Abdul Karim Omar stressed that the report of the UN Commission of Inquiry documenting the violations within the Turkish occupation zones and its mercenaries is important, but it is not sufficient and needs decisions from the Security Council or the United Nations Association to prosecute the perpetrators and their supporters.
The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Syria documented, in a detailed report, the violations by the parties to the Syrian conflict, focused on the areas occupied by Turkey and its mercenaries, and classified these violations in the context of war crimes.
The report included detailed documentation of war crimes committed by the Turkish state and the mercenaries of the so-called “Syrian National Army” in both Afrin and Serekaniye. The report was attached to satellite images.
“It should be clearer”
In this context, the co-chair of the External Relations Department in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, Abdul Karim Omar, described the report as “important and can be built upon.”
In an interview with Hawar News Agency, Omar said: “The report issued by the Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria regarding the violations committed and committed by the so-called“ Syrian National Army ”, known as Islamic radical groups linked to Turkey, was an important report and included documenting the violations of“ killing, torture, kidnapping, rape, demographic change, acquisition of civilian property, and extortion “committed by these terrorist groups.”
In this context, Omar continued, “The committee’s position should have been clearer about Turkey, since these groups are linked to it, and in relation to the Turkish officers’ knowledge of all these violations, actions and investigations that were carried out against detainees, and the war crimes that have been committed to date against civilians, which Turkey also participated in, through taking detainees to detention centers on Turkish territory.
“Perpetrators of these violations must be prosecuted.”
Omar pointed out, “The international community, international courts and the concerned authorities can build on this report that clarifies war crimes committed in the Turkish occupation areas and its mercenaries through this report and these documents, especially the killings that have been committed, including the killing of the politician in the Future Syria Party, Hevrin Khalaf. International courts may intervene to try the perpetrators of these violations, which are committed by radical groups linked to Turkey. “
He added, “The report also enacts transitional justice that may take place in Syria when the Syrian crisis is resolved through the courts that will be established later, to hold those parties accountable, which are documented with videos, photos and eyewitnesses.
“Didn’t live up to standard”
Abdul Karim Omar added, “The report did not rise to the required level and did not match the violations committed against the people in the occupied areas by Turkey and its mercenaries.”
Omar stressed that the violations that occur on a daily basis in those areas, and the targeting of religious and cultural sites and historical monuments registered with UNESCO, are all war crimes, and a decision by the United Nations was necessary.
“International agendas and interests”
Omar attributed the reasons for not issuing a condemnation or decision by the United Nations, the Security Council and the General Assembly of the United Nations to international agendas and interests, saying: “The reasons for not taking this type of decision are due to reasons we all know, which are the result of international agendas and interests, so we do not see a clear and explicit position to the United Nations and the countries concerned with the Syrian crisis, whether the coalition countries or other regional and international parties. “
Omar criticized the stance of international organizations regarding the suffering of women in the occupied territories, and said, “The radical groups associated with Turkey committed atrocities against women and targeted women in a large way, and there must have been a clear position by international women’s organizations regarding these violations and crimes, but that did not happen. “
“International silence opens the way for more violations.”
Omar added, “The failure of the parties involved in the Syrian crisis and international organizations and their failure to limit these violations contributes to the occurrence of more of them, and opens the way for more crimes and the violation of human rights.”
In this context, Omar said: “If the United Nations, the international community and the international coalition had a clear position, the matter would be different from what it is now, and it had an impact and pressure on Turkey, which occupies these areas, because Turkey is practicing through these radical groups in an organized and systematic manner these violations. In these areas, which are considered to be the Kurdish majority, in order to forcibly displace and displace the remaining Kurds in those areas and settle other families brought from other regions, to reach demographic change.
He explained, “In Afrin, there was a percentage of the Yazidi people who were all displaced, and this is the systematic method that Turkey practices through its radical groups, to achieve its political agendas.”
Autonomous Administration actions
On the measures taken by the Autonomous Administration to limit these violations and document them through pressure on the international community, Omar said: “Since the beginning of the Turkish occupation of these areas, we have committees to document all violations and they are prepared as files, which we submit to all concerned parties and humanitarian and human rights organizations, and to the whole community. The international community and its governments through our representations abroad, as well as through visits abroad, and also through delegations visiting northern and eastern Syria. “
He added, “We have a committee of lawyers and human rights defenders at home and abroad working on these files to put them before human rights bodies and international courts to try these criminals, especially terrorist groups, and Turkey, and we always work to pressure the international community, especially the United States of America, the Russian Federation or other countries to put pressure on Turkey.”
Omar called on the international community to assume its responsibilities, saying: “All these cases are supposed to be decided by the International Court of Justice, because these violations are against human rights and are inconsistent with all international covenants, and they are war crimes that the perpetrators, planners and supporters of which must be punished, especially Turkey.”
At the end of his speech, the co-chair of the External Relations Department in the Autonomous Administration, Abdul Karim Omar, said: “All international and regional parties must pressure Turkey to stop the violations, as well as withdrawing and its groups from the Syrian territories, which will contribute to the return of the displaced to their homes and regions.”
