The Human Rights Organization Afrin-Syria announced on Tuesday that between 600 and 700 civilians arrested in occupied Afrin in recent weeks have been transferred to detention centers in Bab and Azaz. According to the organization, the arrests were carried out by the Turkish secret service and armed jihadist militias under its command, which have been active in the region since Turkey’s war of aggression in March 2018.
According to the report, those arrested were taken to Rai prison in Bab and Hawar Kilis detention center in Azaz. Like Afrin, both cities are located in the Turkish occupation zone in northern and northwestern Syria. The transfer is said to have been carried out with the aim of isolating those affected from their families, preventing visits, and possibly using them in future prisoner exchanges.
The human rights organization pointed out that detainees were subjected to ill-treatment and alleged torture—especially in the Rai detention center, which is considered one of the region’s central “security centers.” All contact with the outside world is prevented. The facility is under the direct supervision of the Turkish state and is effectively controlled by the so-called “Syrian National Army,” a coalition of various Islamist groups established, armed, and financed by Turkey.
According to the information available, the arrests are not based on legal proceedings or solid evidence, but are mostly based on alleged suspicions, vague accusations, or the discovery of pictures of Kurdish personalities in the homes of those affected. In several cases, militias are said to have entered villages under the pretext of “searching for weapons” and arrested young men and teenagers in the process.
The Human Rights Organization Afrin-Syria has been documenting human rights violations and war crimes in Afrin for years. Until the invasion and occupation by Turkey, Afrin was considered the safest region in Syria. Since then, thousands of people have been arbitrarily arrested, abducted, or transferred to prisons in Turkey. The organization calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all detained civilians. It also appeals to the international community to monitor the human rights situation in the Turkish-occupied areas of northern Syria more closely, to prosecute crimes against humanity, and to hold perpetrators accountable.
Photo: Afrin-Rajo train station, converted into a torture prison by the Turkish-jihadist occupation, archive image
Source: ANF News
