SORGUL ŞÊXO

Hesekê- When ISIS spread in Iraq and Syria after 2014, the regions of Northern and Eastern Syria also got their share of the barbarity of ISIS. After the Syrian uprising began, Cebhetü'n-Nusra took the control of Mount Kizwanan in 2012. But ISIS spread across Syria and took the control of the region. ISIS members wanted to impose their ideologies and thoughts on society, particularly on women. But some, mostly mothers, didn’t accept them.

As NuJINHA team, we went to Mount Kziwanan located in the Til Temir district of Hesekê, NE Syria, where ISIS destroyed many historical sites, including the graves. We spoke to Wefa Derwîş, a fighter of the HPC-JIN (Women's Civil Defense Forces) in Mount Kizwanan.

“ISIS showed its real face”

45-year-old Wefa Derwîş talked about what had happened between 2012 and 2016. “I joined the defense forces because ISIS attacked the region under the name of Islam. My community is a Muslim community and many people joined ISIS claiming that they fight for Islam. But ISIS showed its real face in time. And the people understood that ISIS was a terrorist group.”

“Women couldn’t laugh”

Women's voice, color, right, and existence are prohibited in the ideology of ISIS, Wefa Derwîş said, “Those years were dark years of women. They had to wear black burqas. The women were afraid of everything. ISIS enslaved women in every sense because they knew that women always resist. Women were forbidden to laugh. For instance, a pregnant woman was in labor and wanted to be taken to the hospital in Hesekê, but ISIS members did not allow and the woman and her baby died.”

She escaped from ISIS and went to Turkey

Wefa Derwîş went to Turkey from Mount Kizwanan to escape from ISIS. “One day, when I returned from Hesekê, they (ISIS members) stopped me and a male ISIS member searched me to find something on me. I was lucky because they didn’t find the cigarette box on me. If they had found it, they would have killed my father. I went to Turkey to not put my family at risk. I stayed in Turkey for eight months. I had a hard time there.”

Mothers fight in the streets while children fight on the front line

Wefa Derwîş told us how she decided to return to Syria. “When I heard the liberation of the Mount Kizwanan, I returned to Syria. When I saw female fighters, I felt safe. Two female fighters martyrized two days after my arrival. I felt sad when I heard of their martyrdom. I joined the HPC-JIN to defend women's rights.”

Not only Wefa Derwîş but also many adult women have joined the HPC-JIN to protect their people. In the region, the mothers fight in the streets while the children fight on the front line.

“An international tribunal should be established”

Wefa Derwîş is an Arab woman and a fighter of the HPC-JIN. She demands an international tribunal be established to prosecute ISIS fighters. “As Arab women, we demand an international tribunal be established to prosecute ISIS fighters. They should be prosecuted in NE Syria.”