On March 24, 2022 in Qamishlo, Rojava, a conference of the Women’s Council of North and East Syria was held on the topic of occupation. Many democratic representatives of societies institutions in North and East Syria, from the occupied areas, the Syrian Democratic Council, Kongra Star and many others were invited and people representing different society groups were present during the conference. The conference discussed the situation of the areas, that are occupied by Turkey, and it’s allied Mercenary forces, which are Afrin, Serekaniye, Tell Abyad (Gire Spi), Idlib (Aleppo), Jarabulus and Azaz. The discussion addressed particularly the situation of women, as women are the main target of attacks. By occupying the lives of women, the Turkish state is hoping to bring all the society under its control. In order to strengthen the resistance against the occupation, an aim of the conference was to strengthen women’s organization.
The violations against the populations of the occupied areas were a main topic of the conference. An upcoming question that endured during the conference was how to put into place mechanisms to stop the violations practiced by the Turkish occupation state, and it’s allied Mercenary groups, which is many times targeting civilians by: murder, kidnapping and ransom demanding, rape and arrest into prisons, where torture is regularly used. In order to make Human Right’s violations public, it was discussed, that it is necessary, to document and create statistics on the violations against the population and especially on women. Also, the discussion centered on the limitations and difficulties, that so far have prevented cases to be opened in front of international courts. It was proposed, that especially those who fled, because of the Turkish occupation should put complaints in front of the International Court for Human Rights. In addition to this, it is necessary to document all violations in testimonies, that could serve as evidence within these legal cases against the Turkish occupation.
Finally, it was discussed how to put pressure on the international community, to end the silence and send human rights organizations to the Turkish occupied areas to watch and prevent the crimes of the occupation forces and make the true horror of the occupation visible to international media. The discussion also focused on the Kurdish community outside of Kurdistan and how it can play a bigger role in organizing against occupation. It was clear to everyone, that the main aim is to end the occupation and to return the population to their legitimate homeland. It was proposed, that such a conference could also be held abroad, in front of the eyes of the international community. The conference concluded with a statement confirming the decisions of the discussion.
