My name is Hevrin, from Derik, a city in Rojava. I studied and lived there, but now my work is in Qamishlo. I studied civil engineering in Aleppo for five years and I completed my education in 2009. After working for the government for one year, the revolution started. This was in 2011.

My family deserves the credit for my participation in the Rojava revolution; they are patriotic and have been organized for years. They always took me to meetings and social events. In other words, I have never been far away from political organizing and have always had strong roots in our society.

This may be the case everywhere in the Middle East, but especially in Rojava there still exists a strong unity and solidarity among our people. Living together, or what we call ‘communal living’ is still alive and common today. I am also part of this communal society.

These were Hevrin Khalaf’s words in the spring of 2018 when I met her. On October 12, 2019, three days after Turkey launched its military offensive into northern Syria, she was brutally murdered. According to reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, she was dragged out of her car and shot in cold blood on the road. Her autopsy reveals she was shot, beaten with heavy objects and dragged by her hair until the skin on her scalp came off.

I do not know how many times I have listened to our interview recordings since I heard the horrible news of Hevrin’s death. She describes Rojava and her struggle with such pride. I wanted to hear these honorable words, because they also explain many of the reasons for the war against Rojava and Kurds. This interview is an attempt to bring justice to the brave work that Hevrin Khalaf did for her people and for the people of Rojava.

I met Hevrin Khalaf (Hevrîn Xelef, in Kurdish) in the spring of 2018 when she was the co-chair of the Ministry of Economy of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, better known as Rojava. The day before, she had lost her comrade Gerdo, with whom she had struggled together for many years; she was returning from Gerdo’s house in Tirbespîyê , and I remember when she called me to say that she was sorry for being late and that she was on her way.

A lifelong struggle

While I waited for Hevrin in the garden of the Ministry of Economy, sitting in the shadow of a tree, I chatted and smoked with the woman responsible for the Asayişa JIN, the women security forces in Rojava. She looked so strong and autonomous that when I saw the ring on her finger, I must admit I was a little surprised and asked her if she was married; “I’m married, but my husband works for the community security forces in another part of Rojava,” she said. A little embarrassed, she laughingly confessed: “We forgot that we were married once the revolution happened.”

Women in Rojava have always sought to transform the revolution, which everyone knows as a women’s revolution, into a social revolution. Hevrin struggled for this all her life and was murdered while fighting for it.

I had already heard about the beauty and dignity of Hevrin, and indeed, when she arrived, her swollen eyes and sadness from crying for Gerdo could not hide her beauty, nor did her fatigue obstruct her hospitality; while greeting me, she immediately inquired if I was hungry and if I had something to eat.

During my stay in Rojava, I had no relations with money; every day I ate and drank tea in the communal kitchens of one of the many local institutions or civilian houses along the way. There, it was evident that money does not dominate all social relations. Sometimes the people in Rojava were making fun of me; joking that if I had come during the time of war and embargo, they would have only given me soup.

A society built around communes and assemblies

Along with the revolution, a social economy had been organized in Rojava. At the time of our meeting, Hevrin was a spokesperson and co-chair of the Ministry of Economy for over two years.

There are three important pillars for organizing a social economy. The first one is the economy for social needs, which unlike in a capitalist economy, is not focused on maximizing profit. The second pillar is ecology and the ecologically responsible production of society’s needs. The third pillar is the creation and control of a fair market. These three pillars are very important for the social economy, and we want to make these a reality.

Rojava is not only the territory where a revolution is taking place, it is also a territory where the idea of a revolution is being redefined. Rojava is the place where a social revolution is taking place; where the notion of the “classical revolution” — based on the idea of transforming society through the seizure of power — is rejected.

The Kurdish movement of Rojava refuses to take power; instead, it mobilizes in an organizational modality that forms a network of assemblies that allows the people to become the subjects of their decision-making processes, offering the principle of self-determination for autonomy. That is, the Kurds are rejecting the basic component of a state: its power to make and implement decisions from the top down.

In other words, unlike other parts of Syria, the Kurds are not just another armed faction, but a militant popular movement that promotes horizontal self-determination and autonomy by and for the people of northern Syria. As Hevrin explained:

We should understand the main difference between the revolution in the rest of Syria and the revolution in Rojava. Let me give you an example, last night there was a public gathering. There was a teacher from Deraa. You probably know the significance of Deraa as the spark that lit the fire of the Syrian revolution back in 2011.

