ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Wednesday decreed a general amnesty for those prisoners “whose hands are not stained with blood,” including those jailed on terror charges.
The Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES) declared a general amnesty for people not involved in bloody activities.
The amnesty is granted to people charged with terrorism crimes committed before Wednesday, and crimes committed against the security of the DAANES, the Kurdish administration said in a ruling.
The sentence of people temporarily held in prisons will be halved, life sentences will be reduced to 15 years in jail, and people with chronic diseases or aged over 75 will be released.
“Leaders, emirs and trainers of terrorist organizations” and “members of terrorist organizations participating in hostile activities against the Syrian Democratic Forces” are excluded from the amnesty. People involved in explosions and crimes that led to the death of civilians also cannot benefit from the amnesty.
Criminals at-large cannot benefit from the amnesty unless they surrender within 60 days.
The Rojava administration said in a separate statement that the amnesty was a response to requests from tribal leaders during a forum held in May, adding that it does not include people "whose hands are not stained with blood."
The statement said that the Kurdish administration will further facilitate the exit of Islamic State-linked families from the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka.
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at al-Hol camp since the military defeat of ISIS in 2019. The camp has been branded as a humanitarian disaster and a breeding ground for terrorism by security experts.
Kurdish authorities in Rojava repeatedly have called on the international community to repatriate their nationals from the camps, but their calls have largely gone unanswered as most countries are unwilling to bring back their citizens due to security concerns.
The Democratic Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (DAANES) declared a general amnesty for people not involved in bloody activities.
The amnesty is granted to people charged with terrorism crimes committed before Wednesday, and crimes committed against the security of the DAANES, the Kurdish administration said in a ruling.
The sentence of people temporarily held in prisons will be halved, life sentences will be reduced to 15 years in jail, and people with chronic diseases or aged over 75 will be released.
“Leaders, emirs and trainers of terrorist organizations” and “members of terrorist organizations participating in hostile activities against the Syrian Democratic Forces” are excluded from the amnesty. People involved in explosions and crimes that led to the death of civilians also cannot benefit from the amnesty.
Criminals at-large cannot benefit from the amnesty unless they surrender within 60 days.
The Rojava administration said in a separate statement that the amnesty was a response to requests from tribal leaders during a forum held in May, adding that it does not include people "whose hands are not stained with blood."
The statement said that the Kurdish administration will further facilitate the exit of Islamic State-linked families from the notorious al-Hol camp in Hasaka.
Iraqis and Syrians make up the majority of the 40,000 ISIS-linked people who have been held at al-Hol camp since the military defeat of ISIS in 2019. The camp has been branded as a humanitarian disaster and a breeding ground for terrorism by security experts.
Kurdish authorities in Rojava repeatedly have called on the international community to repatriate their nationals from the camps, but their calls have largely gone unanswered as most countries are unwilling to bring back their citizens due to security concerns.
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