Live: Assyrian woman held by YPG in Qamishli for weeks, family says
Samira Habsono, who lives in Qamishli, has been held incommunicado on charges of espionage since Aug. 1, according to her father.
Yasmeen Altaji | Updated Sept. 18, 2022
Editor’s Note: The following is an archival of live updates of Samira Habsono’s detention. Habsono was released on Oct. 4, 2022.
Sept. 18, 2022: Samira Habsono awaits trial, according to family
Samira Habsono awaits trial at a court facility, according to her father, Gabi Habsono, who spoke to The Word Sunday. He said authorities took Habsono to a facility that houses both the court and a section for interrogation; her trial will commence once questioning is complete, he said.
Sept. 11, 2022: Samira Habsono summoned to military court, father says
Samira Habsono was called to a military court for a hearing Sunday, her father said, citing anonymous sources.
Gabi Habsono, the 19-year-old’s father, told The Word Sunday that a network of sources with knowledge of the case, whom he kept anonymous citing security concerns, told him Samira Habsono went to a court hearing Sunday following a summons delivered the same day. He said he has not received updates since.
Habsono does not have an attorney, according to her father, who said he is in contact with a lawyer about the legal implications surrounding her case. He said Habsono is still being held at the Al-Baytarah women’s prison, citing anonymous sources.
Sept. 7, 2022: YPG sources reportedly ‘promise’ to release Habsono, father says
Samira Habsono could be released within days, her father cited anonymous YPG sources as saying.
Gabi Habsono, the father of the 19-year-old who has reportedly been detained since Aug. 1, said anonymous sources within the People’s Defense Units (YPG) have “made promises” to release Samira Habsono within “a day or two.”
YPG spokesperson Nuri Mahmoud did not respond to The Word’s requests for comment on the status of Habsono’s case.
According to Habsono, YPG sources, whom he kept anonymous for security concerns, have produced no evidence against Samira Habsono. He said he heard from sources Monday.
“They gave us news from inside that there is nothing on her,” Habsono told The Word in a voice message Wednesday. “They haven’t found anything that proves…she is a spy.”
Habsono has reportedly been held on charges of terrorism at the Al-Baytarah women’s prison in the Al-Kalasseh neighborhood of Al-Hasakah for more than one month.
Sept. 2, 2022: Habsono still held at Al-Baytarah women’s prison, family cites sources as saying
Authorities said Samira Habsono still being held in the Al-Baytarah women’s prison Friday, according to her father, Gabi Habsono.
Habsono told The Word Friday his mother was denied another visitation request that same day, but the prison did once again accept and agree to pass on money the family had brought for her. Gabi Habsono said a source inside the prison told his mother the 19-year-old is still at the facility.
Last week, anonymous sources told Habsono she “could be transferred” to an intelligence facility within days. As of Friday, no evidence of a transfer has surfaced.
Aug. 26, 2022: Samira Habsono could be transferred to intelligence facility, sources say
Authorities could transfer Samira Habsono from the Al-Baytarah women's prison to an undisclosed intelligence facility within days, her father, Gabi Habsono, cited anonymous sources as saying.
Habsono told The Word in a voice message Friday that sources, whom he kept anonymous citing safety concerns, said officials are “annoyed” at the disclosure of her current location and will potentially transfer her to a new holding facility in “four or five days.”
“She will be as good as missing if they move her there,” Habsono told The Word Friday. “We will know nothing about her.”
Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) authorities are currently holding 19-year-old Samira Habsono at the Al-Baytarah prison, located in the Al-Kalasseh neighborhood of the Al-Hasakah governorate, according to her father. He said his mother was denied another visitation request on-site at the prison Friday.
Habsono said sources told him an official formerly in charge of the Al-Malibiya regiment south of Al-Hasakah is leading interrogations of Samira Habsono. The U.S.-backed SDF gained control of the regiment from ISIS in 2015, according to reports.
According to Habsono, sources with inside knowledge told him the prison is providing Samira Habsono one loaf of bread each day and authorities are “applying pressure” in repeated interrogations.
“They are tormenting her,” he said, citing anonymous sources who told him authorities are accusing her of affiliation with the Islamic State.
The Islamic State attacked Syria’s Khabour region, then home to a dense Assyrian population, in 2015, kidnapping more than 200 villagers along the river’s banks and displacing much of the community.
Aug. 11, 2022 | Note: this article was updated Aug. 15 with a sixth paragraph on contact with Archbishop Mouris Abdelmassih.
A 19-year-old woman, Samira Habsono, has been held incommunicado by the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) in Syria since Aug. 1, according to her family.
Samira Habsono, who lives in Qamishli, had gone into local security offices responding to a call for a follow-up interview for a job to which she had applied with local traffic police, her father, Gabi Habsono, told The Word in a phone call Thursday. Upon her arrival, she was detained by the YPJ, the all-female branch of the People’s Defense Units (YPG), according to her father.
