ROJ HOZAN

Qamishlo – November 25 is observed as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Today, women all around the world have been subjected to violence and they have been killed. In most countries, the killers of women have gone unpunished and protected by the policy of immunity.  The policy of immunity encourages men to kill women. The international community takes no responsibility for violence against women and remains silent. On October 12, 2019, Turkish-backed factions targeted the convoy was made up of around 400 civilian vehicles heading for Girê Spî.  They attacked the car of Hevrin Khalaf, the Secretary-General of the Future Syria Party, and brutally killed her. We spoke to Mizgin Hesen, an executive of the Center for Research and Protection of Syrian Women's Rights, talked to NuJINHA about the legal process they waged in the murder case of Hevrin Khalaf.

“We will announce what women face to the world”

The Center for Research and Protection of Syrian Women's Rights was officially founded in November 2019 to end violence against women. The center’s main aim is to document the problems faced by displaced women in NE Syria. The center has also documented the number of killed, abducted, and targeted women in the region. “We have documented all right violations against women to announce what women face to the world,” Mizgin Hesen said.

“Hevrin Khalaf was tortured and killed”

Emphasizing that the attack on the car of Hevrin Khalaf was a planned attack, Mizgin Hesen said, “Hevrin Khalaf was a politician. She told the attackers she was a politician but the attackers didn’t listen to her and brutally killed her. Hevrin was a well-known person in society. But she faced inhuman practices. She was tortured and killed. There were black and blue marks due to the torture she faced. Before the massacre against Hevrin, the armed groups tortured many female fighters after they killed them.”

War crime

Referring to the murder case of Hevrin Khalaf, Mizgin Hesen said, “We first controlled her body before preparing the case documents. We investigated the crime scene and found witnesses. After investigating all details of the attack and documenting everything, we sent the case documents to international authorities. We also sent them to the International Criminal Court. In the document, we drew attention to the serious crime committed against a female politician. According to Article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court; murdering a politician is a serious crime. The violence against Hevrin Khalaf and her murder is a serious war crime.”

“The case documents will be kept in the archive”

The killing of many individuals in an attack is defined as mass killing, Mizgin Hesen said, “We worked on this issue for a long time. After seven months, we received a response from the International Criminal Court. We were told a case should be opened in our territory before applying to the international court. The murder case documents of Hevrin Khalaf will be kept in the archive until Syria evaluates the documents.”

“There are many actors in Syria”

“We all know that the Syrian crisis is a very serious crisis. There are many actors and each of them uses the cases against others,” Mizgin Hesen said, “All forces in Syria have been carrying out their political, economic, and other oppression against the will of the people.  Whenever we make progress in the violence cases, they are suspended.”

“We will continue to struggle against violence”

“One day, all killers of women will be punished,” Mizgin Hesen said, “The practices of the states in the regions such as Turkey, Iran, Iraq and international states such as the USA and Russia cause the crisis in Syria to continue. These states have interests in Syria. Before, the Syrian government called on the international states to end the Turkish state's presence on Syrian territory. Until now, nothing has been done. The Turkish state still tries to occupy the territory of Syria. The Turkish state continues to oppress women. But we will continue to struggle against all forms of violence and we will support women in every part of life.”