However, it could not go further.

Yesterday he told us that in Deraa, after the city was liberated from the regime seven years ago, nothing else was done; no organization, no service, no administration. Only a group of soldiers arrived to rule. That means whoever has guns can has power there. Our most important difference is this.

The first thing that was done in Rojava, and later in the broader region of northern and eastern Syria after it was liberated from ISIS, was the establishment of regional cantonal assemblies in agreement with the people living there, as the subjects of their own decisions. The sanctioning of, or participation in these assemblies by armed forces, was banned by the social contract of Rojava and northern Syria.

The purpose of the popular assembly-based system in Rojava is to organize an anti-capitalist and autonomous model for a stateless, anti-patriarchal and ecological society. Democratic autonomy, which is organized around the commune, is not a political party organization or government, although it recognizes political parties. Communes and popular assemblies, which are the main bodies of societal organization, constitute a self-government.

The spirit of a democratic nation

Unlike ethnic and religious conflicts that have transformed the Middle East into a war zone, democratic autonomy is guaranteed by the communes for all institutions of autonomous government on the basis of a “democratic nation”.

It was evident from the tone of her voice that Hevrin had captured the spirit of the democratic nation, just like her Assyrian comrade Gerdo:

Ever since the movement began organizing itself, they [militants of the Kurdish movement] have been explaining the solution [democratic autonomy] with Öcalan’s prison writings. In his work, there is a solution for the entire Middle East and Rojava. So, the political solution is already there, we just need to implement it.

This is why, when overthrowing a system, that you need to replace what was previously there with an alternative vision. If you don’t have an alternative, what you’ve destroyed might turn into something worse.

In other words, when the revolution started and the state left with all of its institutions — it remained only in a few places — if we didn’t have our alternative system and if our people were not ready, it would have been impossible for us to achieve a real liberation by simply establishing institutions.

In order to build this alternative system, we started with Mala Gel [People’s Houses] and Mala JIN [Women’s Houses]. All the institutions of society were created separately. If our society is recognized, it is best known for the women’s organizations. So, when people talk about the revolution in Rojava, they call it the Şoreşa JIN [Women’s Revolution]. The women started by building the Women’s Houses whose aim was to organize the women’s movement.

They were formed to create the common mind of women and to emancipate them from the dark and deprived situations in which they often find themselves, and have them become the leaders of this social revolution. Because we know that when a woman becomes a leader, society becomes a leader with her and transforms itself. The freedom of women and society are interdependent.

When I joined the revolution, my first place was in the Nurî Dersîm academy, where the political formation of society took place. I worked there for a time. At that time, the autonomous government had been declared, but prior to that my comrades suggested that I should take part in it. After the declaration of the autonomous government, I became the co-chair of the Ministry of Energy.

We worked with mamoste Gerdo, whom we lost yesterday, for three months. We worked with heval Gerdo since day one of the autonomous government. Many times he would say: we started the struggle together, and we will finish it together. He was our Assyrian friend and a very good person. He was a very good person in terms of human morality.

When we would talk about the terms of the democratic nation, I always said to him: you were our first friend who understood the democratic nation even though it wasn’t an explicit part of our political program yet. Because he understood and realized this; it was part of his nature.

He came from the city of Tirbespîyê and in this city people were living together in peace, so I was observing his nature in his relationships with Arabs and Kurds, Muslims and Assyrians. He repeated many times: ‘Serok [honorary title of Abdullah Öcalan] made us aware of it, and so we are very comfortable with it. We didn’t know that as Assyrians we had such rights; we had forgotten about it, but now we know our cultural and political rights, thanks to his prison writings.’

Gerdo always said that we must defend the project of democratic autonomy. He did so very quietly, but we worked with the spirit of a democratic nation for more than four years together. He really had the spirit of the democratic nation.

If there is one good thing about this autonomous government, it is the unity of the people. An Assyrian works with the Kurds, a Kurd with the Arabs. This wasn’t something that could have been achieved easily. This alone is a revolution.

