In the Kurdish canton of Afrin occupied by Turkey in 2018, 10,332 people were kidnapped, 463 others killed, while at least 142 people were raped. The majority of victims (803 cases), killed, kidnapped or raped, were women and girls under 18.

The Afrin Human Rights Organization said in its latest report that murders, kidnappings and rapes are increasing day by day in Afrin, occupied by the Turkish state and its mercenaries since March 2018.

Since the beginning of the occupation of Afrin in 2018 until today, 463 people have been killed, 10,332 people have been kidnapped, and 142 people have been raped.

The  Afrin Human Rights Organization said that the record of crimes and violations committed by the Turkish occupiers and their mercenaries in light of global neglect and turning a blind eye to them, as contained in the reports filed each year, is as follows:

2018-2019

Kidnapping: 7,213 people, including 270 women.

Killed: 230 people, including 59 women.

Rape: 60 women.

Driven to suicide: 5 women

2020

Kidnapping: 1,079 people, including 92 women.

Killed: 67 people, including 9 women.

Rape: 76 women.

Marriage of girls under 18: 5.

2021

Kidnapping: 838 people, including 82 women (including 25 minor girls) and 13 children.

Killed: 65 people, including 14 women.

2022

Kidnapping: 629 people, including 49 women and a child.

Killed: 62 people, including 20 women (7 women were killed following the bombing).

2023

Kidnapping: 376 people, including 35 women and 6 children.

Killed: 20 people, including 4 women.

Rape: one woman.

Driven to suicide: 2 women.

The first 4 months of this year (2024):

Kidnapping: 197 people, including 25 women.

Killed: 19 people, including 2 women.

Rape: 5 girls.

Reports went unanswered

The Afrin Human Rights Organization sent its reports to Amnesty International and other international human rights organizations but has not yet received a response.

The co-president of the Afrin and Shahba Canton Lawyers’ Union, Rusheen Haddo, told ANHA news agency that there is a constant violation of rights in occupied Afrin since the beginning of the Turkish occupation, and added: “Girls under 18, in particular, have been forced into marriage under threat and handed over to mercenary groups. Girls are also kidnapped and a financial ransom is demanded from their families for their release. Hundreds of Kurdish women were kidnapped in front of their families and children.”

Haddo underlined that the Turkish occupation state seeks to break the will of women in the region through policies of murder, kidnapping, rape and other violations and added: “All crimes and violations are aimed at eliminating the free will of women. Turkey wants revenge on ISIS and breaks the will of women.”

Haddo called on international organizations to go to Afrin and investigate crimes committed there.