Amnesty exposes US, UK complicity in torture-ridden SDF camps

Amnesty International exposes in a new report the involvement of the US and the UK in detaining thousands, including British citizens, in camps and facilities controlled by the US-backed SDF in northeastern Syria, where disease, torture, and mortality rates are near-unprecedented.

The report indicates that the Western-backed SDF is accountable for widespread human rights abuses against individuals detained since the conclusion of the ground war against the Islamic State (IS) over five years ago.

Amnesty asserts that the US plays a significant role in various aspects of the detention system, which comprises a minimum of 27 underreported facilities where suspected IS affiliates are detained, including the al-Hawl and Roj camps.

As per the report, among the 56,000 detainees are 30,000 children and 14,500 women, along with over 20 UK nationals. Additionally, individuals who have been deprived of their British citizenship are included, notably Shamima Begum, who was 15 years old when she left East London to join the IS and is currently located in the Roj camp.

In further detail, the report reveals that the United Kingdom has allocated more than £15 million to support the enlargement of a significant detention facility operated by the SDF, known as Panorama. This facility detains males, including boys, who are reported to be suffering from inadequate access to food and medical care, leading to a rise in illnesses and diseases. Amnesty highlights a distressing tuberculosis outbreak within the facility, with one to two deaths occurring each week as a result.

UK urged to stop blocking repatriation amid torture reports

Sacha Deshmukh, the charity’s UK chief executive, said: “Continued inaction from the government amounts to connivance in the unlawful detention of UK nationals amid misery, disease and possible death.”

“The UK government has a responsibility for all its citizens, including Shamima Begum, which it can’t cast off when that might suit it,” he added.

He urged the UK to cease obstructing the repatriation of its citizens and to assist in establishing a fair procedure for determining who should be released and for bringing IS criminals to justice.

The report, which features interviews with 126 present or former detainees, presents distressing accounts of torture.

Yusuf (pseudonym), one of eight individuals held in an SDF detention center near al-Shaddadi city, who provided testimony to Amnesty, said: “The worst was when they came inside the room … carrying plastic pipes, cables, steel pipes, and they beat us everywhere … Every 15 days, they would take us out, in the yard, all naked … [The guards] were raping people with [a] stick … Once they took me [out of the cell] with another guy … They brought an electricity cable from the generator, and they kept torturing us by electricity … I think the guy next to me died. He stopped moving and screaming.”

Another detainee mentioned that during a visit by US soldiers to the facility in December 2021, “they were able to see the blood on the wall.” 

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Amnesty exposes horrors, urges US accountability

The report highlights significant levels of gender-based violence within al-Hawl, which includes assaults on women by IS affiliates for perceived moral violations and instances of sexual exploitation by security forces and private individuals. Additionally, women have been unlawfully separated from their children.

Amnesty notes that among those detained in the detention system are victims of IS, including survivors of the Yazidi genocide, individuals subjected to forced marriage to IS members, and victims of child recruitment.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said: “The US government has played a central role in the creation and maintenance of this system in which hundreds have died preventable deaths, and must play a role in changing it.”

It is worth noting that the Syrian areas under the control of the SDF are experiencing a continuous deterioration in the living conditions, with frequent demonstrations denouncing the marginalization of the Arab clans in the region, with the US-backed forces being accused of stealing oil and depriving the people of their right to obtain fuel, which led to the deterioration of agriculture and the economy and the spread of unemployment among the people.
 
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