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Families gather outside a prison in Qamishli on Thursday, October 15, 2020. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The hundreds of prisoners released by Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Thursday as part of a new amnesty deal are not all linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) as reported by several media outlets, a source involved in the amnesty deal told Rudaw English.
“The released people are not all members of Daesh. They also include members of security forces, who have been arrested for security and political reasons and committing crimes,” Ageed Ibrahim, a member of Syrian Committee for the Arrestees and Abductees, an independent committee that has been party to the amnesty negotiations, clarified to Rudaw English. “They are not only Arabs, but also Kurds and others.”
AFP, among other news outlets, had reported earlier that the more than 600 prisoners released in northeast Syria had ISIS-links.
"Today, we are releasing 631 prisoners who had served half of their sentence and 253 others will be released once they finish half of their sentence,” Amina Omar, co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Party (SDC), told Rudaw on Thursday after announcing the releases. “Those currently being tried at courts can also benefit from the decision if convicted.”
The amnesty deal “includes those convicted of terror charges whose hands are not stained with the blood of Syrians,” Omar noted earlier at a press conference in Qamishli, adding that the deal is necessary for the building of trust between the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) and people.
The NES announced on Saturday that all prisoners serving time for petty crimes will be released from prison. Those suffering from incurable or terminal diseases and those aged over 75 will also be released.
Inmates given life sentences will now serve 20 years in jail, while others will serve only half of their sentence, according to the amnesty deal. Those at large have 60 days to turn themselves in and benefit from amnesty.
The amnesty deal excludes people charged with “betrayal, espionage, honor killing, sexual abuse, and trading with or consuming drugs.” It also excludes commanders and trainers of terrorist organizations like ISIS.
Rojava is militarily governed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which arrested thousands of ISIS-affiliated people between 2014-2019. Men are kept in prisons, while women and children are kept at the al-Hol and Roj camps in Hasaka.
Elham Ahmad, President of the Executive Committee of the SDC told a symposium earlier this month that efforts are being made to remove Syrians from Al-Hol camp, which she described as a “heavy burden on the shoulders” of the NES.
“A decision will be issued to empty the Syrians from the camp completely. Those who remain in the camp will not be the responsibility of the self-administration,” Ahmad said.
Omar told Rudaw on Thursday that some 25,000 Syrians live at al-Hol camp, adding that they have requested the NES take them out, noting that “the process will be voluntarily.”
Approximately 68,000 people, including Syrians and foreigners, live in al-Hol camp. Nearly two thirds, around 43,000, are children.
Ibrahim told reporters at the same presser that more people will be released in the future within the framework of the amnesty, including members of the Kurdish opposition parties, such as the Kurdish National Council (ENKS).
“The lists we have prepared do not only include the prisoners of ISIS. They also include those convicted with petty crime and security officers and those who have committed crimes that do not get a long sentence. The prisoners of the ENKS and other political parties are also in the lists,” said Ibrahim.
He added that the cases of ENKS-affiliated prisoners are being investigated and will be released soon.
Lukman Ahmi, spokesperson for the NES, however, reiterated his administration’s claim that “there are no political prisoners” in Rojava.
When asked about the number of the ENKS members to be released, he told Rudaw English, “we do not know because it is a general amnesty, nothing specific to the ENKS.”
The NES issued a similar amnesty agreement on May 17 for the advent of Eid al-Fitr, which excluded convicted terror offenders, rapists, and drug dealers.
ISIS controlled swaths of Syrian land in 2014, but was territorially defeated by the SDF and the Coalition forces in March 2019. The group’s sleeper cells are still active in areas like Deir ez-Zor.
SDF’s Coordination and Military Operations Center announced in a tweet on Thursday that they and the US-led coalition forces carried out “a security operation & arrested 3 #ISIS cell member.”
It did not say where the fighters were arrested, but said the cell was active at the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka province.
The SDF and the coalition were able to “confiscate weapons and equipment [that] were with them. [T]hey used it to smuggle the members & families of ISIS.”
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