The case of Hevrin Khalaf’s political femicide was presented by Prosecution team investigator Barbara Spinelli on the opening of the second day of the Permanent People's Tribunal Rojava vs. Turkey taking place in Brussels.

On 12 October 2019 in Turkish-occupied northern Syria, Hevrin Khalaf was executed outside the car by the “123 Battalion” of Ahrar al-Sharqiya militia, part of the SNA, in Turkish-occupied northern Syria. More than 20 shots had been fired on Khalaf. She was hit while still alive by several gunshots from a gun in the head from a distance of about 40-75 cm from the front side of the body. After she fell to the ground on her back, she received more shots on her body, from the left and right sides.

Lawyer Spinelli underlined that "Ms. Khalaf was a prominent Kurdish-Syrian politician who became a leading figure in the political landscape of Syria, serving as the General Secretary and Co-Founder of the Future Syria Party (Partiya Sûriya Pêşerojê – PSP). Khalaf openly opposed Turkish interference in Syrian affairs, particularly criticizing its use of Syrian jihadist militias against other Syrian groups and its occupation of predominantly Kurdish areas like Afrin. Her strong advocacy made her a target of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and their affiliated militia, Ahrar al-Sharqiya, during the 2019 Turkish military offensive on northeastern Syria. Turkey's proclaimed aim for the operations was 'fight against terrorism'."

Lawyer Spinelli said that: "The portrayal of Khalaf in the pro-government Turkish media as an enemy of the state and statements by government officials provide a clear motive behind her assassination. The registration and online dissemination by the militias of images of her mutilated body, while it was being desecrated post-mortem with further gunfire amidst screams of jubilation, was carried out with a clear objective of frightening women. Khalaf's brutal execution is considered the most paradigmatic example of how the Turkish state directly targets women who organize to defend their rights, with the aim of scaring and lecturing the rest of the women and dissuading them from participating in politics and organizing  themselves to overcome patriarchal violence (so called political feminicide)."

Lawyer Spinelli pointed out that: “The available evidence strongly supports that the killing of Hevrin Khalaf constituted a targeted gender-based arbitrary killing (political femicide), part of a broader campaign. Intentionally targeting civilians and especially in a disproportionate manner women who hold political positions or have a leading role in the community, in violation of international humanitarian law. Turkey’s military involvement and operational control over SNA forces establish state responsibility. Given the severe human rights violations documented, legal mechanisms for accountability should be pursued at the international level.

Lawyer Spinelli also spoke about the killing of Yusra M. D. and Zainab M. S. M. and political femicide: “Drone attacks against civilians are used as a tool to obtain the indirect transfer of populations, especially women and children."

Spinelli added: "Turkey's increasingly intensified drone attacks, especially since 2022, have caused significant civilian casualties. Over three million civilians, including IDPs, have been severely impacted. Turkish attacks denied the population of Northeast Syria their fundamental rights to life. Many reports and news articles have raised suspicions that Turkey has been using drone strikes to target NES (North and East Syria) officials for elimination. The cases of Z. and Y. are the most paradigmatic example of how the Turkish state directly targets civil servants: in both cases, the attack occurred during working hours, while the two co-presidents were together on the street in a vehicle belonging to the Autonomous Administration.

The statistics contained in the reports from 2019 to today highlight that drone attacks, which have intensified over time, disproportionately target women: both when directed against women holding political or civil servant positions or having a leadership role in the women's movement and in the community, and when aimed at ordinary individuals.

Concluding her presentation, lawyer Spinelli said: "The available evidence strongly supports that the assassination of the politician H.K. and of the civil servants Y. and K. joins a chain of targeted attacks and assassinations of women in North and East Syria that are explicitly directed against the autonomous organisation of women and the women’s revolution in Rojava. It is a targeted attack on civilian women who play a clear role in politics, who are involved in women’s and/or democratic organisations and who break with traditional patriarchal role models. This is why they can be considered political femicides.

Also, the documented and increasing intentional killing of civilians with drones, part of a broader campaign, intentionally targeting in a disproportionate manner ordinary women and children, constitutes political femicides, because they are explicitly directed against the autonomous organisation of women and the women’s revolution in Rojava, because they indirectly impact the very survival of democratic confederalism, causing the displacement of the civilian population terrified by the arbitrariness of the attacks, as confirmed by all the experts as well as by all the official and unofficial reports consulted. Given the severe human rights violations documented, legal mechanisms for accountability should be pursued at the international level."