“All states that are members of the international community are obliged to protect the Kurds and other ethnic and religious minorities in Syria from external interference and violations of their rights,” say defenders of human rights and justice.
Around 200 independent Iranian lawyers made an appeal to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, European Union, UN Security Council, and other relevant international bodies and called for action in the face of the aggression against North-East Syria. The lawyers protested against the illegal attacks by Turkish-backed groups against the Syrian Kurds, warning of their humanitarian and legal consequences.
The joint appeal by Iranian lawyers reads as follows:
“We, a group of independent Iranian lawyers, as defenders of human rights and justice, express our deep concern over the continued military attacks by Turkish-backed groups against Kurdish areas in northern Syria, as well as the targeting of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). These attacks, which clearly violate international law, the UN Charter, and human rights principles, have resulted in heavy human casualties, the displacement of thousands of civilians, and the widespread destruction of essential infrastructure in these areas. Targeting the Syrian Kurds and violating the sovereignty of nations is an act in clear contradiction to the principle of respect for the territorial integrity of States and the right of nations to self-determination.
Now that a new political system must be established in Syria, no state has the right to interfere, either positively or negatively, in the exercise of the right to self-determination of the peoples of another country. Also, all states have positive and negative obligations to respect the right of peoples in other countries to self-determination, which is a peremptory rule of international law. The positive obligation of states is to respond to interference by other states through legal means, and their negative obligation is to refrain from any interference in the exercise of the right to self-determination of those peoples.
In this regard, all states that are members of the international community are obliged, based on Article 41 of the International Responsibility of States, to protect the Kurds and other ethnic and religious minorities in Syria from external interference and violations of their rights.
Our concerns and demands:
1. Violation of international humanitarian law:
Attacks against civilians, destruction of residential areas and vital infrastructure are clear violations of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and other principles of humanitarian law.
2. Displacement and humanitarian crisis:
The continuation of these attacks has led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians and is a serious threat to regional and global security. The international community cannot remain silent in the face of such tragedies.
3. Turkey’s support for armed groups:
Turkey’s financial and arms support for groups responsible for war crimes in these areas must be investigated and prosecuted.
Our demands:
Sending an international mission for an independent investigation:
We call on the United Nations and other international institutions to send an independent mission to investigate and document the crimes committed in these areas.
Condemnation and pressure on Turkey:
We call on the international community to take immediate steps to stop these attacks and hold the Turkish government accountable for its violation of human rights principles and international law.
Supporting the rights of the Syrian Kurds:
We call for the support of the Syrian Kurds as one of the most important forces of resistance against international terrorism and defenders of peace and security in the region.
Prosecution and trial:
Legal prosecution and trial of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Kurdish areas of Syria and punishment of their perpetrators in international courts.
