{"id":2775,"date":"2023-01-25T13:22:05","date_gmt":"2023-01-25T12:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hevdesti.org\/?p=2775"},"modified":"2023-01-26T15:49:06","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T14:49:06","slug":"violations-of-property-rights-in-northern-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hevdesti.org\/en\/violations-of-property-rights-in-northern-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Where is My Home: Property Rights Violations in Northern Syria Perpetuate Demographic Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Executive Summary: <\/strong><\/h4>\n

Illegal destruction, occupying and property appropriation belonging to civilians, as well as preventing the return of Kurdish families who displaced due to Turkish military operations or blackmailing and threatening them are considered violations committed on a wide scale by Turkish forces and factions of the opposition Syrian National Army (SNA) in the areas of Afrin, Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea and Tall Abyad regions in Northern Syria, which are occupied by Turkey in Operation \u201cOlive Branch\u201d in 2018 and Operation \u201cPeace Spring\u201d in 2019.<\/p>\n

In this report, Hevdesti-Synergy<\/a> Association for Victims documents systematic and repeated patterns of looting and property appropriation belonging to civilians in \u201cPeace Spring\u201d and \u201cOlive Branch\u201d strips, especially those committed outside the context of the conduct of hostilities, such as the unlawful seizure, burning, sale or destroying real estates, and expelling the indigenous people and pushing them to leave the area.<\/p>\n

Since the Turkish forces and the SNA\u2019s factions entered Afrin, Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea and Tall Abyad regions, after the latter pillaged civilian properties, the SNA\u2019s fighters and families occupied houses after civilians had fled or ultimately forced residents, especially the Kurds, to leave their homes, through threats, extortion, murder, kidnapping, torture and detention.[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

As the SNA forces plundered and seized civilians\u2019 properties in a coordinated manner, civilians claimed complaints to the military councils of those forces or to the local councils affiliated to the Syrian Interim Governments- which follows the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces in Afrin, Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea and Tall Abyad regions. However, the residents could not reclaim their properties. Moreover, members of the SNA threatened, extorted or detained many residents and other people were abducted and were forced to pay ransoms to leaders of the SNA factions to be released.<\/p>\n

Types and patterns of property appropriation owned by civilians in Afrin, Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea and Tall Abyad regions varied. House walls were marked with the names of individual brigades or their leaders as signs the property was seized or marked with signs of appropriation as a clear indication that they prevented the return of the residents. The properties were occupied by families of the SNA fighters or used as military headquarters or administration institutions that follow the local councils without informing the owners or offering them compensations.<\/p>\n

Turkish forces also were complicit in seizing and destroying properties and prevented the return of the residents, such as what happened in Dawoudiya<\/a> village in the east of Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea, where the Turkish forces seized the Kurdish village and turned it to a military post after bulldozing many houses. They also transferred other houses to barracks for the Turkish soldiers to settle in. The Kurdish civilians were banned from returning to their village, or even burying their deaths in the village\u2019s cemetery.<\/p>\n

The Turkish government brought thousands of forcibly displaced Syrian families form other Syrian regions during the conflict and settled them in the indigenous people\u2019s houses in Afrin, Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea and Tall Abyad. Many houses were vacated from their Kurdish inhabitants and family members of the SNA were settled in their seized houses. Hevdesti-Synergy verified<\/a> the settlement of at least 55 families, including women and children of the Islamic State\u2019s (ISIS) fighters, mostly Iraqis, in the appropriated houses in Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea.<\/p>\n

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One of the disastrous effects of such violations is changing the demographic of the Kurds-majority regions in Syria. This constitutes a growing concern for the people there especially in early May 2022, when the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan announced<\/a> that Ankara is drafting a plan to \u201cvoluntarily\u201d return one million Syrian refugees to their own country.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Prior to this announcement, the Turkish government forcibly repatriated<\/a> thousands of Syrians to Northern Syria despite international warnings that Syria is not safe. On 25 October 2021, Chair of the UN Syria Commission of Inquiry declared that \u201cthis is not a time for anyone to be thinking that Syria is safe, for its refugees to return home.\u00a0 Instead, we are seeing an upsurge in fighting and violence<\/strong>.[2]<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

