Syrian Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf’s family received her remains in pieces after she was executed on Saturday, Khalaf’s mother Souad Mohammed told Syrian news agency North Press.
“I moved a cloth that covered her chest and face and found nothing left of her body but a small piece from her jaw,” North Press quoted the mother as saying.
Syrian Future Party Co-chair Khalaf was executed by a Turkish-backed group on Saturday, her party said in a statement. A video emerged showing her body, which was celebrated by pro-government media in Turkey who later renounced the death.
The group that captured Khalaf called her mother, who heard them shouting in Arabic, Souad Mohammed told North Press. “My daughter was a civilian, she has never been a combatant. She was a political advocate, that is a human right guaranteed for every man and woman,” she added.
Immigration attorney Samira Ghaderi posted an autopsy report listing Khalaf’s injuries on social media.
“From the above we conclude that the woman was beaten with a solid body on the head … also beating by sharp objects on the posterior face of the legs … and dragged from her hair causing the hair to [rip out] … then she was hit by gunshot … After falling to the ground, she was hit by four shots from the back … not at close range,” the report concluded.ahvalnews
Turkey’s Vice President Fuat Oktay said in an interview with Sky News that they were looking into the matter.
A spokesman for the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army, an umbrella group that includes various rebel factions, said its units had not made it as far as that area.
“We condemn in the strongest of terms any mistreatment and extrajudicial execution of civilians or prisoners, and are looking further into these circumstances,” a U.S. State Department spokesman told Reuters.