X.M., who was abducted by the invading Turkish state’s gangs in Afrin and held in the Rai Prison in the Azaz region for 65 days, said there were female and male prisoners from Afrin in the prison and that they were subjected to the vilest torture.

X.M. said the following on the day he was abducted by the Turkish state’s gangs: “It is no longer possible to live in Afrin due to the atrocities committed by the invading Turkish state and their gangs, so along with 27 others, I decided to leave.

We didn’t dare pass by the gangs’ checkpoints, so we found another way out. But the patrolling gangs noticed and surrounded us, pointing their guns. Then they tied our hands behind our backs and put sacks over our heads so we wouldn’t see where we were taken. They took us away in vehicles.”

X.M. said they almost suffocated in the vehicle due to the sacks on their heads: “One of us was almost gone. He called on the gangs to remove the sacks but they just beat him up until we arrived at the prison.”

X.M. continued: “The gangs took us off the vehicle violently and put us in a 3-meter cell. Then they removed the sacks, but our hands remained tied. There was only one blanket in the cell. Late at night they brought food. We asked them to untie us, but they just swore at us. Two days later, they took us somewhere else and untied us. Then another type of torture started.”

X.M. said the gangs interrogated him and that he was subjected to violent torture during the interrogation: “When they called my name, I got up and approached them. They blindfolded me and started kicking me on the ground. They tortured me with electricity, hoses and pieces of wood. I was weakened due to 12 days of torture.”

X.M. witnessed the vilest inhumane crimes: “One’s heart breaks in the face of such torture. The gangs tore out a civilian’s arm with pliers.”

X.M. added: “The gangs would blindfold prisoners and tortured them with hoses and cables until they passed out, but they didn’t stop then either. They beat up unconscious prisoners with hoses.” X.M. said he also heard women who were being tortured in the prison.

X.M. concluded with saying he was imprisoned without a crime for 65 days and subjected to all kinds of torture and insults. One day before he was released, X.M. was interrogated by a commander from the Turkish army and the next day, the gangs took him to an empty lot where they threatened to kill him.

They fired 30 shots by his ear and then left him there. X.M. managed to get to the Shehba canton, but the others are still in the prison.