Today, Monday, November 1, a French delegation headed by Mr. Hubert JULIEN-LAFERRIERE, a member of the French Parliament, and a number of lawyers from the Paris Bar Association arrived at the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Relations in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, to discuss developments in north and east Syria, and about the recent Turkish threats to the region.

The delegation included Mr. Simon FOREMAN, a lawyer at the Paris Bar and representative of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH), Mr. Richard SEDILLOT, a lawyer at the Bar of Rouen and representative of the National Council of Bars (CNB, the lawyer of the Paris Bar, Matthew Packard lawyer at the Paris Bar and Secretary-General of the NGO Lawyers Without Borders France, and French Member of Parliament Hebert Julien.

They were received by the co-chair of the Department of Foreign Relations, Abdul Karim Omar, and the deputy of co-chairs of the Department of Foreign Relations, Fanar al-Kait, and Abeer Elia at the department’s headquarters in Qamishlo.

The two sides discussed the general situation in Syria after ten years of the crisis, the situation in the regions of the north and east Syria in particular, the challenges facing the Autonomous Administration at the political, economic, and security levels, and the repeated Turkish threats against the regions of north and east Syria.
Dr. Abdul Karim Omar spoke about the violations that occur on a daily basis in the occupied areas by Turkey and its radical factions, including killings, kidnappings, arrests, rape, demographic change, and others. Omar stressed that the continuous Turkish threats cause destabilization in the region and aim to revive ISIS.

With regard to the situation of ISIS fighters and their families in detention centers and camps, Omar said, “It is a major and international problem, and it is one of the repercussions of the international campaign against ISIS, and it will not be solved fundamentally if the international community does not cooperate with the Autonomous Administration and assume its responsibilities towards this file, and the establishment of a court to prosecute them is a necessity. It is urgent and it is important to prosecute them in the regions of northern and eastern Syria because the victims of ISIS who committed atrocities are present in the region, and therefore the evidence and proofs are here.”