QAMIŞLO
The General Assembly of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria held a meeting at the headquarters in Eyn Îsa to discuss the Law of Self-Defense Forces.
The meeting was attended by the co-chairs of the Autonomous Administration Ferîd Atê and Sîham Qeyro. Speaking at the meeting that started with a minute silence t commemorate martyrs.
Sîham Qeyro, the co-chair of the Autonomous Administration, expressed his condolences to the Syriac people because of the anniversary of the Seyfo massacre.
Following this, QSD General Commander Mazlûm Ebdî made evaluations on the military and political developments in the region as well as the struggle against ISIS cell structures and the threats of the Turkish state’s occupation.
After the speeches, the Defense Affairs Bureau’s name was changed to the Defense Bureau. The proposal was unanimously accepted.
At the meeting, the draft law of self-defence law was read. The draft stated that the 12-month period of self-defence duty, with the exemption of the disabled and the only children of the family.
The draft also considered the situation of university students. The self-defence forces were submitted to the vote after evaluations and recommendations made on the draft of the statute. The Regulation was adopted unanimously and put into effect.
The meeting ended with the decision to make Ibrahim Al-Hasud, a member of the Cizre Regional Legislative Assembly.
The Laws Passed Are As Follows:
The Law on Self-Defense Forces of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria; The duty of self-defence is a humanitarian and moral duty that must be fulfilled by everyone living within the borders of the country.
Self-defence is based on the legitimate defence of society, common life, equality and multicolourism for the creation of a democratic and free society.
Article (1) – Terms
* Self-defense is the mandatory duty of every young person who is 18 years old and living in North and East Syria.
* The Office of Self-Defense Forces: It is the administration of the Defense Bureau which is responsible for the distribution of fighters to their units.
* Self-Defense Forces Center: It executes the tasks of the persons assigned to perform this duty according to the laws and decisions of the Defense Bureau.
* Persons to be appointed: Persons who have reached the legal age and foreigners who have obtained identification after 5 years in Northern and Eastern Syria.
* Warriors: All persons participating in the Self-Defense Forces and those completing their training at military headquarters.
* Opposing persons: Persons who have not applied to the Self-Defense Forces centres without any reason and have not received the Self-Defense Forces certificate within 60 days from the date of assignment.
* Deferment: People who postpone their duties according to this law.
* Exempt persons: Persons exempted from fulfilling the duty of self-defence according to this law. *
* Leakage: Persons who left their positions 15 days after joining the Self-Defense Forces.
* Missing: Persons participating in Self-Defense Forces but whose fate is unknown.
* Unattended persons: Children without parents.
* Outside the country: Those who live outside the Syrian territory are obliged to fulfil this duty.
* Military headquarters: These are the points where the fighters are trained, prepared and distributed to the troops by the authorized parties.
* Civil and Autonomous Governments: Autonomous and civil governments are as follows; Cizre, Efrîn, Fırat, Minbic, Tebqa, Reqa and Derazor.
* Extension of duty: Extension of duty periods if necessary.
* Reserve: Everyone who fulfils the duty of self-defence is obliged to participate in the reserved service when needed.
Article (2) – Basic & Fundamental Principles
* The duration of the self-defence duty is 12 months from the day of the commencement of duty in Northern and Eastern Syria.
Article (3)
* Women can voluntarily join the Self-Defense Forces.
Article (4)
* Persons coming from outside the Autonomous Administration areas must obtain a certificate of free movement until they obtain a self-defence duty certificate. The document is issued once.
Article (5)
* Persons in charge shall fulfil the obligations of the Self-Defense Forces where they are registered.
Article (6) – Service fee is charged in the following conditions;
* 5 thousand Syrian Lira is charged for the first time instead of missing persons.
* Cost of missing persons, the second time is 10 thousand Syrian Lira.
* If he loses his service book for the third time, he pays 60 Thousand Syrian Lira and is referred to the military court.
* 5 thousand Syrian Lira is paid as a first-time cost for illegal persons.
* 10 thousand Syrian Lira is paid for the second-time cost of illegal persons.
Article (7)
* Those who falsify or change the official documents of the Self-Defense Forces are referred to the military court and punished according to the law. After his term ends, he is trained in Self Defense Forces academies.
Article (8) – Allowed without bail:
* Families of martyrs
* Family’s only children
* Exempted due to health conditions
* Self-defense
* Officials who have received foreign residence in accordance with Article 25 of this Law,
* Students who are studying outside Syria and those who are accepted abroad
Article (9) – Personal exit without bail is given under the following conditions;
* Mother or father’s only child
* Severe patients
* Students who postpone their education in Syria
* Persons whose tasks are postponed by the Self-Defense Forces
* If the person in charge does not apply to the centre within 30 days after the departure time, the guarantor is obliged to pay one million Syrian Lira to the general treasury.
