3/2015 SYRIA Update on Military Service, Mandatory Self­Defence Duty and Recruitment to the YPG Copenhagen, September 2015 Danish Immigration Service Ryesgade 53 2100 Copenhagen Ø Phone: 00 45 35 36 66 00 Web: www.newtodenmark.dk E­mail: [email protected] Overview of Danish fact finding reports published in 2014 and 2015 Situation of LGBT persons in Uganda, Joint report from the Danish Immigration Service’s and the Danish Refugee Council’s fact finding mission to Kampala, Uganda from 16 to 25 June 2013 (Published January 2014) Update on the Situation for Christian Converts in Iran, report from the Danish Immigration Service’s fact­finding mission to Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey and London, United Kingdom 25 March to 2 April 2014 and 10 April to 11 April 2014 (Published June 2014) Stateless Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon, Country of Origin Information for Use in the Asylum Determination Process, Report from Danish Immigration Service’s fact finding mission to Beirut, Lebanon, 25 May to 6 June 2014 (Published October 2014) Eritrea – Drivers and Root Causes of Emigration, National Service and the Possibility of Return, Appendix edition, Country of Origin Information for Use in the Asylum Determination Process. Report from the Danish Immigration Service’s fact finding missions to Ethiopia and Eritrea, August and October 2014 (Published November 2014) Security and human rights in Chechnya and the situation of Chechens in the Russian Federation – residence registration, racism and false accusations, Report from the Danish Immigration Service’s fact finding mission to Moscow, Grozny and Volgograd, the Russian Federation, From 23 April to 13 May 2014 and Paris, France 3 June 2014 (Published January 2015) South Central Somalia, Country of Origin Information for Use in the Asylum Determination Process Report from the Danish Immigration Service’s fact finding mission to Nairobi, Kenya and Mogadishu, Somalia, 2­12 May 2015 2 Content Disclaimer .................................................................................................................................................... 5 Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................. 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 7 1. Military service in the Syrian army ....................................................................................................... 9 1.1. Areas in Syria where the government recruits for military service. ...............................................10 1.2. Procedure for military conscription .............................................................................................10 1.2.1. The procedure ...........................................................................................................................11 1.2.2. Enforcement of exemption rules in practice ..............................................................................11 1.3. Possibility to serve in the National Defence Forces (NDF) as an alternative to military service. ....12 1.4. Possibility of Ajanib Kurds being called up to military service .......................................................14 1.5. Procedure for calling up reservists for military service .................................................................14 1.6. Final dischargement of a person serving in the Syrian army .........................................................16 1.7. Evasion and desertion .................................................................................................................16 1.7.1. Evasion ................................................................................................................................16 1.7.2. Desertion .............................................................................................................................18 1.7.3. Possible consequences of evasion or desertion for one’s family members ...........................19 1.8. Extent to which conscripts are being deployed in offensives. .......................................................20 2. The Situation in the Kurdish controlled areas ..........................................................................................21 2.1 The Mandatory Self­defence Duty .....................................................................................................21 2.2 Procedure for conscription to the mandatory self­defence ................................................................21 2.2.1. Exemption rules.........................................................................................................................22 2.3 Profile of those being called up for mandatory self­defence duty ......................................................23 2.4 Evasion and Desertion .......................................................................................................................24 2.4.1 Evasion .......................................................................................................................................24 2.4.2 Desertion ...................................................................................................................................25 2.5. Possible obligation to serve in the YPG units upon completing the mandatory self­defence duty......26 2.6 Possible obligation to serve in the YPG units at the frontline as part of one’s mandatory self­defence duty ........................................................................................................................................................26 2.7. Recruitment to the YPG ....................................................................................................................27 2.7.1. Recruitment of women ..............................................................................................................28 2.7.2. Recruitment of minors ...............................................................................................................28 2.8 Ranks of the YPG being deployed in offensives ..................................................................................29 3 2.9. Prevalence of YPG attacks against civilians .......................................................................................30 2.10. Agreement between the Syrian authorities and the Kurdish administration regarding recruitment to their respective forces ............................................................................................................................30 Terms of reference .....................................................................................................................................32 Consulted sources.......................................................................................................................................34 Written sources ..........................................................................................................................................35 Appendix A: Maps of Syria ..........................................................................................................................37 Appendix B: The Law on self­defence duty in the Democratic Autonomous Areas .......................................38 Appendix C: Notes from meetings with sources ..........................................................................................40 Meeting and Written Communication with an International Organization...............................................40 Skype meeting with Kheder Khaddour, Carnegie Middle East Center ......................................................50 Meeting with Haid Haid, Program Manager, Heinrich Böll Stiftung (HBS), Middle East ............................53 Meeting with Nadim Houry, Dep. Director, Middle East and North Africa, Human Rights Watch (HRW) ..57 Meeting with Prof. Bassel Alhassan, Faculty of Political Science, Lebanese University .............................61 Meeting with Prof. Abbas Vali, Dept. Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Bogazici University ...........65 Meeting with Rami Sweid, a Syrian journalist from Aleppo ......................................................................67 Meeting with Ibrahim Jum’a, the representative of TEV DEM ..................................................................71 Meeting with a group of civil rights organizations (CRO) .........................................................................74 Meeting with a Western embassy ...........................................................................................................80 Meeting with Hassan Meshkini, director of Syrian Justice Centre for Human Rights (SJCHR) ....................82 Meeting with the Kurdish journalist (1) ...................................................................................................84 Meeting with the Kurdish journalist (2) ...................................................................................................87 Meeting with the Kurdish journalist (3) ...................................................................................................90 Meeting with a Syrian lawyer ..................................................................................................................92 Meeting with a Kurdish activist ...............................................................................................................95