State of the Occupation Q4 2021: Infighting Reaches All Time High During the Fall as War Looms

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Download the full report here.

RIC’s quarterly report on the state of the Turkish occupation in Northern Syria tracks human rights violations and crimes committed by Turkey and Turkish-backed SNA groups in the occupied regions of Afrin and the ‘M4 Strip’ – the border region between the occupied cities of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad.

During the fourth quarter of 2021 (October-December), RIC found among other things:

• 269 arrests across the fourth quarter and 1,095 arrests overall in 2021
• In 46 of these arrest cases, Turkey was directly involved
• Gender-based violence cases more than doubled since the last quarter to 34. Turkish operatives were involved in a quarter of these cases.
• 60% increase in cases of theft, including at least 3,688 fruit-bearing trees and a 50% tax on olive production from Afrin farms bordering the frontline with Shehba
• Continued construction of settler villages in 2021, including 32 in Afrin alone
• Infighting dominated the fourth quarter (24 cases), as SNA militias reorganized leading up to a planned Turkish invasion in the fall

Journalists and researchers may contact RIC to gain access to the full database, additional interviews with survivors, as well as our interactive map showing faction ownership and geolocated bases within occupied territory. These maps formed the basis for those featured in our report, which were designed by @LCarabinier.