Syria. Civilians face familiar threats in rebel-held areas | news from Syria

Beirut, Lebanon – The last rebel-controlled enclave was to be a security zone for three million displaced Syrians who fled government-controlled areas, fearing arrest, torture or both.

But similar crimes is happening in the province of Idlib – although to a lesser extent than these were committed in government-controlled territory – as well as in areas west of the Euphrates.

Hay & # 39; and Tahrir al-Sham, also known as HTS, the former al Qaeda-affiliated group that dominates Idlib and part of the west of Aleppo, and some of Other rebel groups backed by Turkey in northern Aleppo, have been accused by human rights groups looting, extortion and torture.

An agreement between Russia, Turkey and Iran last September managed to protect the province of northwestern Syria from an attack by the Syrian government that would probably have been catastrophic. But the deal was not enough to protect residents from a failing economy and lawlessness in the enclave.

The daily lives of many civilians continue to be paralyzed by the collective fear that they will be arrested and tortured if they are unable to pay a ransom.

In some cases, rebel gangs seized men to punish them for preferring a rival faction, while in others the kidnappers were motivated by money.

Arrests, torture by armed groups

On September 4th of last year, Mohammad Nour Hemedi, a retired judge, was pushed into a silver van by five masked men outside his farm, near the town of Idlib.

"They took off my toenails," he said. "I had never heard of such torture."

Reporting on his ordeal for 21 days, the judge said that he had been given a bottle of water and fed with a loaf of bread a day. Sometimes, when the kidnappers felt charitable, they gave him an apple.

He was forced to go to bed in an open plastic container that remained in his underground isolation cell for days.

They demanded a ransom of $ 300,000, but they arranged for $ 50,000, a significant sum even for the judge's family.

Hemedi added that at least two of his friends, wealthier Syrians, had also been kidnapped and released after paying a ransom of $ 120,000 apiece.

He did not specify who had kidnapped him, but said that he had been arrested in an area under the control of Hay & Tahrir al-Sham.

Abdulghani Ramzi al Aryan, a local journalist, was kidnapped and thrown into a chicken coop for 24 hours on 1 January this year in Salaqin, Idlib. "They beat me with their hands and feet and with the butts of their weapons," he said.

Aryan also said that he did not know who had kidnapped him, but that once before, in 2017, he had been taken care of by fighters from Hay & Tahrir al-Sham for reporting internal conflicts with another group, Faylaq al-Sham.

The abductees rarely reveal the names of the abductors, often for fear of reprisal.

However, Human Rights Watch released a report in January and discovered Hay & Tahrir al-Sham responsible for the abduction of at least eleven people and the torture of six people.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights baderted that Hay & Tahrir al-Sham has arrested 184 people in the last three months.

Lama Fakih, HRW's deputy director for the Middle East, said: "We have seen HTS use some of the same tactics as the Syrian government, such as unlawful detentions and torture."

She said that HRW defines Hay & Tahrir al-Sham as an "extremist" group because of its membership in al-Qaeda in the past and the fact that it is described as a terrorist organization by the United States and Turkey.

Arun Lund, a member of the Century Foundation, said that despite Hay & Tahrir al-Sham Officially cutting ties with al-Qaida and forming a government of salvation, his administration being responsible for providing basic amenities such as water and electricity to Idlib, the group is still perceived as an "extremist" as it is difficult to pin down their exact relationship with Al-Qaeda.

"They will be on the terror list as long as the United States, Russia and other countries perceive them as al-Qaeda-related, or just as intolerably extreme and dangerous, and that perception is now clearly evident," Lund said. .

Since the Sochi agreement, Hay & Tahrir al-Sham It is reinforced in Idlib and has expanded to the countryside in Hama and Aleppo in recent days.

The agreement is silent on Hay & Tahrir al-ShamThe presence of Idlib as a whole and Turkey are not required to contain the group.

However, it is understood that Turkey is responsible for the control of the group and its members, ie to join the agglomeration of nearly a dozen rebel groups – the National Liberation Front (NLF), created last May – or to surrender his weapons and leave the ranks of the group. area. No results have been achieved.

Fakih said that Turkey had lines of communication with Hay & Tahrir al-Sham and that he should use his influence on the group with regard to their treatment of the civilian population.

Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, said that Turkey's influence over Hay & Tahrir al-Sham decreased.

"Turkey is supposed to control Idlib, but that is not the case – HTS has always challenged Turkish demands," he said.

He added that the fear that the Syrian government is still invading Idlib likely incites the group to opt for desperate measures.

"At any time, Syria could decide to forcibly invade the HTS fighters," he said. "Without doubt, many are looking to get themselves safe or put money aside to make sure they can smuggle out of Syria to a safer place."

Lack of protection

Syrian activists have been targeted by several groups because of their actual or alleged allegiances to Idlib and the areas to the west of the Euphrates, which are under the control of the FNL supported by Turkey .

In June, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) gave a detailed account of human rights violations in areas under Turkish control such as Afrin, al-Bab and Jarablus.

In one report, it was written, "There are many violent crimes, civilians are robbed, harbaded, kidnapped and murdered".

He cites the case of 10 civilians who were shot in the head at Al-Bab because of rivalry between groups.

The report called the situation volatile, adding that de facto authorities in the region were unable to act to ensure law and order.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a researcher at the Israel-based Forum for Regional Thought, said Turkey did not seem willing to contain the problem in areas under the control of groups she argued.

"As a force of occupation, Turkey has an obligation to protect the lives and property of Syrians living under its control," she said.

"All the factions responsible for most of the abuses are funded and trained by Turkey."

Bilal Srewel, a media activist, was kidnapped in Afrin in November and tortured by a group of the Free Syrian Army called Sultan Murad's brigade, almost entirely funded by Turkey.

"The first criminal is Assad," he told Al Jazeera. "But all the revolutionaries understood that in 2014, the so-called FSA had come to an end and had been replaced by militias.It is a shame."

When news of Srewel's kidnapping and torture spread to social media, the Turkish authorities came to his aid. He said that he is now based in Turkey.

Another young man, who chose to remain anonymous, says he was detained for a month by the FNL's al-Hamzat battalion in Afrin.

Part of the violence is caused by criminal gangs separated from political factions. The enclave that includes Hay & Tahrir al-ShamIdlib and northern Aleppo, controlled by the NLF, are stuck between government forces and the curly Turkish border.

The lack of free movement and the arrival of more than two million Syrians have weakened the local economy, which is one of the reasons for the fall in anarchy.

Goods transported through government zones or Turkey have become more expensive, with additional costs such as additional fees at checkpoints. International organizations have cut back aid in the areas of education and health, fearing that money will end up in the hands of Hay & Tahrir al-Sham.

Salaried staff, including those working for the Western aid sector, are at particular risk of being targeted.

Syria Relief, a charitable organization supported by British doctors, provides medical badistance to Idlib residents by training and paying doctors' salaries in the field.

Hamish of Bretton-Gordon, a former British army colonel and group advisor, said that during the past eight weeks, at least two of his doctors have been kidnapped.

"The kidnappers claimed a ransom of $ 50,000 for one of them," he said. "It could not be paid and we think he was killed."

Having no where to flee, rebel enclave civilians are forced to live under the control of anyone who owns the weapons.