After an Amnesty International report published last week accused the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party's (PYD) armed People's Protection Unit's (YPG) of committing war crimes and violating several basic human rights, the YPG threatened to punish Amnesty International on the grounds that it casts doubt on the YPG's alleged validity.

Released on Oct. 12, the report indicates that the YPG deliberately forced people out and demolished their homes. The YPG is also accused of the forced displacement of non-Kurds in the region on the grounds that the locals support the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) because they speak Arabic.

Quite disturbed by the accusations, the YPG made threats against Amnesty International: "The title and content of the report is full of contradictions and casts doubt on the validity of the organization. Even this is a sufficient reason for the report to fizzle and to punish those who prepared it."

Unlike the YPG's claims that led the organization to make threats, the report used statistical analyses and face-to-face interviews with those who were affected by the YPG's actions including war crimes. A statistic of how buildings in a village were demolished in one year cites: "Satellite imagery of the village of Husseiniya taken in June 2014 and June 2015 analyzed by Amnesty International reflect that 225 buildings were standing in 2014, but that only 14 remained in 2015, a 93.8 percent reduction in one year."

As for the YPG's forced displacement of non-Kurds in the region, the report presents an interview with a villager. The man, from the village of Reneen, said: "They [YPG] told us we had to leave or they would tell the U.S. coalition that we were terrorists and their planes would hit us and our families."

Faced with the possibility of an investigation following war crimes allegations, the YPG is also accused of extrajudicial detainment, killings and using child soldiers. According to Human Rights Watch: "The Kurdish armed group that controls territory in northern Syria, despite some progress, is still not meeting its commitment to demobilize child soldiers and to stop using boys and girls under 18 in combat."

The YPG came under fire from the United Nations as a spokesman last week hinted at the possibility of the U.N. looking into the report and launching an investigation into it. Farhan Haq, a U.N. spokesman, said those responsible must be found and brought to justice. "The secretary-general has consistently stressed the need for accountability in Syria, calling for, among other things, the referral of the situation in that country to the International Criminal Court," he said.