We hope that this warning and our request will draw the urgent attention of the international community to this humanitarian and legal crisis and that practical measures will be initiated to end these crimes.”
The signatories of the statement:
1- Abdullah Jahanbin
2 Sanjar Fakhri
3- Sara De Bemehr
4- Azad Eshraghi
5- Iqbal Mehdizadeh
6- Fouad Motavasel
7- Mosleh Ghorbania
8- Najmuddin Jahani
9- Parisa Khademi
10- Reza Modarani
11- Sedighegh Hojjatpanah
12- Farzaneh Rahim
13- Farman Jafari
14- Hooman Jafari
15- Behrouz Amiri
16- Kamel Khalili
17- Sarveh Salimi Aghdam
18- Mohammad Javad Zarei
19- Farhad Majidabadi
20- Naser Dadkhah
21- Omid Darabi
22- Behnam Dastgir
23- Aziz Ebrahimi24- Yaqoub Kadkhodaei
25- Parvaneh Mian Darbandi
26- Kiymarth Ghorbania
27- Abdolsaheb Eskandari
28- Amir Ahmadi
29- Kaveh Asadi
30- Taimur Nadimi
31- Siran Nadimi
32-Parshang Khatri
33-Naseh Razavi
34-Heider Mansouri
35-Esra Moradi
36-Tara Aghabeigi
37_Chia Rahimi
38_Rizan Faridi
39_Sarshin Ghaderi
40_Hedieh Moradi
41_Leila Mansouri
42_Gazizeh Alaei Ardalan
43_Farzad Bani Bashar
44-Loqman Moradi
45-Ebrahim Rostami
46_Kaveh Rahmani
47_Seyed Jamal Hessami
48_Kambiz Ahmadi
49_Farooq Moradi
50-Amir Ziauddini
51-Azad Armi
52_Sarve Zandi
53_Tawfiq Gholami
54_Khosro Mohammad Veisi
55-Gholam Rezaei
56_Yahya Pashabadi
57-Azadeh Ahmadi
58-Azadollah Veisi
59-Asrin Sajjadi Nasab
60_Raouf Admin
61- Behrouz Nalbandi
62- Mostafa Hanifi
63_Ahmad Ajabi
64_Behrouz Sheikhi
65_Varia Mohammadi
66- Mahi Rahmani
67- Siran Nikpi68- Sarvohe Saed Panah
69- Donya Rezaei
70-Khosro Farrokhi
71- Hassan Mohammadi
72- Kamran Karimi
73- Yadollah Ahmadiari
74_ Sabah Kazemi
75_ Ribvar Tofighi
76_ Zhila Zandkarimi
77_ Omid Mohammadinejad
78- Zamaneh Mohabati
79_ Jamshid Nahovi
80_ Samira Hossein Panahi
81_ Nasim Jalalizadeh
82- Bahareh Kamangar
83- Omid Tari Moradi
84- Erfan Arefi
85- Hamed Mohammadi
86- Hossein Ali Shahsvand
87- Fardin Adabi
88- Jamil Akbari
89- Hamed Sohrabi
90- Valiollah Laweh
91- Kazem Mafakhri Bashmagh
92- Abdolbaset Pourzadi
93- Mostafa Ahmadian
94- Fereshteh Panahi
95- Raham Safari
96- Mansour Kolani
97- Shabnam Marvati
98- Mohammad Rasoul Khazaei
99- Arash Amiri
100- Hedayat Khanizadeh
101- Hamed Bahramabadi
102- Akram Mohammadi
103- Pakzad Mahmoudi
104- Abdolreza Rezaei
105- Mohammad Mehdi Rezaei
106- Masoud Zanganeh
107- Maryam Khosravi Moghaddam
108- Farzad Kakaei
109- Shapour Nikandam
110- Narges Mohebbi
111- Hamed Aris112- Mehla Mohammadi
113- Mona Abdi
114- Zeinab Karaniani
115- Hossein Moradgholi
116- Negar Zanganeh
117- Shahin Mohammadi
118- Mehdi Khazaei
119- Mehdi Almasi
120- Mohammad Reza Vakil
121- Sarveh Moradi
122- Yazdan Golmohammadi
123- Moein Asadi
124- Hamed Badfar
125- Jalal Esmaili
126- Behrouz Rostami
127- Saeed Ketabi
128- Hamed Aghaei
130- Mohammad Rajabi
131- Yousef Moradi
132- Sirous Ekhtaari
133- Ali Mardani
134- Maryam Nouri
135- Hamid Alikhani
136- Samira Kazemi
137- Najmeh Shahabadi
138- Seyed Hadi Rahmanzadeh
139- Soheila Darvishi
140- Bahareh Maleki
141- Hamid Reza Piruzinejad
142- Ali Sayadian
143- Sohrab Qazvini Keneshti
144- Majid Alikhani
145- Nahid Hosseini
146- Ali Mohammad Rajabi
147- Zahra Mousavi
148- Zahra Mohammadi
149- Meysam Fallahi
150- Afshin Nouhi
151- Hassan Azar Kian
152- Yaser Yazdanpour
153- Hosna Rostami
154- Roozbeh Fakhri
155- Saeed Karami
156- Yazdan Jafari157- Ayub Babaei
158- Saba Shahbazi
159- Farhad Ahmadian
160- Setareh Fatahi
161- Ruhollah Aram Doost
162- Osman Mazin
163- Masoud Shamsnejad
163- Behnam Dastgir
164- Aziz Ebrahimi
165- Yaghoub Kadkhodaei
166- Parvaneh Mian Darbandi
167- Kiyomars Ghorbaniya
168- Abdolsaheb Eskandari
169- Mohammad Jafar Saed
170- Ali Akbar Mohammadi
171-Mohammad Rahmani
172-Farhad Mafakhri
173-Hamid Mohebbi
174-Meysam Hassani
175-Rasoul Parvin
176-Keyvan Azizi
177- Heshmat Rahmani
178-Nahid Jafari
179-Mohammad Dolatkhah
180-Keyvan Fakhri
181-Hooshang Hamedani
182- Negar Gitavi
183-Sohrab Rostami
184-Asadollah Asadi
185-Reza Modirian
186-Hana Zekri
187-Parasto Tofighi
188-Omran Farrokhabadi
189-Farhad Aslani
190-Abdollatif Valdbeigi
191-Mokhtar Heydarian.[1]