However, between 2019 and 2021, the Turkish government cancelled<\/a> the kimlik (temporary protection Identification Document) to more than 155,000 Syrians and detained them at deportation camps adjacent to the Syria\/Turkey border in order to later deport them to Syrian territories. Turkey alleges that the deportations it carries out are \u201cvoluntary\u201d, but the Syrians\u2019 testimonies who were deported deny that. There are reports<\/a> confirming that Syrians in Turkey are subject to exploitation, extortion and threats of prolonged detention to force them to waive their residence permits.<\/p>\n

\n

Accounts collected for the purpose of preparing this report and hundreds of former ones documented by Hevdesti-Synergy in North and Northeast Syria confirm that property appropriation leaves catastrophic effects on the property owners and threatens their history and existence in the region they used to live in prior to displacement. It would be hard, if not impossible, for every person whose property, which he\/she was investing or living in, was seized to stay in the area or to return to it later.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Settling Syrians from other governorates in Afrin and Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea where the indigenous people were coerced to displace, will lead to a demographic change in the region, undermine civil peace and common coexistence the region is characterized with. The scene will be more complicated if the issue is protracted and not addressed in the context of finding a comprehensive political solution to end the conflict in Syria.<\/p>\n

Izz Adin Saleh, Hevdesti-Synergy Association\u2019s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) said \u201cproperty appropriation has got long-term and serious consequences during and after the conflict, which will have a significant impact on the return of displaced people and the refugees to their place of habitual residence. It is therefore important to draw the attention of the United Nations and the UN Security Council to the seriousness of this issue and press pressure on the Turkish government to stop such practices and hold the perpetrators accountable whether they are individuals or groups<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Property Right in International Laws:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Property right is one of the human being\u2019s essential rights endorsed by international covenants and charters. Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a> confirmed that everyone has the right to own property and stipulated that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his\/her property. This right is closely linked to the right of the refugees and displaced persons to a voluntary return in safety to their places of habitual residence.<\/p>\n

This right is underscored in Article 5 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination adopted in 1965<\/a> which stipulates the necessity to guarantee the right of everyone, without distinction as to race, color, or national or ethnic origin and the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. Noting that Syria and Turkey have ratified the agreement<\/a> and they are bound by it.<\/p>\n

The United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement asserted the need to provide protection, in all circumstances, to the displaced persons\u2019 money and properties especially against pillage, direct and indiscriminate attacks and other acts of violence, the use of them as shields to military operations or objectives, being made the object or reprisal, and being destroyed or appropriated as a form of collective punishment. Property and money left behind by the displaced persons should be protected against destruction, arbitrary and illegal appropriation, occupation or use.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

International law prohibits the occupying power \u2013 Turkey in this case in parts of Northern Syria\u2013 from seizing private property in the occupied territories except in the case of urgent military necessity, which must be followed by compensation for the affected persons. Regardless of the reality of the occupation, the destruction and appropriation of an opponent\u2019s property by one of the parties to the armed conflict is a violation of Customary Internarial Humanitarian Law (IHL) and may amount to a war crime, whether the armed conflict is international or non-international.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Displacement:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Every party to the armed conflict bears its legal responsibility for causing displacement of the civilian population during the armed conflict. The International Humanitarian Law (IHL) also prohibits it and this prohibition is one of the rules in of the Customary International Humanitarian Law. Removing the civilians out of their places of residence is not a legal evacuation unless there are imperative military reasons or the security of the civilians themselves is involved.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the party that undertakes civilians\u2019 displacement – legally as an evacuation or illegally as a displacement – bears a set of other legal obligations related to the protection of the displaced civilians as well as their rights including those related to reception and shelter, and the related guarantees for the protection of the right to housing, land and property and the right to return[5]<\/a>. Forced displacement entails an individual criminal responsibility for what may amount to a war crime.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Right to Return: <\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u201cDisplaced persons have a right to voluntary return in safety to their homes or places of habitual residence as soon as the reasons for their displacement cease to exist.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rule 132, the Customary International Humanitarian Law (IHL)<\/p>\n

