Fidaa Mohammad Qassem, an 18-year-old English student who lives in Kobani, a Kurdish-majority town under the de-facto control of the Autonomous Administration of north-east Syria (AANES), was forcibly conscripted to the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), AANES’s female military force, in violation of local law. The authorities deprived her from communicating with her family in violation of international law. On April 6, 2023, Fidaa Mohammed Qassem was returning from English class in Kobani when she went missing. A close relative told Amnesty International that members of the YPJ conducted an unofficial visit to Fidaa Mohammad Qassem’s family about two weeks after she had gone missing and claimed that Fidaa Mohammad Qassem had voluntarily chosen to join the YPJ. The YPJ should reveal the whereabouts of Fidaa Mohammad Qassem and allow her to communicate with her family.
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Contact information:
General Newroz Ahmed
Commander-in-Chief of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ)
Qamishli, north-east Syria
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YPJDefense
His Excellency Qusay al-Dahhak
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations
820 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10017
(212) 661-1313. (212) 983-4439.
Email: [email protected]
sample letter:
Dear General Newroz Ahmed,
I am writing to you regarding Fidaa Mohammad Qassem, an English student, who was forced to join the Women’s Protection Unit (YPJ) and has been denied access to her family. On April 6, 2023, a day after she turned 18, Fidaa went missing as she was returning from an English language institute in Kobani in north-east Syria. A close relative told Amnesty International that members of the YPJ unofficially visited Fidaa’s family two weeks after she had gone missing and told them that Fidaa had voluntarily joined YPJ.
Despite multiple requests, the YPJ has denied the family’s wish to see and communicate with Fidaa. I urge you to reveal the whereabouts of Fidaa and ensure that she has regular channel of communication with her family.
Yours sincerely,
[YOUR NAME]
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