February 18, 2018
The Turkish army and its allied terrorist groups commit war crimes against the civilians
The war atrocities committed by the Turkish army and the terrorist factions on daily basis against the civilians, constitute a clear violation of the international norms and war laws. These illegal acts must be deterred by the international community which has turned a blind eye on dozens of crimes against women, children and the elderly. These criminal acts are a gross violation for Geneva Convention of 12-Aug-1949 which require the perpetrators to obey to the International Criminal Courts, as they represent war crimes according to Rome Statute on crimes. Among these crimes committed by invaders in their war against Afrin city, for example:
1- Shelling villages and areas followed to Afrin and destroying houses which have nothing to do with military targets.
2- deliberately directing attacks and airstrikes against the populations in Afrin.
Example: The Massacre of the Chicken Farm in Jelbereh village, where the Turkish invasion air forces committed a horrific massacre against the civilians on 21-Feb-2018 in Jelbereh village of Afrin enclave. In this massacre a whole family of 8 members were killed. The family members were working in the chicken farm.
(chicken farm massacre by the Turkish invasion army in Jilbreh/Afrin 21-Jan-2018)
It is worth noting that the workers in the chicken farm were Arab displaced people from Abu Makki village, Ma’aret Al-Noaman, Adlib. This family had been displaced from their village as a result of the armed conflict between the Syrian regime army and Al-Nusra Front.
“Our paramedics have rescued two children in the village of Jalbara, but we have documented about 11 people under the rubble after being bombed by the Turkish raids, which led to the complete destruction of the building,” said Dr. Nuri Qanbar of the Kurdish Red Crescent. ” Turkish army has done a real massacre by bombarding this village”.
The following are the names of victims in this massacre:
1-Rahaf Al-Hussein, 33-year-old.
2-Wael Al-Hussein, 3-year-old.
3-Hadil Al-Hussein, 10-year-old.
4-Ghalia Al-Hussein, 8-year-old.
5-Salma Al-Hussein, 6-year-old.
6-Musa’ab Al-Hussein, 6-year- old from the second spouse
7- Ahmed al-Hussein, 17 years old “missing under the rubble”
8-Sami Al-Hussein, 16-year-old “missing under the rubble”.
3- Extensive destruction of archaeological property and civilian objects without being justified by military necessity and in a reckless manner.
E.g. the destruction of the ancient Ain Dara temple in the southeast of the village of Ain Dara in Afrin region, and its sculptures and basalt walls were turned to rubble due to the Turkish shelling. This temple dates back more than 1300 years BC.
(Ain Dara temple after the destruction)
(Ain Dara Temple before the destruction)
4-Intentional attacks against journalists, employees or vehicles used for humanitarian missions.
E.g., the killing of the journalist Perivan Mustafa in Afrin – Raju – during her coverage for the Turkish offensive on Afrin.
(YPJ journalist got martyred during Turkish attacks)
5-Intentionally directing the attacks against buildings designated for religious and educational purposes, hospitals and places where sick and wounded are gathered. (one of the Turkish army shells landed on a masque in Afrin)
6-Deliberate siege of civilians as a method of pressure on Syria Democratic forces by cutting off supply routes to Afrin to provide the civilians with drugs and food, as well as deliberate disconnect for communications, water and power supplies.
Turkey’s Crimes against Humanity
Genocide crime against the Kurds in Afrin:
According to the first article of UN Convections on 12 January 1951, ” Genocide is a crime under international law, whether committed in time of peace or war, and the States Parties undertake to prevent and punish it.
The second article in the same conviction states: “ Genocide means any of the following acts committed with the intent of the total or partial destruction of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group as such in whole or in part“.
Among the acts set out in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the Rome Statute, for example, are committed by the Turkish army and Jihadist faction in Afrin:
1-Killing individuals or members of a sectarian, religious or ethnic group.
2-Causing serious mental or physical harm or damage to the members of the group.
The crime of genocide is achieved by any material or moral means that has a direct impact on the members of the group against whom it is committed. This is what we daily see from the systematic practices of the Turkish army and its terrorist groups against the Kurdish people in particular by committing massacres via artillery and missiles.
(a picture of the massacre committed by the Turkish army in Gopleh village 28-Jan-2018)
An example is the massacre in Gopleh village, Sherawa, Afrin on 28-Jan-2018, where the Turkish jets bombed a house for a Kurdish family, where 8 people killed and 7 wounded from the same family. This is the largest proof of the Turkish genocide crimes against the Kurdish people since dozens of years.
Names of the wounded
1-Abdullah Kinno, 50-year-old
2-Mahmoud Abdullah Kinno 6-year-old
3-Badriyah Abdullah Kinno 18-year-old
4- Muhammad Abdullah Kinno 27-year-old
5-Hasna’a Abdullah Kinno 2-year-old
6-Rahaf Abdullah Kinno 5-year-old
7-Abdullah Muhammad Kinno 4-year-old
((official document from Afrin Hospital shows death and wounded tolls within the civilians
Names of the Martyrs
1-Amira Kinno 17-year-old
2- Hassan Kinno 13-year-old
3- Ahmad Kinno 10-year-old
4- Hanadi Kinno 15-year-old
5- Safa’a Kinno 7-year-old
6- 3 unknown corpses
(civilian victims due to the Turkish brutal shelling on Gopleh village 28-Jan-18) (another picture for a child killed during the Turkish shelling on Gopleh village 28-Jan-2018)
Another example is the massacre Ashrafiyah neighborhood in Afrin on 31-Jan-2018, where the Turkish invasion army and its terrorist groups bombed the neighborhood with Katyusha rockets. The rocket landed on the densely populated part of the neighborhood. Causalities report due to this terrorist missile attack. The Kurdish Red Crescent documented nine wounded during shifting the wounded to Afrin Hospital, noting that the wounded were more than that.
(pictures for the civilian wounded in Afrin Hospital)
According to the documentation record at Afrin Hospital, the name of the wounded are as the following:
1-Arhat Ahmed Aliko, age 9, lives in Ternada neighborhood with a shoulder injury, and he died later affected by his wound.
2-Muhammad Ahmad Aliko, age 10, lives in Ternada neighborhood with a shrapnel in deferent areas in his body.
3-Mohammed Ahmad Aliko, age 75, lives in Ternada neighborhood with a head and knee injury.
4-Gulleh Muhammad Khalil, age 40, lives in Teranda neighborhood with various bruises
5-Ali Akram Aliko, age 40, lives in Teranda neighborhood with injury in the shoulder and the breast.
6-Amina Abdullah Faraj, age 50,lives in Teranda neighborhood with injury in the leg.
7-Izzet Shaikh Musa, age 58, lives in Teranda neighborhood with injuries in the breast, belly and leg.
8-Abdo Mousa, age 11, who lives in Ternada neighborhood, has a thigh injury.
9-Halima Ahmad Umar, age 70, lives in Teranda neighborhood, has injury in the head.
Legal Office of Syria Democratic Forces
