Human rights organizations apply to the UN for 6 deported YPG fighters
NEWS DESK (DİHA) - IHD, TIHV, SES and Eğitim Sen applied to the UN regarding the 6 YPG fighters who were deported and handed over to Al-Nusra. In their application, human rights organizations called upon the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture to act upon Turkey’s breach of law.
IHD (Human Rights Association), TIHV (Human Rights Foundation of Turkey), SES (Trade Union of Public Employees in Health and Social Services) and Eğitim Sen (Union of Educators) applied to the United Nations (UN) regarding Ahmed Şêrko, Omer Qadir, Rêber Seyho, Ehmed Helûm, Cemal Ehmed and Beşîr Mihemed; the 6 YPG fighters who were arrested on July 25 and deported in a way that defied the Geneva Convention and international regulations on foreigners.
In their application, organizations stated that the wounded YPG fighters should have been given temporary ID cards and released according to the "Temporary Protection Regulation," and condemned the deportation of YPG fighters through Cilvegözü Border Gate controlled by Al-Qaida’s Syrian branch Al-Nusra, as opposed to Mürşitpınar Border Gate through which the fighters had legally entered Turkey.
Human rights organizations noted that Turkey openly violated the principle and ban on deportations regulated by international agreements and Turkish law, and nobody could be deported to a region with the risks of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment and punishment, prosecution based upon race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion.
Organizations highlighted that Al-Nusra has been known as an armed organization attacking Rojava cantons in Syria, and the delivery of 6 YPG fighters to Al-Nusra as opposed to Kobanê holds the government of the Turkish Republic responsible for any harm that may come to the fighters’ livelihood. Applicant organizations noted that the fighters who were defending their land against ISIS gangs were delivered to another organization in violation of law, and called upon the government, Ministry of Interior Affairs, and Migration Management Directorate to make a statement on the fate of the 6 YPG fighters who had been arrested in an Eğitim Sen guesthouse.
Human rights organizations urged the government to start criminal and administrative investigations on the public officials that deported the fighters in violation of national and international law, and called upon the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture to act upon Turkey’s breach of international agreements. Organizations ended their application with an invitation to democratic people in Turkey and across the globe to be more sensitive on Turkey’s unlawful and inhumane deportations.
(nt)
