The militia of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) has further stepped up its repressive practices against civilians in the areas under its control as more civilians are being kidnapped, arbitrarily detained, and subjected to torture. The Syrian Coalition strongly condemned these violations, calling for the referral of all war crimes in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Activists in rural Raqqa said that the PYD militia detained 19 civilians in several villages in the province on Friday. They said that detainees and their families were harshly beaten on charges of concealing information related to arms smuggling.
Elements of the intelligence apparatus of the PYD militia on Friday raided tents sheltering internally displaced people in the village of Al-Jayef in rural Raqqa and savagely beat three people from one family. The militia detained two while the third was taken to a hospital in the town of Tabqa to be treated of the injuries he suffered.
The Syrian Coalition stressed that these practices are no different from the terrorist, repressive practices of the Assad regime against civilians, calling on the international community to protect civilians from such violations and work on stopping them.
Recent months have seen burgeoning public outrage over the actions of the PYD militia in the areas under its control. Earlier this week, dozens of residents of the village of al-Jarniya west of al-Raqqa took to the streets to protest against the large-scale arrest campaign the PYD militia is launching against young men for forcible recruitment.
Residents of the town of Manbij in eastern rural Aleppo held many protests against the practices of the PYD militia, calling for an end to such practices and the withdrawal of those militias from their town. They also protested against attempts by the PYD militia to forcibly recruit the young men in the town into its ranks and declared a general strike involving the closure of shops.
The PYD militia frequently launches mass arrest campaigns against civilians, targeting especially the young people to compulsorily recruit them into their ranks. Other violations by the militia include the mass forced displacement of the local population to bring about a demographic change as well as cracking down on dissident political parties and closing their offices by force. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
