Amnesty International says Turkish forces in the northern Syrian city of Afrin are giving Syrian militias “free rein” to commit serious human rights abuses. The group alleges torture, forced disappearances and looting.

Human rights organization Amnesty International accused Turkey on Thursday of allowing Syrian armed groups to commit a wide range of violations against civilians in Afrin.

Turkish forces aided by allied rebels captured the northern Syrian town in March from the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a terrorist group. According to Amnesty’s research, scores of displaced residents have since returned to their homes, only to be subjected to rights abuses.

What Amnesty’s investigation alleges:

Amnesty interviewed 32 people, both current and former Afrin residents, between May and July 2018, who said:

• Residents in Afrin are enduring “arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, confiscation of property and looting.”
• Most of the abuses were “at the hands of Syrian groups that have been equipped and armed by Turkey.”
• Some of the rebel groups and Turkish armed forces had “taken over schools, disrupting the education for thousands of children.”
• Afrin University was “completely shut down after it was destroyed and looted,” according to residents cited by Amnesty.
• Civilians have been punished or had their property seized on “baseless accusations of affiliation to the YPG.”

What does Turkey say?

Turkey has denied allegations of human rights violations, dismissing them as propaganda. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also previously said that Turkey has no wish to occupy parts of Syria and wants the rightful owners to return.

Amnesty said it sent its preliminary findings to the Turkish government, which questioned the impartiality of the research, but did not “provide a concrete response” to the charges.

Amnesty’s Middle East research director Lynn Maalouf said Turkey was responsible for the welfare of civilians as well as maintaining law and order, since it was the “occupying power” in Afrin.

“Without further delay, Turkey must end violations by pro-Turkish armed groups, hold perpetrators accountable, and commit to helping Afrin residents rebuild their lives,” she said.

Turkey’s role in Afrin: It’s not the first time troops backed by Turkey have been accused of abuses in Afrin. In June, Human Rights Watch said militias had looted and destroyed property belonging Kurdish civilians after the town was seized. Ankara has said it wants to make Afrin into a safe place for displaced residents to come back to, but it’s not clear how long its forces will maintain a presence there.