ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES) declared a mass prison amnesty for the advent of Eid al-Fitr, which excludes convicted terror offenders, rapists, and drug dealers.
The amnesty provides a full pardon for those charged with “violations” – although the NES provided no specifics. The term is usually used to refer to minor crimes like traffic offenses and breaches of building regulations. The amnesty will not apply to anyone convicted after Sunday.
Kanaan Barakat, the NES interior minister, told Rudaw English he did not know how many people would be released, as “details of the amnesty are not clear.” Rudaw English also contacted Berivan Khalid, co-chair of the NES, but she was not available to comment.
Under the amnesty, inmates jailed for misdemeanors, which are generally less serious than felonies, will see their sentence reduced by a third, while those jailed for life will see their sentence commuted to 20 years. Those on temporary sentences (not sentenced to death or life in prison) will see their jail time halved.
Those with incurable or terminal diseases will also be released.
Some convicts are excluded from the amnesty, however.
“The amnesty excludes rapists, drug dealers, terrorists, and those convicts who are wanted but are at large,” the NES said in a statement announcing the amnesty on Sunday afternoon.
“They [people at large] will not benefit from the amnesty if they fail to turn themselves in in the coming 60 days.”
Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria, known to Kurds as Rojava, are holding tens of thousands of prisoners in makeshift jails, including political prisoners and those affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS).
The opposition Kurdish National Council (ENKS) claims several of its members have been arrested by Rojava authorities – the fate of many currently unknown. Local authorities deny they are holding ENKS members.
It is not clear whether the amnesty extends to political prisoners. The interior minister told Rudaw English he does not know this either.
Rojava authorities are also administering several camps, including the now notorious Al-Hol, housing around 10,500 woman and children related or affiliated with ISIS militants from 54 different counties, Sheikhmous Ahmed, head of Rojava camps, told Rudaw English.
Most of these camp residents were arrested in March 2019 in the battle of Baghouz, where ISIS made its last stand in eastern Syria.
There are around 10,000 ISIS militants held in Rojava prisons, among them around 2,000 foreigners awaiting legal mechanisms to prosecute them. NES officials have called on the international community to repatriate their nationals or help facilitate trials in Syria.
There have been several escape attempts by ISIS prisoners and their families in Rojava – the most recent on Sunday.
Seven ISIS militants escaped from a small jail in the town next to Al-Hol camp. Four of them were later recaptured but three remain at large.
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