Habsono is believed to be held in Qamishli, her father said, citing a “network of sources” whom he kept anonymous. According to Habsono, sources alerted him that YPJ authorities are holding Samira Habsono on charges of espionage. The last time he spoke with her was prior to her supposed interview, he said, for the job to which she applied after earning a certificate in information technology in hopes of pursuing a career in the field. The family notified Stockholm-based Assyria TV, which released its report today.
Gabi Habsono holds a deputy position at the Martyr Agha Boutros Academy, an Assyrian military academy in Qamishli established by the Syriac Security Office. There, he is responsible for contacting Kurdish authorities when a member of what he called the “Christian community” has been detained and advocating for their release. But in the case of his daughter, attempts at contact have been unsuccessful.
“Typically, [these officials] respond and there is a line of communication,” Gabi Habsono said. “When I asked about my daughter, they stopped responding to me.”
He said he spoke with Mouris Abdelmassih, an archbishop of the Syriac Orthodox church’s local diocese, to alert him of his daughter’s disappearance. According to Gabi Habsono, Abdelmassih said he could not help.
Gabi Habsono told The Word that he considers Abdelmassih “responsible for the diocese, for the Assyrian community.”
“I belong to this community,” he said. “I told him my daughter is missing…and he is telling me there is nothing he can do.”
The Word contacted Abdelmassih for comment Thursday. On Monday, he had not responded.
The YPG is the primary militia of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Kurdish-run Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
“It’s the same story as Rasha,” Habsono said, referring to Rasha Shamoun, the 36-year-old reportedly detained without charges by the SDF in July and released one week later.
Update: Aug. 13, 2022
Samira Habsono is being held at a women’s prison in Al-Kalasseh, Syria, according to her father, Gabi Habsono, who visited the prison Saturday.
Gabi Habsono told The Word in a voice message Saturday that officers at the prison denied his request to see his daughter. He said authorities at the prison, which he called the Al-Baytarah Women’s Prison, told him his daughter is being dealt with as a terrorist and that visits are not allowed with prisoners held under terrorism charges. The Al-Kalasseh neighborhood is located in the Al-Hasakah governorate at the northwest side of the city of Al-Hasakeh, approximately 80 km southwest of Qamishli.
“I told them, ‘She has been in the same clothes since you detained her on Aug. 1,” Gabi Habsono said. “‘At least take her these clean clothes; I don’t have to see her.’ They told me it is not allowed.”
According to Gabi Habsono, officials at the prison said a court hearing is scheduled but did not give him a specific date.
The Word has contacted a People’s Defense Units (YPG) spokesperson for comment.
Habsono was reportedly detained on charges of espionage Aug. 1 by Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) authorities on her way to a job interview in Qamishli, in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), according to her father. She has been held incommunicado since.
The YPJ is the all-female branch of the YPG.
Update: Aug. 15, 2022
Gabi Habsono told The Word Monday that a court hearing for Samira Habsono’s case is still impending. He said he does not know the date of the hearing, and it remains unclear whether it will be held in an Al-Hasakah court or in the family’s hometown of Qamishli.
Update: Aug. 18, 2022
Representatives from the Kurdish-affiliated Sutoro contacted Samira Habsono’s father, Gabi Habsono, Wednesday to “collect information” about his daughter, including her full name and birthdate, Gabi Habsono told The Word Thursday.
According to Gabi Habsono, Sutoro representatives said they would update him on their progress on the case. He said the representatives he spoke with did not provide additional detail.
The Sutoro is a police force integrated into the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and associated with the Syriac Union Party (SUP). It is not to be confused with the Syrian government-aligned Sootoro, a Qamishli-based militia composed of members of local Assyrian and Armenian communities, with which Gabi Habsono is affiliated.
Samira Habsono has been held incommunicado by AANES security forces, called Asayish, for more than two weeks.
Update: Aug. 19, 2022
The family of Samira Habsono was denied visitation again at the Al-Baytarah prison in Al-Kalasseh where Habsono is being held, her father told The Word Friday.
Gabi Habsono, the 19-year-old’s father, said his mother, with whom Samira Habsono lives in Qamishli, visited the Al-Baytarah women’s prison Friday during visiting hours but was denied a request to see her granddaughter. Officials at the prison did accept clothing and money the family had brought for Samira Habsono, her father said.
Gabi Habsono told The Word in a voice message Friday the family does not have an attorney.
Update: Aug. 23, 2022
Gabi Habsono told The Word Tuesday he has not yet received a date or location for his daughter’s court hearing.
Officials at the Al-Baytarah prison told Habsono during his Aug. 13 visit to the facility that a hearing is scheduled but did not provide details, Habsono said.
This is a developing story. We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.
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Editor’s note: all correspondence with Gabi Habsono occurred in Arabic and has been translated to English for this story.