Turkey illegally transfers, sentences two Syrians to 20 years’ imprisonment
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – Turkish authorities sentenced two young men from the northern Syrian city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) to 20 year’s imprisonment after they were previously arrested on Syrian soil and transferred to prisons inside the country.
Human Rights Watch reported on Wednesday that Turkey and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army have arrested and illegally transferred at least 63 Syrian nationals from northeast Syria to Turkey to face trial on serious charges that could put them in life imprisonment.
Sources from the two individuals’ families told North Press that a week ago, Turkish authorities had sentenced the two young men, ‘Izzo Khalil al-Majo and Hussein Muhammad al-Ezzo’, to a term of 20 years’ imprisonment after they were arrested in late 2019 in the city of Sere Kaniye.
They were tried on charges of having links with and dealing with the SDF against the Turkish army and killing Turkish officers in Sere Kaniye.
According to their relatives, the two young men are currently detained in the Urfa State Prison in Turkey, which is the prison to which all the detainees who were handed over by the Turkish-backed armed opposition groups on charges of fighting against the Turkish army are transferred.
The report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria issued in July 2020 accused the Turkish-backed armed opposition groups of committing violations against civilians that may amount to war crimes represented in hostage-taking and abduction, cruel treatment, torture, and rape.
According to Human Rights Watch, evidence and other reports indicate that the actual number of Syrians illegally transferred to Turkey may be as high as 200.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits the mass or individual forcible transfer and deportation of protected persons from occupied territories to the territory of the occupying force for any reason.
On April 19, 2020, the Violations Documentation Center in Northern Syria said that the Turkish-backed armed groups had arrested 32 people during raids in the villages of Sere Kaniye, accusing the arrested of planning a bombing operation and dealing with the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration and Syrian Democratic Forces.
In September 2020, North Press reported that the armed opposition groups arrested eight youths from Katof village south of Sere Kaniye on charges of demonstrating against the practices of the armed groups.
The sources reported at the time that the detainees were transferred to Harran Prison in Urfa, Turkey, on the accusation that they were SDF sleeper agents, and the armed groups demanded $20,000 USD from their families for their release.
Turkish-backed armed groups’ media outlets shared footage showing the eight detainees as SDF sleeper agents, which was denied by their relatives.
Turkish armed forces and Turkish-backed armed opposition groups took control of the cities of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad and their surrounding countrysides in October of 2019. Since this time, residents in the region have reported many human rights abuses, including theft, looting, assault, kidnapping, and murder.
A source from the SDF denied the presence of any militants in its ranks who were arrested in Sere Kaniye after the battles with the Turkish army and the armed opposition groups.