A/HRC/40/70 61. In areas under the control of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, its “salvation government” has been increasingly undertaking activities aimed at taking over the provision of services, including education. The Commission has previously documented how, as early as August 2017, members of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham began circulating decrees throughout schools in areas they controlled, demanding that women and girls over the age of 9 years wear a black or dark brown jalabiya, a wide-cut, loose-fitting garment, when venturing outdoors. They could not wear dresses with bright colours, and had to cover their hair. Female students who did not follow the dress code have been banned from attending classes, while others have reportedly been beaten by female Daiyaat (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham morality police). Such edicts demonstrate discriminatory treatment on the basis of sex, in breach of international human rights norms. 25 62. Elsewhere, the terrorist group continues to recruit and use children – including many from families that are unable to support them financially – to operate checkpoints, such as in Bab al-Hawa, Ma’arrat al-Nu’man and Saraqib. The inability of educational institutions throughout Idlib to provide quality education, frequent targeting of those institutions by pro-government forces, 26 the lack of recognition by the State of educational certificates provided by armed groups and the low income of pupils’ families have further fuelled recruitment and use of children by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham throughout the governorate. The Commission finds that Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham continues to commit the war crime of conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 into its armed forces or groups, and using them to participate actively in hostilities. 27 Aleppo Governorate 63. As in Idlib, residents throughout the Afrin District of Aleppo consistently described a general absence of the rule of law, with parties in control either unwilling or unable to provide effective redress or, in some cases, extorting bribes from victims in order to do so. Despite changes in administrative, judicial and executive structures in Afrin (see paras. 69– 70 below), residents noted how armed groups exercising de facto control over sub-districts lacked discipline and were often involved in pillaging, arbitrary detention and abduction. The Commission was unable to determine whether Turkish authorities were able to control such conduct. Detention, abductions and torture 64. Owing to the lack of an effective security apparatus and attendant absence of the rule of law, the most common violations perpetrated in Afrin involved frequent abductions by armed groups and criminal gangs. As in Idlib, numerous physicians, pharmacists and other civilians perceived as affluent or their children were abducted for ransom. In some instances, individuals were re-abducted after having been released. Victims were often unable to identify their abductors, referring instead generally to armed groups, Free Syrian Army affiliates or criminal gangs. Demands for ransom ranged from a few hundred dollars to $100,000, or more. 65. Strikingly similar circumstances surround the extensive pattern of abductions for ransom by armed groups and criminal gangs in Idlib and Afrin that were corroborated by the Commission, possibly indicative of similar underlying motives (see para. 53 above). Victims and their families in Afrin reported such cases to military police, civilian police and Turkish authorities, with little to no effect. 66. Numerous cases involving arbitrary arrests and detentions by armed group members also included credible allegations of torture and ill-treatment, often targeting individuals of Kurdish origin, including activists openly critical of armed groups and those perceived to 25 26 27 See “‘I lost my dignity’: Sexual and gender-based violence in the Syrian Arab Republic”, conference room paper (A/HRC/37/CRP.3), footnote 6. See, e.g., “Human rights abuses and international humanitarian law violations in the Syrian Arab Republic, 21 July 2016–28 February 2017”, conference room paper (A/HRC/34/CRP.3), paras. 20– 31. Customary International Humanitarian Law, rule 156. 13