Article (10)
* The person’s bail is not exempt from Self-defense duty.
Article (11)
* All staff members are required to undergo a health screening given by specialist health professionals.
Article (12)
* Students participating in Self-Defense Forces receive exam permission upon the start of the training program. This permit can be obtained with the issuance of the certificate of study and is not deducted from the term of duty.
Article (13)
* The self-defence duty begins after the age of 18 and ends with the expiry of the term. Those who do not fulfil their duties are expected to perform Self-Defense until the age of 40.
Article (14)
* The decision of the age of participation in the Self-Defense Forces is left to the Defense Bureaux of the Civil and Autonomous Administrations. Each office determines the age of participation following the approval of the Bureau of Defense of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria.
Article (15)
* One month shall be added to the term of duty of those punished by the military court.
Article (16) – Postponement of duty
Students who will join the Self-Defense Forces may postpone their duties for 1 year. Postponement starts on 15 March of each year and ends on the same day of the next year. The task must meet the following requirements for postponement;
* The right to defer is accepted for high school students up to the age of 21.
* Right of postponement is accepted for students up to 24 years of age.
* Right of postponement is accepted for university students up to the age of 26.
* The right to defer is accepted up to the age of 28 for students of engineering and health faculties. * The right to defer is accepted for master’s students up to the age of 29.
* The right to defer is accepted for doctoral students up to the age of 34.
* The right to defer is accepted for medical speciality students up to the age of 34.
Article (17)
* Those who have the right to postpone their self-defence duties but have not yet completed the age of 18 are not considered as postponement years.
Article (18)
* Students who fail in the academic year and succeed in the next year are postponed to March 15 until they receive the new academic year certificate.
Article (19)
* If the education is suspended for up to one year, it may take the certificate again provided that it is done once at the university or college.
Article (20)
The duty of self-defence is postponed for 1 year for those who have specialized or doctoral education in universities and 2 years for foreign language students.
Article (21)
Self-defence duty is postponed for 6 months during the registration period for doctoral students. For students admitted to higher education, the duty is postponed for 1 year.
Article (22)
* Students who cannot get a graduation certificate in the year they graduated from university or college may postpone their duties by one year.
Article (23)
Academicians or students are postponed for one year provided that they do not turn 29 years old.
Article (24)
The duties of warrior brothers from the same mother are postponed twice every 6 months.
Article (25) – The duties of the persons who meet the following conditions are postponed;
* New Syrians returning from outside Syria are postponed for at least 6 months.
* The duty of the single children of the family is postponed for 2 years.
* Missing brothers are postponed for 2 years.
* Persons who have lost their father or have a disability before the age of 18 are deferred for 1 year The above-mentioned articles are approved by the necessary research of the Self-Defense Centers and the acceptance of the Self-Defense Directorates.
Article (26)
Turkey and Iraq signed the document but living in the region outside areas of the world the state is obliged to pay 400 US dollars for each year postponement.
Article (27)
Those who should join the Self-Defense Forces but who want to leave the region in ways that are not legitimate are caught and sent to training centres.
Article (28)
Those exempted from the duty of self-defence;
* Children of martyrs who are registered with the Council of Families of Martyrs
* Those with disease and disability approved by the Defense Bureaus affiliated to the Autonomous and Civil Administration and reported in Military Hospitals
* Mother and father’s only child
* All siblings with disabilities are exempted from the family’s parents as single children
* Unregistered persons
Article (29)
* He is discharged if there is no investigation about the fighters who have completed their self-defence duty
Article (30)
* The brothers of each warrior participating in the military forces can postpone the term of office with the certificate obtained from the QSD General Command.
Article (31) – Freedom of warriors and members;
* Those who have been in military forces for more than 4 years are released from Self-Defense Forces with the certificate obtained from QSD General Command.
* Those who join the military division for 2 years in a row are released from the Self-Defense Forces with the certificate obtained from the QSD General Command.
* Those who have served in the Internal Security Forces for more than 5 years are released from the Self-Defense Forces with the certificate they have received from the General Command of Internal Security.
Article (32)
* If any combatant is found to be partially or permanently disabled, he is released from the position of Self-Defense Forces upon the expert report of the Health Committee and the approval of the Defense Bureau.
Article (33) – Persons who do not cut the Self-Defense Forces certificate for more than 2 months shall be sanctioned as follows;
* Thousand Syrian Lira for not cutting the certificate
* 5 thousand Syrian Pound for not postponing the postponement certificate for more than 2 months
Article (34)
* The North and East Syrian Defense Bureau should announce their perspectives within one month of the date of the enactment of the law.
Article (35)
* All of the old laws regarding the self-defence duty in the Autonomous and Civil Governments are now ineffective. The Laws adopted today are effective immediately.