This right imposes on the competent authorities numerous legal duties mainly revolving around displacement as a temporary condition. It was also underlined in the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement by charging the competent authorities- mainly those that undertook displacement- the primary duty and responsibility to create the conditions, as well as provide the means, which allow internally displaced persons to return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity.<\/p>\n

Making hostilities, the military context and its necessities a pretext to push civilians to flee and leave them alone with their fate firstly contradicts the essence of the prohibition of displacement and secondly the obligations of the party undertaking displacement. The competent authorities bear the responsibility to conduct possible measures to guarantee the civilians and refugees\u2019 right to return, including: measures that guarantee return in safety, most notably demining, provide assistance to cover the basic needs (shelter, nutrition, water, medical care), provide construction materials, kitchen tools, agricultural tools, seeds, fertilizers, repair of schools, skills and education training programs. There may also be measures that allow the displaced persons (or those representing them) to visit their places before their return to evaluate the situation related to security and material conditions.<\/p>\n

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Property appropriation belonging to refugees and internally displaced persons in Syria will undoubtedly constitute a stumbling block for their voluntary and safe return. The first thing that will come to their minds if they wish to return one day, is to live in their original houses or to invest in their lands. If nothing is said, their return would be meaningless.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Resolution 2254 of 2015 underscores \u201cthe critical need to build conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their home areas and the rehabilitation of affected areas, in accordance with international law<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The refugees\u2019 right to restore their possessions is affirmed in the principles mentioned by the UN Special Rapporteur Paulo S\u00e9rgio Pinheiro which are referred to shortly as \u201cPinheiro\u2019s Principles\u201d. It asserts that all refugees and displaced persons are entitled to restore any housing, land and\/or property of which they were arbitrarily or unlawfully deprived of, or to be compensated for any housing, land and\/or property that is factually impossible to restore as determined by an independent, impartial tribunal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Recommendations: <\/strong><\/h4>\n

After considering the issue of violating the housing, land and property rights in Northern Syria, notably in Afrin, Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea and Tall Abyad regions and based on the approach that focuses on victims and the survivors\u2019 experiences, views, and priorities, Hevdesti-Synergy has concluded the following recommendations to the United Nations, the UN Security Council and the international actors in the Syrian affair:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The United Nations and the UN Security Council should acknowledge that the Turkish existence in parts of the Syrian soil is an occupation in In accordance with Article 42 of the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague Convention<\/a>) of 1907 and the Section III (Articles 47 to 78) of the Fourth Geneva Convention<\/a>, to push Turkey to assume its responsibilities as an occupying power.<\/li>\n
  2. Pressing pressure on the Turkish government to cease human rights violations its own forces or the Turkish-backed SNA forces are committing in the areas they occupy in Northern Syria and hold the perpetrators accountable, whether they are individuals or groups.<\/li>\n
  3. Creating favorable conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their places of habitual residence and guarantee their right to restore their properties or compensating them for the properties that are factually impossible to restore, with the CSOs being part of this process.<\/li>\n
  4. Governments and donor parties must ensure that their aid does not go to projects aiming to create demographic changes in the country, rather, the aid should be developed in projects that respect indigenous people\u2019s rights and support their efforts to rebuild and strengthen their communities.<\/li>\n
  5. Putting pressure on the Syrian National Coalition, the SIG and the forces in their command to stop the illegal appropriation of the residents\u2019 properties in the areas under their control, most notably in \u201cPeace Spring\u201d, \u201cOlive Branch\u201d and \u201cEuphrates Sheild\u201d strips.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Background: <\/strong><\/h4>\n

    During the Turkish military invasion on areas in Northeast Syria dubbed Operation \u201cPeace Spring\u201d in October 2019, Turkey and Turkish-backed SNA factions directly bombarded civil buildings indiscriminately and plundered in a systematic manner private properties of the local people of different components, mostly the Kurds. The SNA\u2019s factions also prevented hundreds of families who displaced due to the Turkish military operations to return to their homes. Prior to that, the Turkish military attack against Afrin in 2018 under the name Operation \u201cOlive Branch\u201d killed dozens of civilians and displaced thousands according to the United Nations. The SNA\u2019s factions seized, looted, and destroyed properties of the Kurdish civilians in Afrin<\/a> without compensating the owners and settled their fighters and their families in the civilians\u2019 seized houses.<\/p>\n

