The Conscience Movement held an international press release in Istanbul with the active participation of 45 countries for the release of women and children in the Syrian prisons.

With the support of activists and intellectuals from 105 countries, nearly 2,000 NGOs from Turkiye and globe supported the press conference held at the Golden Horn Congress Center.

Golden Horn press conference at the Convention Center with the support of intellectuals and activists from 105 countries, Turkey and gave about 2 thousand NGO support in the world.

The "Conscience Convoy", which traveled from Istanbul to Hatay last year, a Turkiye's province at Syrian border, in order to draw attention to the drama experienced by women in Syria, will operate under the name of "International Conscience Movement" this year to raise awareness for the obstacles in front of the freedoms.

Within the scope of the activities, a series of programs will be held from February 20 to March 8, with the support of politicians, journalists, academics and Human Rights Defenders from different parts of the world.

The Conscience Movement, which carries out its activities with the slogan "We are Human," stated that they would continue their activities until the last woman and child freed from prisons in Syria.

Speaking ahead of the press conference, General Coordinator of Conscience Movement Yavuz Dede said there is war has been going on for 8 years in Syria.

"Unfortunately, in this war, we face a population of 12 million displaced people, both internally and externally. More than 500,000 people died in this dirty war. More than 300,000 people were arrested for right or wrongful reasons and imprisoned," he said.

Dede underlined that more than 7,000 women and children still live under torture and persecution in prisons with the identification of those who work for Human Rights in this process.

The spokesperson for conscience movement Attorney Gülden Sönmez invited all the leaders of the states, especially the United Nations and the organization for Islamic Cooperation, Turkiye, Russia, and Iran to make efforts in this regard.

"Numerous war crimes committed in these wars"

"The last two world wars in the last century caused millions of people to lose their lives and injured. These both wars, with numerous war crimes, continue to be remembered with sorrow," Sönmez said.

Stating that millions of people, with any color, from all over the world have died in these wars, Sönmez said: "However, each one of the killed souls is as precious as our lives, each one's dreams are as colorful and rich as our dreams."

"Numerous war crimes have been committed in these wars. In order to never experience these pains again, prayers rose from almost every house on Earth, every street, every mosque, every church, every synagogue. The United Nations was established. Many international agreements and Human Rights documents were signed. However, neither the wars have ended, nor the sufferings are over."

"What happened was deeply upset and revolted by conscious people all over the world"

Reminded that another brutal war that the world has seen began in March 2011 in SYRIA, Sönmez said: "During the Syrian war, we witnessed many war crimes and crimes against humanity accompanied by live broadcasts and we continue to be. We watched the children who have been killed by prohibited chemical and biological weapons, barrel bombs and who died in agony."

Stating that torture, rape, executions, mass killings, mass graves, deportation of millions of people and many persecutions have taken place in Syria, Sönmez underlined that according to official records, more than 450,000 people died during the war in Syria.

"The number of unrecorded deaths and losses is unknown. Up until today, over 13,500 women have been sentenced and over 7,000 women are still tortured, raped every day in these prisons and exposed to inhumane oppression. The Syrian regime has used rape as a weapon and continues to use it. The number of people held in buildings empty factory, hangar etc. used as prisons is unknown. Some women were taken while pregnant and gave birth in places where they were held; some women were imprisoned with their children"

The message of International Conscience Movement launched to the world was said: "Some women have been raped repeatedly where they have been held and forced to give birth to children who were the result of rape. The UN Independent International Syrian Research Commission noted that fewer cases of sexual violence were reported for reasons such as stigmatization and trauma."

"The relevant international conventions, in particular, the Geneva Conventions, have introduced regulations for the non-destruction of the civilian population and the prevention of human rights violations in the conditions of war."

"The 4th of the Geneva Conventions are organized specifically for the rights of the civilian population. Basically, in this context, “Everyone is entitled to the enjoyment of the basic legal guarantees. No one can be held responsible for a crime he has not committed."

"No one shall be subjected to physical and psychological torture, to corporal punishment, or to indignity or degrading treatment. The conflicting parties and armed forces do not have an unlimited choice of methods and means of war. It is forbidden to use combat vehicles and methods that will lead to unlimited, excessive pain and unnecessary losses."

The warring parties will always differentiate between the civilian population and the fighters in order to protect the civilian population; neither the civilian population nor the civilians would be the target of the attack."

