Violations increased during Turkey’s direct air and artillery attacks on northern Syria following the fall of the Assad regime. Turkey also pushed factions affiliated with it – SNA – to carry out ground attacks against areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
To pursue its objective of preventing any form of Kurdish administration on its southern border, the Turkish Army and the SNA factions committed widespread violations without any distinction between military objectives and civilian objects. They followed a systematically policy of revenge, particularly against Kurds, as well as Arab personnel who used to work in the institutions of the Autonomous Administration of north and east Syria [AANES], which Ankara considers it as enemy.
This report, prepared by INSIGHT, highlights the scale of violations against civilians and aims to call on the United Nations to take urgent action to protect human rights and ensure the stability of the region.
Killing and destruction during Turkish shelling
According to INSIGHT data, 243 civilians have been killed and injured, nearly half of them women and children, since the beginning of 2024.
INSIGHT recorded an unprecedented rise in casualties during the first and second thirds of December, as Turkey killed 36 civilians by shelling, more than half this number was recorded in the past 11 months. This number underscore the need for the international community to take concrete steps to stop these crimes.
The data confirm that half of the people killed by Turkey by shelling were children and women, the latest shelling by a Turkish drone killed a cleric, two employees (a male and female) in the town of Tal Brak, countryside of al-Hasakah.
The only survivor of that shelling, who was injured, said that he was with the three victims in the car and they were heading to the area of ‘Jabal Kahb’ (an Assad regime controlled area before December 8), to assess the needs of villages there like bread and heating fuel, which the AANES provided for families at minimum prices.
SNA factions’ crimes and lootings
Since late November, gross human rights violations have increased in the Turkish affiliated SNA controlled-areas, particularly in Afrin, the northern countryside of Aleppo, and Manbij and its countryside. These violations escalated immediately after the fall of the Assad regime rather than ceasing them, as the main cause of the conflict in Syria ended.
The violations were:
- Forced displacement and threat to the lives of the people who had previously fled attacks and clashes.
- Field executions and extrajudicial killings, including injured civilians and prisoners.
- Seizure of civilians’ property, especially Kurds and families who worked before in the Autonomous Administration institutions.
- Arbitrary detention.
- Torture and financial extortion.
- Prohibiting families to return to their homes or forcing them to pay large sums of money to return.
The SNA factions detained 631 civilians (574 men, 35 women and 18 children) since the beginning of 2024. 60% of them have been released after paying huge sums of money, demonstrating the use of the charge of dealing with the SDF and Autonomous Administration for the purpose of financial extortion.
During December, Syrian National Army factions killed 31 civilians (24 men and 6 women), including three women’s rights activists and one child.
During the same period, 13 civilians, including 6 women and one child, were injured by the armed men of the Syrian National Army.
Areas in the northern countryside of Aleppo and Manbij (recently controlled by the SNA), and Afrin (to which a limited number of people returned back after they left it in 2018), witnessed extensive looting of property and the imposition of royalties, reflecting the scale of people’s suffering and the deterioration of the security situation.
Although Turkey state hosted Syrian refugees during the years of conflict in Syria and supported groups that have fought the Assad regime over the past 13 years, its escalation of hostilities is contrary to the principles of peace, stability, cooperation and order among nations.
The facts and figures show the volume of the violations against civilians in northern Syria. The continuation of these crimes without effective international intervention poses a serious threat to stability and peace. Therefore, INSIGHT calls upon the United Nations to take immediate and serious steps to protect civilians and put an end to these violations.
Recommendations:
- Calling the international community to act urgently: to halt the military escalation and ongoing violations, and to ensure the protection of civilians according to international humanitarian law.
- International investigative missions: to document violations and hold the parties responsible for them, accountable.
- Strengthening humanitarian support: for affected areas and ensuring unhindered access to assistance for those in need.
- End military interventions: ensure respect for Syrian sovereignty and protect the rights of all communities in north and east Syria.
