Children are subjected to physical and psychological torture in Syrian Democratic Forces recruitment centers

ARK News… In a detailed report, the Syrian Center for Justice and Accountability highlighted the violations and illegal activities of the Revolutionary Youth Movement affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), especially the systematic kidnapping and recruitment of children in areas under the control of the SDF.

The Syrian Center for Justice and Accountability said in its report: “The Revolutionary Youth Movement recruited children and carried out other illegal and violent activities, such as burning the headquarters and offices of Kurdish political parties (the Kurdish National Council parties in Syria), and intimidating political opponents.”

The report stated that the Revolutionary Youth Movement systematically recruits children under the age of 18, and sometimes 15, and these cases are not isolated cases, or resulting from individual mistakes, but rather systematic.

The report confirmed that civilians living in areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces live in difficult humanitarian conditions, and their children suffer from the physical and psychological consequences of years of conflict, and the Revolutionary Youth Movement invests its network of headquarters and activities in targeting children who live in fragile situations and are going through a sensitive adolescence age stage.”

According to the Syrian Center for Justice and Accountability, the Revolutionary Youth Movement lures children by luring them with promises of a different lifestyle and living independently from their parents. The movement often deceives these children and lures them under the guise of enrolling in educational or vocational courses.

The report revealed that the Revolutionary Youth Movement transports children to unknown locations outside city centers, cuts off contact and communication with their family members, deprives them of freedom, and forces them to undergo secret courses that last for approximately 6 months.

The Syrian Center for Justice and Accountability added that children who undergo compulsory military courses and demand to return home are subjected to beatings, humiliation, and physical and psychological torture, and many of them live in deplorable psychological states after their release.
Regarding the method of gagging the mouths of the families of kidnapped minor children, the report stated: When the details of a case of kidnapping and recruitment of children become public, the Revolutionary Youth Movement takes the initiative to contact the child’s family with the aim of silencing them, either through threats and intimidation, or enticement with empty promises.

The report added, in the words of one of the mothers whose minor daughter was kidnapped: “I received a phone call from the Revolutionary Youth Movement, in which they directed threats to me and asked me to stop publishing the details of the case on social media sites, and that my daughter’s joining the ranks of the movement does not warrant all this publication.” For details and news, she is not the only child to join the movement, nor is she the only mother whose daughter joins the movement’s ranks.

The report added: “The Revolutionary Youth Movement is embarking on measures to intimidate these families and threaten their members. The mother of one of the kidnapped children said that the movement tried to kidnap her other child, as a vehicle belonging to the movement approached her young son on his way to the grocery store, and they said to him: What do you like about This village? How about you accompany us to go to your sister? We will give you a car, and we will train you to carry and use weapons.

Although Mazloum Kobani, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, signed an action plan with Virginia Gamba, the United Nations representative for children and armed conflict, to end and prevent the recruitment of children under the age of 18 and their use in military operations, the involvement of minors in battles and their recruitment continues, amid neglect of the appeals of the children’s families and the calls of activists. Kurdish politicians and parties called for the need to put an end to this dangerous phenomenon, which in one way or another caused the region to be emptied of Kurds.

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