Mother of Kurdish victim slain in Afrin demands removal of armed groups from the region
According to Chiqal, the families of the victims have not received justice, and no progress has been made from the investigation into the incident.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – In an interview with Kurdistan 24, Yasmin Mustafa Chiqal, whose husband and son were among the four victims of the fatal attack in Jinderis, Afrin on March 20, has urged for the expulsion of Turkish-backed factions from the region.
Three members of Jaish al-Sharqiyah of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) opened fire on a Kurdish family in the northern Syrian town of Jinderis on March 20, 2023, as they were celebrating Newroz, the Kurdish New Year.
Protests erupted after the massacre, demanding that the perpetrators be tried in an international court. They also called for the withdrawal of armed forces from Afrin, so that the local authorities can administer the lives of its citizens.
According to Chiqal, the families of the victims have not received justice, and no progress has been made from the investigation into the incident. She also stressed the need to remove armed groups from the region and for international intervention to bring peace to the area.
Moreover, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports that the SNA’s Military Police announced on March 22, that they had arrested three SNA fighters involved in the crime.
However, according to reports from SOHR activists, one of the arrested militiamen is allowed to leave the prison once every three days to rest and take a shower at home. He sometimes even spends the night at home before returning to prison.
Twenty days after the murders, the criminals have still not been tried or punished, the SOHR reports.
This failure to bring the perpetrators to justice will likely fuel further unrest and anger among the local population.
According to Bassam al-Ahmad, the executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice, the families of the victims will unfortunately not receive justice in this case or any other, due to the lack of an independent judicial system.
“The judiciary is often viewed as biased against vulnerable individuals and those without support. It is impossible to expect justice from perpetrators themselves as they would not willingly put themselves in jail. This is especially true in the Afrin region or areas controlled by the opposition,” he told Kurdistan 24.