A/HRC/40/70 be so. On occasion, arrests were followed by the confiscation of the victim’s property, including vehicles and livestock. Similarly, individuals accused of being supportive of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) or YPG were detained by members of unidentified armed groups and subsequently interrogated by both armed group members and Turkish officers. Pillaging and extortion 67. Residents throughout Afrin regularly provided accounts of pillaging by armed groups and criminal gangs. The cultivation of olive trees remains a major source of income for thousands of farmers in the district, and the mass pillaging of olive harvests by armed group members during peak season deprived many of their livelihoods. In an effort to avoid situations of appropriation, other victims acquiesced to a “tax” levied against them by members of armed groups. The Commission also received reports of harassment, including of women, by armed group members and demands for bribes from individuals wishing to pass checkpoints. 68. While the Commission received accounts that Turkish forces had withdrawn during the period under review, some residents noted the continuous presence of Turkish military troops in Afrin and Azaz, including their alleged use of schools for military purposes in Afrin city. Turkish forces had been arming checkpoints in and around larger cities in the aftermath of Operation Olive Branch, though the vast majority have seemingly been replaced in recent months by armed group members, including those working with the Free Syrian Army. 69. General administration in Afrin also continued to undergo a series of transformations (A/HRC/39/65, para. 25). For example, reports were received that Turkish authorities were controlling, coordinating and financing administrative, judicial and executive structures. Funding for local councils and technical support for the issuance of vital identification documents were reportedly provided by Turkey, while residents also stated that such documentation was required by Turkish authorities as a prerequisite for civilians to move freely within Afrin and to adjacent districts. 70. Residents also pointed out that Syrian judges and lawyers continued to be appointed by, or in coordination with, the Turkish Ministry of Justice (ibid.). Others stated that Syrian laws adopted prior to the 2011 uprising were being applied by local and district-level courts. Though Syrian nationals, civilian police officers were reportedly also being selected and trained by Turkish authorities. Even so, interviewees generally described administrative and executive structures as largely ineffective and incapable of addressing grievances with regard to the unlawful conduct of dozens of armed groups. 71. The Commission finds there are reasonable grounds to believe that armed group members in Afrin committed the war crimes of hostage-taking (see paras. 64–65 above), cruel treatment, torture (see para. 66 above) and pillage (see para. 67 above).28 The Commission remains unable to confirm the precise extent to which Afrin and its environs were under the control of Turkish forces or armed groups at the time of writing, nor whether Turkish forces were capable of exercising actual authority and carrying out governmental functions in Afrin.29 Due to the glaring absence of the rule of law, it similarly remains unclear whether Turkish forces were capable of exercising overall control over any armed groups present in the district.30 Life under government control 72. Outside of the north and north-west, the success of fierce battles carried out by government forces between January and July 2018 in Aleppo, Damascus, Rif Dimashq, 28 29 30 14 Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 156. Case concerning Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2005, para. 173. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Duško Tadić, Appeals judgment, IT-94-1-A, 15 July 1999, para. 131.