Turkish-backed group torture civilian in norther Syria after dispute: Rights group
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) investigation shows that the Turkish-backed Suqour al-Sunna armed group, led by Hassan Abu al-Nour, arrested and tortured a civilian on September 7 in a town near Syria's Tal Abyad.
On September 9, footage circulated on social media showing a young Syrian man, Ali Sultan al-Faraj, being tortured by Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) members.
Later that day, more clips made the rounds online. In them, the same man appears naked, bearing the marks of abuse, and makes a forced apology to the people of Deir al-Zor province, according to a report by the STJ, a human rights monitor on Syrian issues, on Friday.
The rights monitor said that eight members of the armed group captured Ali, born in 2001 in Suluk district, Raqqa, at a café and took him to an abandoned house near the village of Ali Bajliyah, northern Raqqa.
The militiamen then "stripped [Ali], and tortured him for an hour and a half using cables and hoses. This incident occurred on September 7 2021 — two days before the footage was published."
A source confirmed to the STJ that Ali was captured following a dispute with a commander in the Suqour al-Sunna (al-Sunna Hawks) currently residing in Turkey. The Suqour al-Sunna operates under the command of the so-called 20th Division.
On September 9, members of the Naeem and al-Jameel clans demonstrated in front of the Suqour al-Sunna headquarters in Suluk, demanding the group leave the town. But they were dispersed with gunfire.
Later, the SNA-affiliated Military Police published a statement confirming the arrest of five people out of the eight militiamen who detained and tortured Ali.
Turkey occupied the towns of Tal Abyad and Serekaniye in October 2019 after a major offensive against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The STJ said that the 20th Division has been involved in widespread human rights violations since 2019.
The rights group also noted that the 20th Division had facilitated the illegal transfers of Syrian individuals to Turkey, whom Turkish authorities later imprisoned in the Hilvan prison in Urfa province.
On September 20, four Syrian organizations called on the United Nations to pressure Turkey to end the systematic practice of arbitrary arrests in northwestern Syria by Turkish-backed armed groups.
A report issued by the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on September 13 on Syria also stated that the Turkish-supported SNA continues to unlawfully arrest Kurdish citizens in areas under their control in northern Syria, such as in Tal Abyad, Afrin, and Ras al-Ain (Serekaniye).
Arab citizens have also been mistreated and detained by Turkish-backed groups.
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"While detained, victims were often brought to makeshift facilities run by Syrian National Army brigades at the subdistrict level," the report stated.