SNA arrested 228 people in Syria’s Sere Kaniye, Tel Abyad in 2022 – NGO
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – During 2022, at least 228 civilians, including 11 women and 15 children, were arrested in Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad, in northern Syria, by Turkish forces and Turkish-backed opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), the Hevdesti/Synergy NGO reported on Wednesday.
Synergy Association, a victims’ advocacy group focused on Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad, reported that Turkish-occupied areas in Syria continue to witness the illegal destruction and occupation of civilians’ property. Displaced Kurdish families continue to be prevented from returning to their homes, the report says.
On October 9, 2019, Turkey launched an invasion against the cities of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad. It resulted in the Turkish occupation of the region and in the displacement of over 300.000 of the region’s inhabitants.
The SNA factions released 98 of the 228 arrested, while the fate of the rest, including seven women, is still unknown, according to the organization.
The motive behind most of the arrests was to extort the victims’ families for ransom, in addition to force people out of the area and to seize their property.
They were arrested on charges of collaborating with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), attempting to cross to Turkey illegally, or defaming the reputation of the SNA or criticizing it.
Most of the released detainees told Synergy that they went through ill-treatment and torture, and that they were repeatedly deprived of food and water while they were detained by SNA factions.
Since the occupation on October 9, 2019 and until the end of 2022, the organization documented at least 521 arrests, including 72 women and 45 children, by Turkish forces and SNA factions, according to the report.
More than 189 of the detained have been forcibly disappeared, the report said, adding that their families still have no information about them.
Synergy confirmed that Turkey transferred at least 93 citizens from the region to its territory, following the military operation, noting that 52 of them were tried with arbitrary sentences, ranging from 13 years to life imprisonment.