Humanitarian

Human rights groups raise complaint to UN about destruction of graves in Syria

“In the cases we highlighted in our submissions, graves and shrines were deliberately defiled as perpetrators sought revenge by setting sites aflame, vandalizing them, and looting their contents.”

Wladimir van Wilgenburg 2021/12/06 18:43

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels looting shops after seizing control in 2018 of Afrin, the Kurdish enclave in northwest Syria. (Photo: Bulent Kilic / AFP).

Syria Syria Rojava Turkey SNA Human Rights

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ), the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC), PÊL–Civil Waves, and Hevdestî–Synergy on Monday submitted a complaint to UN experts on the destruction of graves and shrines by groups affiliated to the Syrian government and Turkey.

The groups said in a statement they submitted the complaints to the UN Special Rapporteurs on Freedom of Religion or Belief, the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Field of Cultural Rights addressing the destruction of graves and cemeteries by various parties to the Syrian conflict.

"In the cases we highlighted in our submissions, graves and shrines were deliberately defiled as perpetrators sought revenge by setting sites aflame, vandalizing them, and looting their contents," the civil society organizations said.

"The identifying features of some cemeteries were completely obliterated when perpetrators bulldozed them, turning them either into cattle markets or military posts."

The groups blamed Syrian regime forces, the Turkish military, the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), and the Turkistan Islamic Party for the violations.

For instance, in Afrin, Turkish-backed groups raided and looted several shrines in the Kurdish enclave of Afrin in northwest Syria while searching for antiquities.

Ankara-aligned SNA groups took control of Afrin in March 2018 and have been accused of multiple human rights abuses.

"One of the key shrines subjected to abuses in August 2018 was the Hannan Shrine in Masha'ala village, Afrin region. The shrine houses the graves of a Kurdish icon, Nuri Dersmi, and other Kurdish figures," the Syrian organizations said.

In another incident, the Chail Khaneh Shrine, a Yezidi site in Afrin's Qibar village, was raided in May 2020.

Bassam al-Ahmad, the co-founder and executive director of STJ, told Kurdistan 24 that they have submitted complaints to UN human rights bodies, such as the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.

“We go beyond documentation, and give this to the special UN rapporteurs, and they check and verify it and collect more information and they put it in their annual report. This can be considered a big achievement. When the UN confirms something we documented, it's important for us.”

The US State Department last year also stated its concern regarding reports of human rights abuses in Afrin, "including desecration of several Yezidi shrines."

The official US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), in a report on Dec. 3, said that Turkey's ongoing support of Turkish-backed groups has enabled them "to commit atrocities such as the kidnapping and torture of religious minorities, including Yazidi women, and the defacement and destruction of their shrines."