Dear Sir/Madam
We, (Human Rights Organization in Afrin, Syria – Rights Defense Initiative Organization, Syria – Rojava Center for Strategic Studies – Center for Research and Protection of Women’s Rights in Syria- Human Rights Organization in Al-Jazeera Canton – Syria) are pleased to invite you to attend the second human rights forum about human rights violations in Afrin region – Syria.
In January 2018, the Turkish state, in cooperation with its affiliated armed factions, launched an operation called the “Olive Branch” to occupy part of the Syrian state’s territory in a series of operations that have not stopped until now. It had caused hundreds of victims with more than three hundred thousand civilians displaced from their lands and homes, eventually the occupation of the Afrin region.
We believe, as the human rights and humanitarian organizations, organizing this event that the voice of Afrin victims has not sufficiently heard in the international debates related to the Syrian conflict, and they did not receive sufficient attention regarding the truth of what happened and what is happening to them. They anticipate the activation of International judicial procedures, holding perpetrators accountable, ending the occupation, returning home safely, and releasing detainees and abducted. Focusing on the Afrin region does not mean that the other occupied areas are not exposed to the same systematic violations by the Turkish state, but because of the continuing and the increasing number of violations in Afrin and the volume of crimes committed due to the media blackout in the region and the obliteration of facts and evidence.
This forum aims at shedding light on the crimes and violations committed in the Afrin region by the Turkish state.
We also aim to receive your opinions and suggestions for ways of cooperation and advocacy to take judicial measures against the Turkish occupation state and its armed groups and to send messages to international bodies and countries concerned with the Syrian issue to push towards an end to this occupation and the return of the forcibly displaced to their homes.
We are pleased about your response to the invitation to attend in person or participate via the Internet, which will be held on January 30, 2021, at 9 a.m. GMT.
– The discussion will take place in both Arabic and English languages, with simultaneous interpretation available.
– The meeting will be attended by international legal experts as well as several human rights and humanitarian organizations.
– participation link via the Internet (ZOOM) will be sent before the date of the meeting.
Agenda
The second Human Rights forum on human rights violations in Afrin, Syria. start at 09:00 GMT on January 30, 2021.
1. Forum opening 09:00 – 09:10.
2. A speech on the humanitarian situation in Afrin and the occupied areas in northeastern Syria and the consequences of the Turkish occupation on the efforts to stabilize the region by the co-chair of the Democratic Autonomous Administration, Mr. Abd Hamid Al-Mahbash. 09:10 – 09:20
3. Submit a report on all violations in Afrin by the Human Rights Organization Afrin – Syria.09:20 – 09:40
4. Briefing by Mr. Ghassan Ibrahim, Syrian journalist and dissident, on the situation in the Syrian territories occupied by the Turkish state, especially the Afrin region, and the crimes committed there. 09:40 – 09:55
5. Hearing the testimony of three victims from Afrin who were subjected to violations by the Turkish army and the affiliated factions. 09:55 – 10:25
Break : 10:25 – 10:45
Focal area 1: 10:45 – 12:15
6. The characteristics of the crimes committed by the Turkish forces and the Turkey-backed Jihadist factions in Afrin in light of international law.
By Professor. Azad Deewanee (Ph.D. in Peace Studies – Armed Conflict Resolution – MA in politics and international relation) – London.
(Interventions by attendees and participants via the Internet), the intervention should not exceed 3 minutes for each participant.
7. A briefing by lawyer Ayman Okail, Cassation Lawyer and Legal Consultant – General Manager of Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights – Egypt, on the theme (The characteristics of the crimes committed by the Turkish forces and the Turkey-backed Jihadist factions in Afrin in light of international law) 12:15 – 12:30
Lunch break: 12:00 -13:30
13:30 – 15:00
Focal area 2:
8. The crimes and violations committed against women in Afrin, the legal means that might be taken to prosecute the perpetrators, and the extent of the Turkish state’s responsibility.
By Lawyer: Majdolin Hassan (Diploma in International Law and Diplomacy – Member of the Women’s Advisory Council for the Special Envoy for Syria – Head of the Syrians for Detainees and Abductees ) – Vienna.
(Interventions by attendees and participants via the Internet), the intervention should not exceed 3 minutes for each participant.
9. A briefing by lawyer Ahmad Rajab Shehata Mahmoud Abu Shweba, Lecturer at Alexandria Faculty of Law – a member of the Arab Lawyers Union – Egypt on the theme (The crimes and violations committed against women in Afrin, the legal means that might be taken to prosecute the perpetrators, and the extent of the Turkish state’s responsibility). 15:00 – 15:15
Break: 15:15 – 15:30
15:30 – 17:00
Focal area 3:
10. Turkish occupation in Afrin: a crime of aggression under international law.
Lawyer: Jan Fermon (Lawyer at the Brussels Bar since 1989. – Specialist in international, EU, and Belgian criminal law and international humanitarian law) – Brussels.
(Interventions by attendees and participants via the Internet), the intervention should not exceed 3 minutes for each participant.
11. A briefing by Professor. Abu Baker Dhewah, Secretary-General of the Egyptian Bar Association and a leading member of the Arab Lawyers Union – Egypt on the theme of (Aggression Crime and the Turkish occupation to Afrin). 17:00 – 17:15
Break : 17:15 – 17:45
12. Recommendations and outputs of the forum 17:45
Please send a confirmation of participation to the following address:Tel: 00963981792700
E-mail:outline@r-d-i.org
