On the evening of January 20, ISIS mercenaries carried out an attack on Al-Sina'a prison in the city of Hesekê with the aim of helping the ISIS prisoners escape. The detained ISIS prisoners also joined the attack.  The simultaneous attacks of the Turkish state on Tal Tamr, Shingal and Ain Issa showed that the attack was a planned and comprehensive attack.

 

IT WAS A PLANNED ATTACK

 

In the aftermath of the attack, statements issued by the Syrian Democratic Forces and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria stated that the attack was carried out as part of a comprehensive plan.  The confessions of the detained ISIS gang members also revealed that the scheme had been prepared in the areas occupied by the Turkish state and its mercenaries.  The Internal Security Forces and the SDF responded quickly to the attack, thwarting the plan as the sweeping operations continued.

 

From the first day, discussions began about how and the goals of carrying out this attack, which has become the talk of the hour in the world, and how it was planned and who participated in this scheme.  About these discussions, the Vice-President of the American Commission on International Religious Freedom, Nadine Maenza, spoke to Hawar News Agency (ANHA) about ISIS attacks on Hesekê and the possibility of trying them in an international court.

 

ISIS GANGS CAME FROM CITIES OCCUPIED BY TURKEY

 

Maenza said that the attacks of the Turkish state are rejected and said: "Most of the ISIS mercenaries who surrendered in Haseké prison came from the areas occupied by Turkey, and this is a matter of concern."

 

USA WAS SHELLING ISIS WHILE TURKEY WAS LAUNCHING AIR STRIKES AGAINST SDF

 

Maenza noted that targeting civilians with drones and bombing civilian areas, as well as Syriac villages liberated from ISIS by the Turkish state, contradicts the goals of the international coalition to defeat ISIS, and added: “When Turkey was launching air strikes on the area against the Syrian Democratic Forces, at the same time, the United States was launching air strikes against ISIS in Haseké prison with the Syrian Democratic Forces, how can the United States or the international community accept this?

 

Maenza noted the importance of the January 4 online meeting between Morse Tan, US Ambassador-at-Large for International Criminal Justice, Academy of International Law founder Matthew Daniels, and Ambassador of the Global Office of Women's Issues, Roving Kelly E. Corrie.  Badran Jia Kurd, deputy co-chair of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, as well as to the call launched by the leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Nowruz Ahmed, who called for the implementation of this call.

 

AUTONOMOUS ADMINISTRATIONS SHOULDN'T BE LEFT ALONE DEALING WITH ISIS PRISONERS

 

Maenza pointed to the difficulty of taking care of more than 10,000 ISIS mercenaries of 70 different nationalities, and stressed the need not to leave all this on the shoulders of the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian Democratic Forces, and said: "In order to prosecute those who cannot return to their countries, the international community must fulfills its responsibility by establishing legal mechanisms.”

 

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD HELP AUTONOMOUS ADMINISTRATION 

 

Maenza said that the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria deserves to be recognized politically as a regional and legitimate government, and that this matter is one of the recommendations of the American International Commission for Religious Freedom.  Maenza described the Autonomous Administration as "the only successful government in Syria," adding: "It guarantees religious freedom and gender equality. If the international community rejects the return of foreign ISIS militants or does not put in place legal mechanisms to prosecute them, it should support the Autonomous Administration in resolving these issues."