On Friday, April 13, 2018, armed members of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) stormed the private house of Ni’mat Dawud and abducted the chairman of the Kurdish Democratic Equality Party in Syria and member of the Kurdish National Council’s (KNC) five-member executive committee. His current whereabouts is unknown.
Just two weeks ago, on April 2, 2018, Faisal Yusuf, also a member of the KNC’s executive committee, had been abducted by Asayîş forces. Until today, his family has no contact with him, his whereabouts is unknown. Moreover, it is yet not clear what the charges against him are.
Additionally, PYD forces stormed the private houses of Ibrahim Biro and Fuad Aliko on April 16, 2018. Ibrahim Biro is chairman of the Kurdish Union Party in Syria (Yekîtî) and former chairman of the Kurdish National Council. Fuad Aliko is a member of the political committee of the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (Etilaf). The PYD’s executive council of Al Jazira province has called for prosecution of the two on March 31, 2018, accusing them of being responsible for the deaths of civilians in Afrin because of their cooperation with Turkey. The houses of the accused persons were confiscated and the sister of Ibrahim Biro, as well as her husband and their two children, who were present during the raid, were captured for several hours. No one was present at the house of Fuad Aliko at the time of the raid.
By attacking the leadership of the KNC and its families, the PYD tries to silence the last remaining critics of its policy.
The Kurdish National Council in Syria has strongly condemned the kidnappings and the confiscations of the private houses of its members and called for the immediate release of Ni’mat Dawud, Faisal Yusuf and all other political prisoners of the PYD.