Syrian refugees stand in line as they receive
humanitarian aid in Darashakran refugee camp, on the outskirts of Arbil in Iraq
Kurdistan region on December 28, 2013. © 2013
Reuters
January 13, 2014 (New York) –
Certain extremist armed opposition groups are imposing strict and
discriminatory rules on women and girls that have no basis in Syrian law, Human
Rights Watch said today. The harsh rules that some groups are administering in areas
under their control in northern and northeastern Syria violate women’s and girls’
human rights and limit their ability to carry out essential daily activities.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 43 refugees from Syria
in Iraqi Kurdistan and conducted telephone interviews with two refugees from Syria
in Turkey in
November and December 2013. The refugees interviewed said that the extremist
armed groups Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) have
enforced their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law, by requiring women and
girls to wear headscarves (hijabs) and full-length robes (abayas),
and threatening to punish those who do not comply. In some areas, the groups are
imposing discriminatory measures prohibiting women and girls, particularly
those who do not abide by the dress code, from moving freely in public,
working, and attending school.
“Extremist groups like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra are undermining the freedoms
that Syria’s
women and girls enjoyed, which were a longtime strength of Syrian society,”
said Liesl Gerntholtz, women’s rights
director at Human Rights Watch. “What kind of victory do these groups promise
for women and girls who are watching their rights slip away.”
The regulations imposed on women by Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS have a
far-reaching impact on women’s and girls’ daily lives, affecting their ability
to obtain education, provide for their families and even procure basic
necessities crucial to survival. Some refugees reported abductions of women by
these groups, and one refugee said that a widowed neighbor and her three young
children died during fighting because a prohibition on leaving her home without
a male guardian left her afraid to flee the area.
The refugees from Syria in Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey told Human Rights
Watch that, between September 2012 and November 2013, Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS
imposed restrictions on women’s and girls’ dress and movement in the Sheikh
Maksoud neighborhood in the city of Aleppo, the towns of Afrin and Tel Aran in
Aleppo governorate, the city of Hassakeh, the town of Ras al-Ayn in Hassakeh
governorate, the city of Idlib, and the town of Tel Abyad in Raqqa governorate.
These areas include religiously diverse communities of Sunni Muslims, Shia
Muslims, Alawites, Syriac Christians, and Armenian Christians.
Interviewees said that members of Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS
insisted that women follow a strict dress code that mandated the abaya
and hijab and prohibited jeans, close-fitting clothing, and make-up.
According to interviewees, members of these groups forbade women from being in
public without a male family member in Idlib city, Ras al-Ayn, Tel Abyad, and
Tel Aran. Women and girls who did not abide by the restrictions were threatened
with punishment and, in some cases, blocked from using public transportation,
accessing education, and buying bread.
Interviewees from Idlib city, Tel Abyad, and Tel Aran also said that Jabhat
al-Nusra and ISIS banned women from working outside the
home in these areas.
While interviewees were not always able to distinguish among members of various
extremist armed groups with absolute certainty, reports from media sources
and the Syrian Observatory
for Human Rights support the refugees' contentions that
Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS have imposed these
restrictions. Human Rights Watch cannot confirm whether other extremist armed
groups present in the areas mentioned were involved in imposing restrictions.
Syria does not
have a state-mandated religion and its constitution protects freedom of
religion. While the Syrian penal code and personal status laws, which govern
matters such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance, contain provisions that are
discriminatory to women and girls, the Syrian constitution guarantees gender
equality. Public protests in June 2009 led the government to abandon an effort to introduce more
regressive personal status laws. Interviewees told Human
Rights Watch that, in the past, women and girls were largely able to
participate in public life, including work and school, and exercise freedom of
movement, religion, and conscience.
Refugees said that Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS also imposed limitations on male
dress and movement in the village of Jindires
in Afrin and in Ras al Ayn, Tel Abyad, and Tel Aran, but all said that greater
restrictions were placed on women and girls. Former residents of Tel Abyad and
Tel Aran said that the armed groups did not permit males to wear jeans or
fitted pants, but that the groups imposed a less specific dress code on males
than on females.
Interviewees said that restrictions on movement for men and boys in the village
of Jindires in Afrin and in Ras al Ayn, Tel Abyad, and Tel Aran were part of
universal restrictions on movement, such as evening curfews; they said that, in
October 2012 in Ras al Ayn and July and August 2013 in Tel Aran, armed
extremist groups including Jabhat al-Nusra exerted control by announcing that
no one could go out in public after 5 p.m. In no cases were limitations on
dress or freedom of movement applied solely to men and boys.
While unjustified restrictions on dress and freedom of movement for anyone
violate their rights and should be rescinded, restrictions that apply to and
affect women and girls disproportionately are discriminatory.
Commanders of Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS should
immediately and publicly rescind all policies that violate women’s rights,
including mandatory dress codes and limitations on freedom of movement. The
groups should cease punishing and threatening women and girls whose dress or
behavior does not conform to the strict rules imposed by these groups. They
should also halt unlawful interference in women’s and girls’ rights to privacy,
autonomy, and freedom of expression, religion, thought and conscience, enforce
adherence to international human rights law, and punish those under their
command who restrict women’s dress and access to work, education, or public
space. Any concerned governments with influence over these groups should also
press them to put an end to these discriminatory restrictions on women, Human
Rights Watch said.
“Groups like ISIS and al-Nusra claim to be part of a
social movement, yet they seem more focused on diminishing freedom for women
and girls than providing any social benefit,” Gerntholtz said. “As we have seen
in situations in Somalia, Mali,
and elsewhere, these kinds of restrictions often mark the beginning of a
complete breakdown of women’s and girls’ rights.”
