Brussels, February 7, 2025
The Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) has issued a preliminary statement condemning the Turkish state for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Rojava, north-east Syria. This statement follows a two-day session held in Brussels, where the Tribunal examined extensive evidence regarding the actions of senior Turkish officials from 2018 to the present.
The Tribunal was convened at the request of nine organizations advocating for justice and accountability. The testimonies presented painted a consistent and compelling picture of systematic oppression faced by the Kurdish population in Rojava, characterized by forced displacement, cultural erasure, and widespread violence.
Key findings from the Tribunal’s hearings revealed that since Turkey’s occupation of Afrin in 2018, over 300,000 people have been forcibly displaced, with the Kurdish population in Afrin plummeting from over 90% to just 25%. The evidence included accounts of indiscriminate shelling that resulted in civilian casualties, particularly among children, and the destruction of vital infrastructure, leading to severe humanitarian crises, including lack of access to clean water and healthcare.
In their statement the judges say: “The pattern of attacks, bombings, shellings, drone attacks and atrocities against civilians, the forced displacements and demographic engineering through replacement of populations, the destruction of power and damage to water supplies, environmental damage, the destruction of cultural heritage and educational institutions, the use of rape, torture, secret detention – are all contrary to international law, constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes, and are indicative of genocide.”
In their statement, the judges criticized Turkey’s justification of its military operations as self-defense against terrorism, asserting that the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) represents a model of democracy, ethnic coexistence, and gender equality that the Turkish government seeks to dismantle. The Tribunal emphasized that the evidence points to the Turkish state and its senior officials as the primary perpetrators of terror against civilian populations, rather than the Kurdish fighters who have actively opposed ISIS.
The PPT urged the international community to recognize DAANES as a legitimate self-governing entity and to take immediate action to stop Turkey’s aggression. The judges emphasized the need for global leaders to acknowledge the suffering of the Kurdish people and ensure that the crimes against them are addressed. Their findings call for urgent international intervention to prevent further atrocities and avert genocide, highlighting the necessity for decisive action in support of the Kurdish people in Rojava.
Read the full statement here: https://rojavapeoplestribunal.org/preliminary-statement/
Contact us for more information via +31 686 45 30 55 ; press@rojavapeoplestribunal.org