QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – During a decade, Yezidis in Syria have been subjected to violations, described as “massive”, by Turkish forces and their affiliated armed opposition factions, known as Syrian National Army (SNA), in northern Syria, human rights organizations said in a report.
On September 4, Ceasefire, Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ), and Hevdesti/Synergy, with support from Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation released a joint report on the Turkish violations against the Yezidi minority in Syria.
In fact, the violations against the Yezidis in Syria began after the protests that erupted in Syria in 2011, which turned into an armed conflict months later.
The regions of Afrin in northern Syria, and Ras al-Ain (Sere Kaniye) in the northeast, where the Yezidis were present, witnessed the first attacks.
In October 2012, the Yezidi village of Qastal Jindo in Afrin countryside was subjected to a military attack by the then “Free Syrian Army (FSA)” from the neighboring city of Azaz; under the pretext of “converting to a religion other than Islam”.
In November 2012, the first attacks against the Yezidis in Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) were carried out by “extremist Islamic organizations” which committed widespread violations against the residents, including followers of the Yezidi religion.
On August 16, 2013, extremist factions attacked the Yezidi-majority village of Asadiyah, 10 km south of Sere Kaniye.
As a result of that attack, Murad Saado was injured while confronting those factions which arrested him and left him to bleed to death. Saado’s brother, Ali, was also shot dead.
On May 29, 2014, the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) attacked the Yezidi village of Taliliya in the countryside of Hasakah. ISIS sees the Yezidi community as “infidel” and their religious rituals as “distortion”.
Various forms of violations
Violations against the Yezidis took different forms and shapes following the Turkish military operations in northern Syria, which led to the displacement of dozes of thousands of the original inhabitants of northern Syria, including the Yezidis.
The Violations against the Kurds in Afrin, including the Yezidis began since the Turkish army and SNA took control of the area in 2018.
In a report published in September 2018, the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) documented forms of arrests, beatings, and kidnappings carried out by armed factions affiliated with the FSA.
In addition, those factions carried out large-scale stealing and taking over civilians’ houses.
There were about 50.000 Yezidis in the Kurdish-region of Afrin before the war, according to several sources.
The so-called “Olive Branch” Turkish military operation against Afrin led to the forced displacement of about 90% of the Yezidis.
Several Yezidi shrines in Afrin were subjected to various attacks by SNA factions.
On May 15, 2020, members of an armed group dug up “Chel Khana”, a Yezidi shrine in Qibar village in the east of Afrin, with the intent to search for ruins.
The temple was a shrine to which many families would seek blessings.
The STJ cited eyewitnesses saying that the SNA factions dug up, in May, another Yezidi shrine in the village of Qastal Jindo, which is known as Sheikh Hamid shrine.
The excavations were carried out by both Sultan Murad faction and Levant Front (al-Jabha al-Shamiya).
The STJ reported that many Yezidi graves in the village of Qibar were deliberately destroyed by militants of al-Mutasim Billah faction after the end of “Olive Branch” Operation.
The Sheikh Hamid shrine was destroyed several times by militants of the SNA, specifically the Levant Front. Later, the violations were repeated by IDPs came to the region from other cities despite attempts by the original inhabitants to protect them.
The Yezidi religious institutions were not spared the attack and destruction.
On April 12, 2022, the STJ revealed the establishment of an Islamic school on the ruins of the Yezidi Union building in Afrin by Kuwaiti and Syrian organizations.
Ezdina foundation documented various types of violations against the Yezidis in Afrin including the seizure of houses and attacking original inhabitants.
Controlling Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain)
The process of controlling the area between Tel Abyad and Sere Kaniye began after obtaining the green light from the US administration, following a phone call between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump, on October 6, 2019.
With the beginning of the Turkish military operation, which was called “Peace Spring”, grave human rights violations, including deliberate killings and illegal attacks, which killed and injured civilians, began.
The number of Yezidis in Sere Kaniye and its countryside reached about 3.000 in 2012.
All of them, however, left due to the Turkish military operation and the fear of repeated violations against them.
Violations in light of international law
Distinguishing between civilians and fighters during armed conflict is the most important principle at the international level because it is this principle that prohibits the attacks against civilians, whether individuals or groups.
The prohibition obliges the parties to the conflict to limit their military attacks against members of the enemy’s armed forces only, or those who have been proven to directly participate in hostilities, and any deliberate targeting of others, whether as individuals or as groups, is classified as a “war crime”.
The report indicated that the Yezidis were deliberately targeted.
They were deprived of protection measures and subjected to inhuman treatment and other violations of international and humanitarian law by the armed factions, according to the report.