SOHA ALI

Idlib- The number of rights violations in Idlib, occupied by the Turkish state and its armed faction Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) increases every day. In the city, where repressive policies such as detention, torture and arrest have increased, women recently protested these policies.

Hundreds have been kidnapped and held in unofficial prisons called “al-Julani" and they have been held in prison for criticizing HTS leader Ahmed Hussein al-Shar'a, known by his nom de guerre as Abu Mohammad al-Julani, and the HTS.

People arrested for opposing the occupation

Zahide Al-Yakup has not known where her 27-year-old son is or whether he is alive or not since he was arrested for criticizing the policies carried out by the HTS. Zahida Al-Yakup has been looking for her son everywhere and now hopes that her son will find a way to reach her. Zahida Al-Yakup learned that her son is accused of “espionage”. “Everyone is accused of espionage for criticizing the HTS,” she told NuJINHA.

People executed and buried without informing their families

Since the occupation of Idlib, the prisons in the city are known as the places for ill-treatment and torture. Thousands of civilians are held in these prisons and many families confirm that many people, who were sentenced to death, have been executed and buried without informing their families. Many families receive no information about their children being held in prisons.

Suad Al-Baterji has been struggling to survive with her four children in one of the IDPs camps in the district of Harem since her husband was arrested by the HTS. My husband has not appeared in court yet, Suad Al-Baterji said. “There is no human rights organization to investigate the rights violations in prisons.”

‘We are controlled by brutality under the shadow of weapons’

In Idlib, there are many women, who cannot receive any information from their husbands and children. 41-year-old Zeina Al-Damur is one of them. “My son are subjected to torture in prison and his health is deteriorating,” she told NuJINHA. “My son was arrested for criticizing HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani. We are controlled by brutality under the shadow of weapons.

“We have no law or organization that will demand our rights, reveal what is happening in prisons, and fight for the freedom of our children. We talk about a dictatorship that does not provide any information to families.”