News Center- The Permanent Peoples’Tribunal on Rojava vs. Turkey has kicked off in Brussels, Belgium, to expose and investigate the crimes committed by the Turkish state in North and East Syria since 2018, while the attacks by the Turkish state on North and East Syria have continued.

The two-day tribunal has been organized at the Lecture hall Aula Q of the Free University of Brussels (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, VUB), with the participation of legal experts from different countries, human rights activists, victims of attacks and witnesses.

 Although an invitation was sent to the Turkish state to make a defense, it did not attend the tribunal. The opening speech of the tribunal was made by Giacinto Bisogni. “We have come together for this important tribunal, which will last two days. We have established this tribunal with the support of the Free University of Brussels. We are here to defend human rights and Rojava. Rojava is a region, where women's freedom and democracy have been built. Therefore, we believe that Rojava should be defended,” Giacinto Bisogni said in his speech.

The tribunal is a judicial platform established to investigate and expose the crimes committed by the Turkish State and its paramilitary forces in North-East Syria since the occupation of Afrin in 2018.

The tribunal is organized by the Department of Foreign Relations and the Committee of Justice and Law of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), the Center for Research and Protection of Women’s Rights, Human rights organizations in Jazira and Afrin Cantons, the  Association for Democracy and International Law (MAF-DAD e.V), the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH), the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), the Kurdish Institute of Brussels and the Free University of Brussels (VUB).