Transforming gender relations

Hevrin had learned from her mother to be strong and revolutionary. As such, she joined the resistance as soon as the revolution began and held various positions. When she was discussing the social economy with me, she said that she would no longer be involved in the economic dimension of the movement.

After the liberation of regions like Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, she was offered to be co-president of the Syrian Future Party (SFP), which aims to establish a social consensus for peace and to eliminate the hostility that was historically generated by the Ba’ath regime between Kurds and Arabs. She brought this up casually and I could tell that she did not want to quit her job organizing the social economy of Rojava and that she did not want to participate in the SFP, but that she would not reject the offer of her comrades.

She added that she felt that she had become intertwined with the people working in the economic area and that they had managed to solve many realistic problems together. However, given that many aligned Arab tribes had not accepted the system of co-presidency, she knew she had a responsibility to take her place in the party in order to fight until such a system was accepted.

The system of having a co-chair or co-spokesperson is a praxis that provides women and men equal rights of speech and decision-making and which can be seen in every institution and organizational structure of the Kurdish freedom movement and dates back to a decision taken by a Kurdish women’s organizations in the 1990s. It is the first praxis of this nature among freedom movements in the world. Hevrin said that the adoption of the co-chair system was not easy, and that it would be an ongoing struggle:

After the declaration of the autonomous government, women’s work has become more and more prominent. All institutions of the autonomous administration are paying special attention to women’s issues, but there is always one institution focused on women exclusively..We do not encourage that women’s issues should be prioritized over general ones, but we do insist that women’s issues are taken into account in every institution.

In order to rekindle the extinguished fire in the history of women, we must intervene and support women’s organizations in every way possible. Until when? Until women and men can work together equally.

For example, the co-presidency system is not accepted in many regions. It has not been sufficiently internalized, even in the many institutions that we have established since the start of the revolution. In other words, to see each other as co-chairs, to know that decisions should be taken together equally, is an idea and a practice that has not yet been fully implemented in our culture.

It works very well in some places, but remember that it is not possible to change a millennia-old mentality in just two years. For example, when we talk about co-chairs, they immediately tell us that this right is only a woman’s right. The co-chair system does not exist solely for women — because the nature of women’s work is to work collectively, it therefore also assures men’s rights. Women see the co-chair system as a way of working with men, in other words, women see the right to work together also as a men’s rights issue.

For example, when we talk about co-chairing in newly-liberated areas, there is a perception that we are doing something for women, but that is not the case; co-chairing is not just for women, it is also for men. It is true, for example, that the decision to apply the co-chair system everywhere was conceived in women’s organizational spaces and actions, but from the beginning we recognized that this system would not only be beneficial for women, but also for all people in northern Syria. So, everyone has the right to act with his or her comrade.

This type of system may be perceived like this at first because there is no other example of it in the world. Sometimes I am very surprised, for example, when my male friends say, ‘Okay, let’s not argue too much, there is a co-chair system and our female friends here should not be offended.’ When I heard this, I said ‘We must accept this system not because otherwise women might get offended, but so that men’s voices do not disappear in society.’

Co-presidency does not mean destroying men, it means transforming gender relations inside our institutions and society. In single-presidency systems, the president is either a man or a woman. Therefore, in order to achieve real transformation in autonomous government, it was necessary to decide on the co-chair system.

For example, when the autonomous government was declared, all ministries had a presidential system; one president and two vice-presidents; now there are two co-chairs and three vice-presidents. Not only in ministries, but in all institutions.

The co-chairing first started in the canton of Cizre, then Kobane and now this system has also begun in Afrin. However, of course the Afrin cantonal assembly had also worked with a de facto co-chair system from the beginning. In fact, even this was strange, as an example the first president of the Cizre canton was a man: Abdulkerim Saruhan; in Kobane also a man: Enver Muslim; but in Afrin it was a woman: Hevi Mustafa. Hevi Mustafa had a male co-chair even though the autonomous government had not yet decided on the co-chair system yet. But because she was a woman, the co-chair system was adopted de facto. It wasn’t implemented there yet. So, this tells us is that if the president is a man, they can continue as a presidential system, but if the president is a woman, she is not allowed to be without a male co-chair.

I laughed, and she laughed too; in that moment I saw the beautiful smile of Hevrin that no doubt stays with everyone who had seen it.

