Turkish forces torture arrested Afrin residents to make them spies

The whereabouts of almost half of the fighters who were captured during the invasion attack on Afrin launched by the Turkish army on January 20, 2018, and more than 8,000 civilians kidnapped during the four years of occupation remain unknown. There are reports that some prisoners were tortured to death in several prisons run by the occupation forces. It is also reported that some prisoners were taken to Turkey in defiance of international law, prosecuted and sentenced to life imprisonment there.

Since 2018, the Turkish forces have been forcing other prisoners of war and abducted civilians to work as spies against their own fellow citizens through torture and threats. Numerous Afrin residents who were released from prison have exposed the practices of torture and spying impositions. One of them is Fatma Şabo, a member of the Afrin Public Security Forces (Asayish).

Fatma Şabo, who is from Afrin’s Mabata district, was a member of the Asayish when the Turkish invasion started on January 20, 2018. The Afrin Asayish both provide security inside the city and fight on battle fronts.

Şabo was captured by the Turkish forces while trying to save a friend who was injured in the Kurka village of Afrin’s Mabata district. She was tortured for three months by the Turkish intelligence and mercenaries and saw four of her friends tortured to death in prison. Three months later, Şabo and a group of her friends who were released in Afrin by the Sultan Murat mercenary group were offered to act as spies on behalf of the occupation forces. Şabo turned down the offer of torturers. She moved to Sheikh Maqsoud (Şêx Meqsûd) neighbourhood in Aleppo from Afrin and became a member of the Asayish forces again.

Şabo explained that the Turkish forces and their mercenaries also tortured Afrin civilians in prisons. “They wanted to break our will and make us betray our values, yet on the contrary, our will only grew stronger,” she said.

SAVING A FRIEND

Şabo performed her duty in the district centre of Mabata during the first month of the resistance. She joined the battle in Kurka together with 6 other Asayiş members. She was captured while trying to save an injured friend.

Şabo described to ANF how she had been captured: “The battle in Afrin had already begun. The occupation forces were attacking villages and towns by fighter jets and howitzers. They also targeted civilians. It was a very fierce battle. Asayiş members were going to the battle fronts in groups. We went to the village of Kurka a month after the battle started. We stayed there for two days. They attacked us on the 2nd day by fighter jets. There were also cannon fires. Reconnaissance planes kept flying above us. Then their mercenaries came close to us. They also started to attack us. A male fighter died next to me. His name was Ciwan. I thought he was just injured when he was shot and fell to the ground. I went to save him. When I came closer to the injured fighter, mercenaries captured me. There was nothing I could do. If I had had a bomb with me, I would have detonated it myself, but there was no bomb. I was captured there.

TURKISH INTELLIGENCE TORTURED PRISONERS

Şabo said that after she was captured, she was first taken to a military base in Turkey where she was tortured by the Turkish intelligence during interrogations: “They took me to a place in Turkey. They had not blindfolded me yet. I don’t know where exactly, but it was a military base. Then they tied my hands and blindfolded me. The Turks began to interrogate me. Since I did not know Turkish, their mercenaries were translating what I said. They applied all kinds of torture to me including electric shock torture. They interrogated me for three hours. I wasn’t answering them. I was thinking like ‘If I’m taken prisoner, let them kill me’. They were asking questions and beating me. I really didn’t know what was happening to me anymore. I was half-conscious. Then they pointed a gun to my head and said, “say your last prayer, we will kill you”. They did not kill me, but beating, swearing and torture continued.”  

THEY WANTED TO MAKE US SUBMIT

After being interrogated and tortured by the Turkish intelligence, Şabo was taken to another prison, blindfolded and her hands tied. She realized that the prison was run by the Sultan Murat mercenary group.

“The mercenaries took me to a cell to torture me. They showed me some tools used for torture and said that ‘if you don’t tell the truth, we will use them on you’. They said that ‘the Turks will come in the morning and interrogate you, you have to speak the truth’. The next day, Turkish intelligence showed up and asked the same questions again. Back then, Afrin had not been occupied yet. They asked me where the heavy weapons and friends were. I kept replying “I don’t know”. They tortured me again. Then they took me to a ward in the prison. I stayed in that ward. They were swearing, beating, torturing me. Their purpose was to break our will and make us submit. They showed us a footage of how they occupied Afrin. It showed how they destroyed Kawa the Blacksmith statue and how they celebrated when they occupied Afrin. They said that ‘We are strong, you are weak. We’ll do anything to destroy you.’ They wanted to suppress us psychologically and make us betray our friends.”

TORTURE TO DEATH

Şabo said that YPG, YPJ, Asayiş, HPC members, as well as those working in the communes, women’s houses and civilian institutions in Afrin were also held in the prison. “There were too many male prisoners in the prison. The Turks and mercenaries tortured male fighters in a very brutal way. They were torturing and beating them right before our eyes. Each night male fighters were tortured, and we heard their cries. We couldn’t sleep until morning. They were beating and applying electric shock. They used all torture methods on them. The torture generally started at 12 am and continued uninterruptedly until 6.30 in the morning. Some male fighters were martyred due to torture. They were torturing them for two or three days, and then saying, “This one is dead”. I witnessed that four friends were martyred by torture there. The cells where male friends were staying were opposite to ours. When they tortured them, we saw it and when they tortured us, they saw it. Sometimes they used to take us out, saying ‘we’re taking you to the bathroom’. We saw our friends lying on the floor in the hallways. They were beating them before our eyes. They were doing this for us to see. They made us watch it to break our will. The Turks tortured worse than the mercenaries.”

TAKEN TO AFRIN AND OFFERED TO BECOME SPY

Şabo explained how she was released after staying there for three months: “One day, they told me and three of my captive friends who were also members of the Asayiş that we would be release’. They argued with us before releasing us, saying, ‘You will stay in Afrin and inform us who is going to Afrin.’ They gave us their phone numbers. We received the numbers written on papers but tore them up after going outside. When I was captured, I was married and had a daughter. I didn’t receive any information about my family the whole time. They dropped me off in front of my father’s house. I stayed in Afrin for a month and 10 days. I reached my family. My husband and daughter had moved to Şehba. So much had changed in Afrin. The Afrin, where we were once free, did not exist anymore. Corruption was rampant. They turned Afrin into a centre of persecution. I couldn’t leave the house because they could capture me again. Then I found a way and came to Şehba from Afrin. From there, we moved to Aleppo’s Şêx Meqsûd neighbourhood with my family.”

OUR WILL IS STRONGER

Şabo pointed out that all the torture was executed to break their will and to make them betray the values ​​they cherished. “There were also those who failed to resist, but I and several other friends, on the contrary, became stronger to maintain our will. In their last conversation with us, they said that ‘If you go back to your organizations, if you work for them, we will find you and cut your head off’. However, I returned to my organization as soon as I got out despite all the torture I had suffered in prison. They wanted to break the will of us female fighters but on the contrary, we are stronger than before.”