Turkey and its mercenary troops of the so-called Syrian National Army (SNA) have occupied the northern Syrian cities of Serêkaniyê (ar. Ras al-Ain) and Girê Spî (Tal Abyad). Since then, the Turkish army and the SNA, recruited from the remnants of ISIS and other jihadist groups, among others, have exercised a reign of terror. Again and again, people are abducted and tortured under fabricated charges or brought to Turkey in violation of international law and sentenced there. Young people are not the only targets of these repressive measures. Dozens of older women have also been imprisoned. Torture prevails in the dungeons. Those released repeatedly report sexualized violence. The ANHA news agency spoke with survivor H.M. about her experiences in Serêkaniyê. She had been abducted after her attempted return to Serêkaniyê.

Electric shocks and waterboarding

The abductions are aimed at preventing a return or driving out the original inhabitants and thus changing the demography of the region, say observers of the situation. Time and again, allegations of association with the Autonomous Administration or the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) serve as a pretext for detention. In H.M.'s case, it was similar. She reports, "The indictment was already prepared. They claimed that I had worked for the SDF. They tortured me with electric shocks for months. They used waterboarding and bastinado and hung me by my feet. But they went beyond physical torture. I did not suffer this alone. There were a number of women who were assaulted and tortured in the most heinous ways. The torture was carried out by the Turks and their secret service."

Sexual violence and torture to death

H.M. reports on individual situations: "At the police station, a girl named H., an orphan and minor from the village of Rasm Al-Hajar, was raped by three mercenaries led by Saad Kaitoun. Saad Kaitoun is the coordinator of Turkish intelligence there." About another case, H.M. recounts, "The mercenaries arrested X., a Kurd from Serêkaniyê. He was tortured for two days, then he died. The mercenaries dismembered his body and sent his body parts to his relatives. They claimed that he died in an explosion."

"The whole city is a dungeon"

H.M. reports that there are now many prisons in Serêkaniyê. Each of the mercenary groups that make up the SNA has its own. In addition, normal residential buildings have been turned into torture centers. H.M. tells, "They claim that everyone they arrest has ties to the Autonomous Administration. These people are tortured. They demand ransom from the families. There are also dungeons for women. They put the people they torture in front of the camera and force them to 'confess'. They then 'confess' under torture that the SDF sent them to carry out bombings. If they don't say so, they continue to be tortured - even to the point of death."

"Serêkaniyê is an ISIS camp"

H.M. reports that at least 42 women and six children from ISIS have been smuggled from Hol Camp to Turkey. Tanker trucks traveling to Turkey via Girê Spî (Tal Abyad) are used for this purpose. She continues, "Serêkaniyê has become an ISIS camp. Only ISIS families live in the Zorava neighborhood. ISIS jihadists who fled Hol Camp, al-Baghouz and Deir ez-Zor live there. No one can live in Serêkaniyê anymore. Every day there are rapes, robberies and murders."

H.M. appeals to the international community to free Serêkaniyê from the mercenaries.