Activists in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, said that militiamen belonging to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) detained on Monday six senior leaders and officials of national Kurdish parties as well as nine Kurdish activists while there were attending the funeral of a Peshmerga fighter, Habib Qadri, killed in action in battles against the extremist group ISIS.
The Kurdish National Council (KNC), the umbrella party for the parties whose leaders were detained in Qamishli, held the PYD militia responsible for any harm that might be caused to the detainees, calling for the immediate release of all detainees in the PYD custody. The KNC stressed that this latest crackdown by the PYD militia is part of a policy aimed at silencing all dissent and sowing discord among the Syrian people for the benefit of external parties.
The KNC called on all Kurdish and Syrian activists to demonstrate on Tuesday in all Syrian cities and European capitals to denounce PYD repressive practices and its large-scale violations of human rights in the areas under their control. (Source: Syrian Coalition)
