civilians in areas of of Azaz, Jarablus and al-Bab.  
While local sources confirmed to North-Press that the Turkish-backed armed groups have detained Abdulmannan Abdulhabib from the village of Qurneh in Bulbul district in Afrin region, noting that Abdulmannan was an officer of a plane mechanical engineer at the former Sheirat airport in Homs.
The sources noted that after his defection from the Syrian government forces, Abdulmannan became a member of Afrin Engineers Union, which is currently affiliated with Turkey.