United Nations Human Rights Council discusses Turkish violations against Syria’s northeast
CAIRO, Egypt (North Press) – An Egyptian humanitarian organization demanded, on Tuesday, in a discussion with the International Truth Commission in Geneva, an investigation of Turkey’s violations against ethnic and religious minorities in northeastern Syria.
Committee member Hani Majali presented the report submitted to the Human Rights Council at its 44th session, which has been running from June 30th to July 17th 2020.
Maat Organization, an observatory member in United Nations Human Rights Council, participated via video, showing Turkish violations against women in Syria's northeast, especially on June 23rd, when Turkish drones shelling a house in the Helinj near the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani.
Turkish air strikes killed three Kurdish women, one of whom was the house owner and two of whom were members of the Women's Organizations Union in northeastern Syria.
It is worth mentioning that the committee report was issued on July 17th, and it covered the period from November 2019 to June 2020.
The report pointed to 52 attacks launched by all parties that resulted in civilian causalities and damaged the infrastructure of the city.
The offensive included 17 raids against hospitals and medical clinics, 14 targeted schools, nine targeted public markets and 12 targeted civilian houses. The committee urged all parties to conflicts in Syria to stop raids that target civilians, and called on member countries to investigate the crimes stipulated in its report.
The head of Maat Organization, Ayman Aqil, said that the Turkish military operation in northeastern Syria.and the Turkish plan to resettle Syrian refugees in the area will lead to more serious violations against human rights and further destabilize the region, especially after the Turkish military invasion that led to the deaths, injury and displacement of civilians.
Furthermore, the attacks targeted infrastructure, including water pump stations, dams, energy and patrol fields, the matter that pushed thousands of Syrians to flee the violence.
The organization thereafter demanded the council investigate violations committed by Turkey in northeastern Syria, in addition to pressuring the country to stop military operations there which threat international peace and security and to withdraw immediately from the region.
Moreover, the organization called on the Turkish government to fulfil its international obligations, guarantee protection of refugees, and refrain from returning anyone forcibly.
(Reporting by Muhammad Abu Zayd, editing by Lucas Chapman)