PYD abducts activist, commits serious human rights violations
A Syrian activist for the Syria-Kurdistan Democratic Party (S-KDP) contended that he was exposed to serious human rights violations after being abducted by the PKK's Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Amudah.
Dijvar Tavfik, an activist in the Amudah district of the Syrian Hasakah province was abducted by the PYD on Aug. 16, 2016 and taken to a cell where he stayed with other abductees.
"The PYD's armed militias raided my house on Aug. 16, 2016. They got me in a vehicle after blindfolding me. They told my family that I would be released after a half-an-hour interrogation," Tavfik told an Anadolu Agency reporter, adding that he was sent to a prison in an area between Amudah and Qamishlo.
"I stayed in a 10-square-meter room with 14 others. We lived in very bad conditions," he said, adding that he stayed with Daesh militants for a while as well.
Stressing that he stayed in the prison for 96 days, Tavfik said he could not talk to his family during this period.
"My family did not know where I was or what happened to me. I was exposed to very tough psychological torture," he said.
Tavfik said he came to Irbil after being released by the PYD.
The PYD has been known for its acts of oppression in northern Syria for a long time. A report published by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) in January said the PYD has committed multiple human rights violations since the withdrawal of government forces in 2012, including ethnic cleansing and abuse targeting women, children and journalists.
Amnesty International released a report in October 2015 that cites similar accusations against the PYD's armed wing the People Protection Units (YPG) concerning non-Kurdish inhabitants in areas under PYD control in northern Syria.
The report said some YPG actions amount to war crimes and that non-Kurdish, mostly Turkmen and Arab, inhabitants of villages in the de facto autonomous Kurdish administration were forced out of their homes.
Dijvar Tavfik, an activist in the Amudah district of the Syrian Hasakah province was abducted by the PYD on Aug. 16, 2016 and taken to a cell where he stayed with other abductees.
"The PYD's armed militias raided my house on Aug. 16, 2016. They got me in a vehicle after blindfolding me. They told my family that I would be released after a half-an-hour interrogation," Tavfik told an Anadolu Agency reporter, adding that he was sent to a prison in an area between Amudah and Qamishlo.
"I stayed in a 10-square-meter room with 14 others. We lived in very bad conditions," he said, adding that he stayed with Daesh militants for a while as well.
Stressing that he stayed in the prison for 96 days, Tavfik said he could not talk to his family during this period.
"My family did not know where I was or what happened to me. I was exposed to very tough psychological torture," he said.
Tavfik said he came to Irbil after being released by the PYD.
The PYD has been known for its acts of oppression in northern Syria for a long time. A report published by the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) in January said the PYD has committed multiple human rights violations since the withdrawal of government forces in 2012, including ethnic cleansing and abuse targeting women, children and journalists.
Amnesty International released a report in October 2015 that cites similar accusations against the PYD's armed wing the People Protection Units (YPG) concerning non-Kurdish inhabitants in areas under PYD control in northern Syria.
The report said some YPG actions amount to war crimes and that non-Kurdish, mostly Turkmen and Arab, inhabitants of villages in the de facto autonomous Kurdish administration were forced out of their homes.