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In Afrin... Arrests and Financial Extortion in Sharawa and Bulbul Areas
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The practices of arbitrary detention point to the continued absence of independent and transparent judicial institutions that guarantee citizens' rights in northern Syria areas
Elements affiliated with the security agencies of the transitional government detained a citizen from Kundi Mazin/Al-Dhawq Al-Kabir in Sharawa district, while he was in a house in Qastal Miqdad village - Bulbul, without disclosing the charges against him.
In a separate incident, a patrol from the security agencies of the transitional government detained a citizen in Al-Ashrafiya neighborhood in Afrin city during the previous days, under the pretext of communicating with the former "Self-Administration," reflecting the continuation of the security grip policy that resembles the practices of the previous central rule that concentrated state powers in the hands of one individual.
A group from the security agencies of the transitional government arrested a citizen from Dikeh village in the center of Bulbul district on February 24, with the aim of obtaining a financial ransom from him, in a practice that indicates the absence of judicial oversight and accountability.
Also on February 24, elements from the Sultan Suleiman Shah faction, known as al-Amshat, which is affiliated with Turkey, kidnapped a citizen, who was taken to an unknown location amid the absence of any official information about his fate. He was accused of dealing with the Self-Administration, for the purpose of obtaining a financial ransom from him.
Two citizens from the town were detained about two months ago, and were later handed over to the security agencies of the transitional government. They are currently being held in the detention center in Maratah Central Prison in Afrin city, despite their families paying financial amounts for their release, which calls for the implementation of a federal system that guarantees the independence of the judiciary and public freedoms and limits the powers of security agencies.