    The two operations \u201cPeace Spring\u201d and \u201cOlive Branch\u201d caused the displacement of at least 350,000 residents of Afrin, Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea and Tall Abyad regions in North and Northeast Syria. More than 36,000 displaced people live in three makeshift camps (Washokani\/ al-Twinah<\/a>, Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea\/al-Tala\u2019i<\/a> and Tall as-Samn<\/a>) in the two governorates of al-Hasakah and Raqqa whereas more than 7,000 displaced persons live in makeshift camps in (al\u2019Oda, Afrin, Shahba, al-Muqawama and al-\u2018Aser) which are run by the Autonomous Administration in Shahba region in the north of Aleppo governorate, according to Hevdesti-Synergy.<\/p>\n

    The regions occupied by Turkey as a result of the aforementioned operations are rife with countless of human rights violations perpetrated by Turkish forces and the Turkish-backed SNA\u2019s factions. The documented violations include summary executions, enforced disappearance, property seizure, pillage and preventing the return of the residents, mostly the Kurds.<\/p>\n

    All of above, in addition to the lack of accountability and the persistence of impunity make the Turkish-occupied territories completely unsafe, contrary to Turkey\u2019s propaganda, and do not comply with the criteria<\/a> of voluntary return set by the United Nations.<\/p>\n

    On March 11, 2021, Hevdesti-Synergy released a report<\/a> on the looting of agricultural crops and seizure of farmlands in \u201cPeace Spring\u201d strip and published another report on October 6, 2021 on the wide scale of pillage and plundering<\/a> of properties in Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea. Hevdesti-Synergy submitted a complaint<\/a> to the UN Special Rapporteurs on November 29, 2021 in regard to the appropriation of crops and farmlands by Turkey and the Turkish-backed armed groups in the areas they occupy in North Syria. Moreover, in May 5th 2022, in cooperation with its partners from the Syrian civil society, Hevdesti-Synergy organized an event<\/a> parallel to the activities of the Sixth Brussels Conference<\/a> with the aim to highlight<\/a> violations of human rights and those related to housing, land, and property rights in Northern Syria from the victims\u2019 perspective and the repercussions of such violations on the local communities in Syria.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

    In Pursuit of Redress for Victims: <\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Hevdesti-Synergy worked directly with the victims and documented their accounts and testimonies as a part of the Association\u2019s strategy that focuses on experiences, perspectives and priorities of the victims, survivors and their families, in addition to seek multiple views to develop an analytical and an in-depth understanding of the events and commit to integrity and accuracy.<\/p>\n

    For the purpose of preparing this report, Hevdesti-Synergy relied on 20 concentrated accounts of victims who were subject to various patterns of housing, land and property rights violations in Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea, Tall Abyad and Afrin regions in Northern Syria. All of the accounts were collected from October 1 to December 1, 2022, in addition to the researchers\u2019 analysis, images, documents, open-source information, analysis of visual evidences and the legal analysis.<\/p>\n

    The Association\u2019s direct contact with tens of victims in Northern Syria during 2022 showed that the majority of the forcibly displaced people have low legal awareness on housing, land and property rights and the mechanism to defend such rights. In addition, hundreds of families were compelled to displace and had left behind their houses and properties as well as the documents proving their ownership, or that such documents got lost or are still incomplete because of conflict\u2019s conditions of the conflict. Hence, many displaced persons lost their ability to restore their properties legally given they do not have the legal documents.<\/p>\n

    Therefore, Hevdesti-Synergy organized several awareness workshops during 2022, in areas and camps in Northeast Syria to raise the legal awareness and promote the capabilities of the forcibly displaced persons on \u201chousing, land, and property rights\u201d and types and degrees of the documents supporting ownership in Syria and the mechanisms to defend such rights in a legal way.<\/p>\n