Because we are human! In addition, the Geneva Conventions regulated specifically the protection of women:

Women will be subject to special respect and will be protected more particularly against rape, forced prostitution and all other kinds of immoral attacks. The conditions of pregnant women and mothers with dependent children, who are arrested or detained in respect of armed conflict, shall be evaluated in maximum. The parties, in maximum, shall endeavor to refrain from obeying the death penalty for pregnant women or women with dependent children due to an offense of conflict. Death penalty for such crimes will not be performed on women having these characteristics.

"Also according to the four Geneva Conventions of Common Article 3. "High Contracting Parties in the case of conflict, an armed non-international character occurring in the territory, each of the parties to the conflict shall at least be obliged to apply the following provisions: Persons, including the armed forces who left their weapons and non-combatant ones because of illness, injury, arrest or any other reason, who do not take an active part in collisions will be treated in all conditions without discrimination according to race, color, religion and belief, gender, birth or wealth or a similar criterion.

"For this purpose, the persons mentioned above shall be prohibited to do the following treatments anywhere and by any means: a) violence against life and person; in particular all kinds of killing, cruel behavior, and torture. b) Hostage. c) Infringement upon personal dignity, especially humiliating and degrading behavior. d) Penalization and execution of penalties without a regular court decision, which provides all judicial guarantees accepted as indispensable by civilized nations International conventions, states that must effectively implement these conventions, international jurisdiction mechanisms and all components of the international community recognize that people are under guard of these basic principles and public conscience even in cases that are not regulated by the legal rules.

"The protection of human life and dignity is a fundamental principle. We believe that the effect of the law and the manifestation of justice can only be possible if the action of public conscience and sense of humanity is activated."

"We all know that peace is the most beneficial for all people. But it is not as easy as a war to build peace. Nevertheless, we want a law for war too, to prevent the brutality. Because we're human and we want to do befitting a human being."

"We say war must have a law, have morality. Whether it is an international war or a local war or conflict, the above is a war crime, and everyone responsible for it must be prosecuted and accounted for not only the victims but also the whole human family. Who are we?"

"We are silent scream rising from the Syrian dungeons. We are a sense of humanity. We are the believers of that people, regardless of their religion, language, race, color, must live in a dignified and humane way without being tortured and persecuted."

"We are the prayers and words that rise from the hearts and lips of all the people on earth, for the freedom of every women and child prisoners who are cruelly incarcerated in the Syrian war. We, for all of us, believe that a just world where human rights are protected can only be possible with the freedom of Syrian women and children."

"In addition, we are right now! We want freedom for imprisoned women and children in Syria"

Syrian woman told what she experiences in prison

Majed Sharbajy, who told her story in the Syrian dungeons after the press release, said, "I was arrested, no one knew where I was. My family thought I was dead. I did not know what was going on behind four walls. We were calling each other by numbers in the dungeon. We were doing this so that we could continue to be completely missing. They were doing it to keep our names out of sight. It was strictly forbidden for us to call each other by our names."

"My number was 291. They were doing something like that so if someone released, he/she wouldn't tell people outside who was under arrest."

"They threatened to rape me over and over again."

Saying that she and husband were kept in a cell two floors below the earth, Sharbajy noted that there was no light at all and no air to breath. "We 20 women were being kept in a cell with a length of 2 meters and 2 meters of width, we couldn't sleep."

"Some were sitting while some had to stand up. I was exposed to any kind of torture. I was given electric torture and beaten. They tortured my husband before my eyes. They threatened to rape over and over again."

Saying that the situation in the dungeon was literally horrible Sharbajy noted that the conditions of life there were so hard that no one can imagine. "I couldn't wash my body for three months. Because it was forbidden. We all were infested with lice in the dungeons, and the worms haunted us. Some couldn’t cope with this so they lost their lives."

Stating that goalers were removing dead bodies every morning from the dungeons, Sharbajy added that people were dying every day because of breathlessness and heavy torture. "They put the dead in the morgue, and then bury them together in mass graves."

Sharbajy said her children, including a 2-year-old child, also were taken under custody after their arrest, noted that guards were beating young people in front of children to frighten them.

"They're arresting women for psychological pressure"

Sharbajy lastly stated that there were people infected with serious illnesses in the dungeon. "When I was in the dungeon, we had pregnant and old women with us. Those who had cancer suffered from pain, but no one was giving them medicine. Assad only arrests women for psychological pressure on their husbands who fight against him."

ILKHA