Violation of property rights in conflict areas

This material is published in cooperation between the Syrian Kurdish Journalists Network (SKJN) and ASO News Network in a cooperation program within the “Women” project on human rights and public freedoms.

Alaa Mulla Ahmed

The right to own property is one of the basic rights of every individual in society, regardless of his race, social status, and economic condition, as it grants the individual the right to benefit from his real estate and property freely and with legal protection. This right includes the protection of private property for individuals and institutions, as it is considered the basis for the economic, social, and cultural stability of societies.

The period of crises and wars witnesses unique challenges that affect human rights in general, including the right to property and ownership of real estate. One of the most prominent challenges is forced displacement and expelling, as displaced residents find themselves in need of safe shelter after being persecuted and displaced from their private real estate properties and seizing them without governments taking any action. Or international organizations, there is no measure to protect their right to return to their property under the law, in addition to the indiscriminate destruction of civilian property in conflict areas, which ultimately leads to the seizure of property illegally.

Perhaps what increases the rate of violations of individuals’ property rights is the deterioration of the legal system and judicial institutions in war zones, which makes the task of protecting individuals’ rights to property difficult, and it becomes difficult to trust real estate records and confirm ownership rights.

The situation witnessed by several areas in Norh-East Syria following their occupation by armed factions supported by Turkey, “Serêkaniyê/Ras al-Ain, Girê Spi/Tal Abiyad, and Afrin,” where the properties and lands of the majority of the residents displaced from their cities were seized, including their private property.

Statistics indicate the seizure of more than 5,650 residential homes and 1,200 commercial and industrial shops in Ras al-Ain and Tal Abiyad, the occupied territories, and about one million dunams (100,000 hectares) of agricultural land, in addition to the emptying of 55 villages of their original inhabitants. The same statistics also documented the displacement of about 150,000 people from The indigenous population of the aforementioned areas. More than 2,815 displaced families from other Syrian regions, the majority of whom were families of ISIS fighters, were settled in the homes of the displaced and seized along with all their belongings, according to a documentary study conducted by the “T’azur Association for Victims.” T’azur also documented the seizure of more than 4,000 homes. Residential and farm in the occupied Afrin area.

Testimonies of displaced people whose property was seized
Mr. “Mohammad Ahmed,” a resident of Ras al-Ain and currently residing in the city of Qamishlo/Al-Qamishli, recounts the details of the seizure of his two-story house. I received a phone call from a neighbor in Ras al-Ain informing me that a member of the armed factions had offered my house for sale at a value of 1,000 US dollars, and the same neighbor confirmed to me during his call that the sale was taking place for the second time in a row, after all the contents of the house were looted, including furniture, electrical appliances, and even our own clothes.

Rojin, a resident of Ras al-Ain, remember her home in the city after her forced displacement to the city of Darbasiyah and her residence in a dilapidated house that was uninhabitable. She says, “My house was seized with all its possessions and I was prevented from returning. The new resident also told me, ‘The house was yours and today it is mine.’”
Rojin adds, “I struggle a lot to pay the rent to the owner of the house I currently live in, wondering if it is fair for him to take my home from me without any justification.”

Is the international community taking action to protect the right to property of individuals…?
Customary international humanitarian law stipulates that citizens’ private property must be protected and criminalizes its forcible seizure. The International Covenant Charter also prohibits any state occupying another territory from seizing citizens’ private property.

As Khalid Jabir, a human rights lawyer and researcher in the field of international law, told us, international law is clear on the issue of preventing and criminalizing the seizure of private civilian property, and the United Nations must follow a mechanism through which it urges member states under its umbrella, as it is the basic umbrella for all states that support human rights law and the Charter. The International Covenant adheres to international covenants and conventions that preserve and protect the property rights of civilians.

He stressed that the responsibility lies with the United Nations, in addition to the human rights organizations directly affiliated with it, as forced displacement operations are classified as war crimes according to the basic rules of the International Criminal Court.

Jabir believes that the solution lies in the United Nations taking punitive legal measures against member states who commit violations during armed conflicts, in addition to spreading and consolidating the human rights culture in member states.

International silence is met with more violations

“Joan Esso,” a human rights activist and head of the public relations department at the Committee for the Displaced of Serekaniye/Ras al-Ain, says that the international silence in the face of the war crimes represented by the seizure of civilian homes and properties in the city of Serekaniye, paves the way for more violations that continue on a daily basis, as people have been seized. About 80 to 90% of the shops in the city, 55 villages in the city’s countryside were emptied of their original residents, and more than 5 villages were partially bulldozed, while the village of Ain Hasan in the city’s countryside was completely bulldozed and turned into headquarters and training centers for military forces. belonging to the Turkish occupation state.

Isso continues his speech by emphasizing that they have not received any international reactions or positive humanitarian action in order to achieve the safe return of the indigenous people, despite the fact that the committee received several official international delegations within the region. Isso points out, “We presented reports explaining the tragic humanitarian reality of the displaced people of the city of Serekaniye who are residing in camps.” They were displaced and several tens of kilometers away from their occupied areas. We also sent official notes of protest both to the United States of America and to the Russian federal state. We also sent two notes to Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and to some Arab countries and official and unofficial bodies without receiving any actual response.

Measures that would contribute to restoring individuals’ property rights and officially claiming them
Meanwhile, Ezz El-Din Saleh, Executive Director of the T’azur Association for Victims, advises that the solution available to preserve and protect civilians’ private property lies in two basic steps: active participation in documentation through the participation of the victims themselves in documenting the violations they have been exposed to, in addition to preserving and restoring the official documents that they have been subjected to. It proves ownership in order to restore seized rights, for several reasons, the most important of which is that official documents constitute legal proof of ownership of real estate, and provide strong legal evidence supporting the rights of citizens before the legal authorities and courts.

Saleh points out the necessity of preserving official documents and restoring them when needed in order to preserve ownership rights and to recover property in cases of illegal seizure. In the event of loss of official documents, victims may also face difficulty in obtaining reliable copies of them due to the complex and expensive procedures that result.

Here, we must emphasize the catastrophic humanitarian impact that results from the phenomenon of taking away the property rights of civilians in disputed areas, and during crises and wars, as is clearly evident through the destruction of the infrastructure of the occupied areas, and the increase in cases of displacement and poverty, in a flagrant violation of human rights that are supposed to be Protected by international law and universal human rights conventions and covenants.

As a result, the most effective solution remains in the hands of the international community, by taking immediate measures to stop violations, compensate those affected, rebuild destroyed infrastructure, and enhance the capabilities of local communities to deal with emerging challenges. This will not be done without achieving the global commitment to protecting the rights of civilians in conflict areas, and promoting justice and stability to reach peace. Sustainable development in the post-war era.

*The image is from the internet