HRW calls on countries to repatriate their nationals from NE Syria

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The al-Sina’a prison crisis was the predictable result of governments turning a blind eye to the fate of their nationals and all others held in horrific conditions in northeast Syria, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said yesterday.

This came on the back of the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) attack on al-Sina’a prison in Hasakah northeast Syria in an attempt to break their fellow inmates out from the prison last month.

Al-Sina’a prison held thousands of ISIS detainees of over 60 foreign nationalities and it has witnessed several riots by the inmates; however, the Syrian Democratic Forces with the support of the US-led Global Coalition dealt with them.

The latest attack was the largest of all which was proceeded by VBIED explosions to break into the prison in order to escape the ISIS detainees. The attack left casualties and wounded among the conflicting parties.

The SDF and other regional authorities have repeatedly called on countries to bring their nationals home, saying they lack the resources to care for them and to prosecute those suspected of serious crimes. But few countries have repatriated their nationals or taken other significant steps to end their abuse, the HRW added.

“This assault should be a wakeup call to countries that outsourcing responsibility for their nationals won’t make this problem go away,” Letta Tayler, associate crisis and conflict director for HRW said in a press release.

 “All countries with nationals detained in northeast Syria should repatriate or help bring home their nationals for rehabilitation, reintegration, and, as appropriate, prosecution,” she stressed.

 Tayler added saying that the US-led coalition, United Nations bodies, and countries involved in the northeast Syria crisis should help resettle other detainees, also with prosecutions as appropriate, in third countries if they are at risk of ill-treatment in their countries of origin.

“All of these detainees should be immediately released to safety unless they are brought before an independent judge who can rule on the legality and necessity of their detention.”

Although the US-led coalition has spent millions of dollars to improve security and other conditions at al-Sina’a and the UK has spent US $20 million to build a nearby prison, these measures do not change the fact that indefinite detention without judicial review is unlawful, Human Rights Watch said.

On February 1, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) stressed the necessity of “establishing an international court or a court of an international character in northeast Syria to judge the criminals.”