    From the Association\u2019s perspective, a comprehensive and sustainable peace in Syria won\u2019t be achieved without addressing the issue of housing, land and property rights violations. Through this report and the other activities that the Association performs, we therefore attempt to provide a space\/platform for the victims to be able to represent themselves and defend their rights with the aim to promote solidarity with victims of the housing, land and property rights violations in Northern Syria on the local and international levels.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Violations of Housing, Land and Property Rights in \u201cPeace Spring\u201d Strip:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Since the occupation of Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea and Tall Abyad regions in Operation \u201cPeace Spring\u201d October 2019, Hevdesti-Synergy has documented<\/a> the seizure of more than 5,500 residential houses, 1,200 commercial and industrial shops and around one million donum (100,000 ha) of farmlands by Turkish forces and the opposition SNA. Also, 55 residential buildings were vacated from their indigenous people.<\/p>\n

    Other houses and properties were demolished, bulldozed and occupied in an illegal way, such as what happened in Dawoudiya<\/a> village in the east of Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea when the Turkish forces seized the Kurdish village and turned it to a military post after bulldozing large numbers of houses and converting others to barracks for Turkish troops.<\/p>\n

    Dawoudiya follows the town of Abu Rasin\/Zargan and it is known locally as \u201cDawoudiya Mella Salman\u201d. The village used to contain (50-55) houses and the majority of its residents were from the Kurdish origin who were forcibly displaced duo to Operation \u201cPeace Spring\u201d before it was occupied by Turkish forces. The civilians were denied to return to their village or even bury their death in the village\u2019s cemetery.<\/p>\n

    Following Operation \u201cPeace Spring\u201d, Dawoudiya village witnessed a heavy activity conducted by the Turkish forces which turned the village to a military post after the troops bulldozed and leveled to the ground two-thirds of the area in the village including the houses. The forces seized other houses like Sa\u2019doun Salman\u2019s house as well as his brothers\u2019 houses and converted them into barracks for the 1st<\/sup> Commando Battalion affiliated with the Commando Brigade 49th<\/sup> in the Turkish forces, according to Anadolu<\/a> News Agency.<\/p>\n

    Sa\u2019doun Salman, 52, who hails from Dawoudiya village narrated to Hevdesti-Synergy the following:<\/p>\n

    \u201cOn October 18, 2019, Dawoudiya was completely evacuated from its inhabitants. With the intensity of the battles and the advance of the Turkish forces, all the residents displaced to al-Hasakah city. We kept looking for information about the village from our neighbors in the adjacent Arab villages as the majority of them did not leave. They told us that the Turkish forces had stationed in the village, and no one was allowed to approach it.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

    Shortly later, Salman\u2019s family learned from the residents of the nearby villages, that Dawoudiya village was transformed into a Turkish military post after the villagers\u2019 houses were bulldozed. The family was ascertained of that when later news outlets circulated the information. Salman said:<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe watched on <\/strong>social media platforms<\/strong><\/a> and <\/strong>satellite imagery<\/strong><\/a> respectively that sand berms were installed around the village and positions for tanks and artillery were prepared. A Turkish channel published videos and images of the military post set up in our village. We saw that the Turkish troops put huge\/long-term artilleries behind my house and my uncles\u2019 ones and in the front side of the village.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"

    The image shows soldiers of the 1st Commando Battalion affiliated with the Commando Brigade 49th in the Turkish forces in the military post set up in Dawoudiya village in the east of Ras al-Ayn\/Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea. Photo Credit: Anadolu News Agency.<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"

    A satellite imagery showing the village of Dawoudiya on June 17, 2019 shortly prior the occupation.<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \"\"

    Images taken by Obretix showing Dawoudiya village shortly after its occupation. Photo Credit: Samir<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"\"

    Satellite imageries showing the village of Dawoudiya on different dates before and after the occupation and transferring it to a military post by Turkey. The comparison between the images shows the houses bulldozed to establish the military post. Photo Credit: A report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic released in September 2020.<\/p><\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n