On March 14, the Kurdish National Council (KNC), one of the main Kurdish parties in Syria, issued a statement strongly condemning the killing of 16-year-old Ahmed Khaled Ma’mo by a 26-year old man in the Jindiris district of Afrin on March 13.

The KNC statement reported the boy was stabbed by Yamen Ahmed al-Ibrahim, originally from Idlib. The body was dumped in a water well. Al-Ibrahim’s father learned about the crime and informed the military police, who arrested his son.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a crowd of people marched in the streets of Afrin on Wednesday, calling for justice.

The boy was buried on Thursday in the presence of hundreds of people, as mourners called for an end to human rights violations against the people of Afrin.  

The KNC statement asked the Syrian National Coalition, an opposition umbrella organization, and the opposition-linked Syrian Interim Government, which rules areas controlled by the Turkish-backed opposition, to end human rights violations and prosecute the criminals.

Moreover, the KNC called on Turkey to take action and responsibility to end “all the violations and injustices” in Afrin.

The mother of Ahmed Khaled Ma’mo in a video asked for retribution – rather than appealing to the legal system – showing a distrust in the opposition-linked judicial system.

“Just as they killed my son, they must be killed,” she said. “Just as they considered my son’s blood to be cheap, the blood of their children must also be cheap.” 

“What did we do? And what is our crime? Is it just because we are Kurds!? I will not go to your courts, because you are liars. The courts are yours and you yourselves are the killers. You kill people and then establish courts for yourselves.” 

“If you do not help us, today it was my son and tomorrow it will be your child,” Ma’mo’s mother lamented. “Yesterday it was the Peshmerga family and today my son joined them, without anyone being held accountable.”

The Turkish army and allied Syrian rebels, also known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), took control of Afrin city from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in 2018.

Since then, numerous reports have emerged alleging human rights abuses in the Kurdish-majority Afrin region, including demographic shifts resulting from a significant influx of Syrian Arabs from other provinces.

On March 20, 2023, four people from the Peshmerga family were killed by Turkish-backed Syrian rebel fighters in Afrin’s Jindiris district while celebrating Newroz, the Kurdish New Year.

#BCF relief team visited families of #Kurdish civilians killed while celebrating #Nawruz in #Afrin's Jindires. They conveyed condolences of H.E. Masrour Barzani, Head of the #BCF Founding Board and #KRG PM, to the families of the martyrs. pic.twitter.com/0b1GQdOCnz

— Barzani Charity Foundation (@BarzaniCF) April 18, 2023

At that time, Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani condemned the crime and urged local authorities to ensure the perpetrators were brought to justice.

On January 17, three suspects were sentenced to death. However, Lelun, a human rights association from Afrin, reported in February that the victims’ relatives considered the ruling unfair, since it acquitted the main leader responsible for the deaths due to lack of evidence.

Moreover, so far no death sentences have been carried out in areas under control of the Syrian Interim Government, since there is no higher authority to sign off on death sentences. 

In a report released on March 11, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria emphasized that the SNA should hold “its forces accountable for such violations of international law, in accordance with international standards.”

The UN Commission also mentioned that in areas under effective Turkish control, Turkey “has a responsibility to ensure public order and safety, and to afford special protection to women and children.”

In a report on the killing of four members of the Peshmerga family on March 23, 2023, Human Rights Watch said that, despite claims by the Syrian Interim Government that they are taking steps to hold human rights abusers accountable, SNA factions continue to commit grave abuses.

Bassam Alahmad, the executive director of Syrians for Truth and Justice, told Kurdistan Chronicle that the murder of Ahmed Khaled Ma’mo is more clear evidence that areas under control by Turkey and its proxies “are not safe, and also shows a new example of how impunity could lead to more violations.”