Amnesty International responded to the enactment of Amnesty Law No. 10 of 2024 in the Autonomous Administration of North & East Syria (AANES) in a press release July 23. The rights group commended the new law, which calls for a review of convictions under the regional administration's expansive counter-terrorism laws. Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International's deputy regional director for the Middle East, said: "The general amnesty law could reduce the sentences of Syrians convicted after unfair trials in the People's Defence Courts, or, in some cases, offer them the chance to be free and resume their lives. Detainees were denied access to a lawyer and in many cases were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment to extract forced confessions."

Majzoub called on the AANES authorities to expand the scope of the law to include Iraqi nationals convicted of collaborating with the Islamic State (ISIS). Said Majzoub: "Amnesty International remains deeply concerned about the tens of thousands of men, women, and children in the custody of the autonomous authorities, many of whom have been held for more than five years without charge or trial."

Systematic human rights violations within the AANES detention system were extensively documented in a report by Amnesty International released in April, "Aftermath: Injustice, Torture, and Death in Detention in North-East Syria." 

From Jurist, July 24. Used with permission. 

Note: The AANES is the autonomous administration of the Kurdish-controlled zone in Syria's northeast. See our last report on the AANES detention system.