AMED – While the Amed City Protection and Solidarity Platform made an urgent appeal to the UN against the attacks on Rojava, the Amed Bar Association applied to the ICC and the UN Security Council for the investigation of war crimes and the protection of civilians. 

 

The Diyarbakır City Protection and Solidarity Platform stated that it would make an urgent appeal to the United Nations (UN) and hold a meeting with the EU Delegation in Ankara on 29 January. 

 

In a statement issued by the Platform, it was noted that a letter containing the Diyarbakır City Protection and Solidarity Platform's assessment and demands regarding the events in Rojava had been sent to the United Nations Human Rights Commissions.

 

The application of the association reads: “The notification requesting the initiation of an investigation ex officio within the scope of the authority provided for in the Rome Statute investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Kurdish civilians in Syria in recent periods.

 

1. Background Information

 

The war in Syria, which has continued since 2011, persisted in different ways and methods despite the change of government on December 10, 2024. This war allowed radical groups to carry out systematic attacks against the civilian population, particularly Kurds and Alawites, as well as other religious, ethnic, and minority groups. According to reports from international human rights organizations, these attacks resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians, the injury of hundreds, and the forced displacement of thousands more.

 

Reports by international human rights organizations, news outlets, and social media indicate that radical groups in Syria have used methods such as mass executions, torture, burning, and forced displacement against civilians of various faiths, identities, and minorities, primarily Kurds, in areas such as Tabqa, Raqqa, the Tishrin Dam, Aleppo (Sheikh Maqshuq, Ashrafiyeh), Kobane, Dayr Hafir, Hasakah, and Deir ez-Zor. Witness testimonies also reveal that these groups carried out massacres in villages and systematically used violence against the civilian population.

 

2. Citizens of States Parties to the ICC Who Are Among the Organizations Carrying Out the Attacks

 

When evaluated within the scope of the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, the actions in question fall within the jurisdiction of the Court, even though Syria is not a party to the Rome Statute, due to the United Nations Security Council referring the case to the ICC (Rome Statute Article 13/b), the ICC Chief Prosecutor launching an investigation on his own initiative (Rome Statute Article 15), or the countries of citizenship of foreign nationals fighting in Syria being parties to the ICC (Rome Statute Article 12/2-b).

 

The organizations, groups and individuals that played a role in the massacres include citizens of states party to the ICC, and these elements directly trigger the ICC jurisdiction: Combatants from Tajikistan, Jordan, Egypt, France, Belgium and Germany are among the organizations, groups and individuals that played a role in the massacres, and therefore the ICC’s jurisdiction arises. The international community, especially the states party to the Rome Statute that established the ICC, should support accountability processes, whether through their national judicial systems or through the ICC.