Even after her death, the importance of her struggle was once again made clear: Hevrin was not recognized as co-chair of the Syrian Future Party establishment, but rather referred to as the party’s “secretary general.”

She was a woman who was a co-president in her daily practice; I have no doubt that she continued her struggle with this spirit of resistance until the day she was murdered.

Hevrin Khalaf was smiling in front of me as a co-chair; this was undoubtedly the victory smile I saw in the eyes and faces of all women in Rojava; this honorable smile that destroyed patriarchy. So defending Rojava means defending that honorable smile!

On March 23, 2025, in Qamishlo, under the slogan “With the vanguard of women, Kurdish national unity becomes a certainty,” the first National Conference for the Unity of Kurdish Women in Rojava was held. The event brought together 300 delegates, including artists, intellectuals, writers, political party members, journalists, and representatives of women’s organizations and movements, as well as institutions affiliated with the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Women from Aleppo and Damascus also took part. This conference marks a crucial step toward building a democratic, peaceful Syria and greater unity among Kurdish communities and individuals. In a time of rapid and profound change, gatherings like this have tangible and immediate impacts.

“As Kurdish women, we have lived on this land for thousands of years. We know that if people are led with a sexist, fundamentalist, nationalist, and rationalist mindset, they will not find just solutions to problems, nor will they put an end to contradictions and wars.” — from conference documents

Although the Assad regime has fallen, the government that has taken power in Damascus remains highly centralized and continues to target minorities, committing atrocities such as the recent massacres against the Alawites. The newly approved constitution fails to recognize the rights of the country’s diverse ethnic groups—their languages, cultures, and traditions—as well as the rights of women. In a multicultural, multiethnic, and multifaith Syria, such a government cannot endure. In this context, the experience of North and East Syria stands as a model for a system that could be implemented throughout the country. The social contract, autonomous administration, and the system of communes and councils, along with the self-organization of women and their leading role in both society and self-defense, represent practices that could be expanded across Syria. Defending the democratic nation project in North and East Syria has come at a high cost—thousands of martyrs and immense sacrifices. Yet today, spreading the Rojava democratic system throughout Syria is essential to bringing peace, democracy, and justice to a land devastated by war and violence. This must be a priority.

“Outside of organizing collective work, we have no other means—as a people and as a society—to defend our rights and the achievements of this revolution, which has come at the cost of thousands of martyrs. We have no alternative but to build alliances and foster unity.” — from conference documents

The gains achieved today by Kurdish women are the result of a long history of struggle and resistance. They are the legacy of Leyla Qasim, Sakine Cansız, Arîn Mîrxan, and all those who have given everything for this cause. Thanks to this history, the Kurdish people have affirmed their existence and identity, and today, no plan for the Middle East can ignore them. To ensure that the sacrifices made so far are not in vain, it is essential to maintain a strong and united stance, “resisting the divide and conquer tactics of external forces”. Through this conference, as well as by other means, women in Rojava are proving to be a driving force and a vanguard for democracy and peace.

This unity must be built on clear principles, eleven of which were outlined during the conference; here is a brief summary. The importance of Kurdish culture and language in shaping the identity of Kurdish women was reaffirmed—historically, it has been mothers who have played a central role in their preservation. Culture and language must be protected as fundamental aspects of Kurdish women’s identity. At the same time, the need to safeguard the diverse national identities, religious beliefs, and cultures present in Kurdistan was emphasized. The democratic nation was reaffirmed as the best framework for ensuring this protection. It was declared that it is the responsibility of all women to uphold the values of freedom and equality, advance democratic policies, and build a society based on free and equal will. For this reason, women’s participation in all areas must not be less than 50%. Education was highlighted as essential for creating a just and equal society, and Jineolojî was recognized as the science of women, standing in opposition to the patriarchal and capitalist system and the sciences that reinforce it. The principles of “free collective life” (hevjiyana azad) provide a framework for resolving issues between men and women, within families, and across society as a whole. These principles also serve as a means to end all forms of violence against
women. At the same time, strengthening national unity is seen as a key tool for countering the violent policies of states against the Kurdish people, which have led to forced migrations and massacres. The suffering of Kurdish women reflects the struggles faced by women worldwide, underscoring the need for a relentless fight in defense of women’s rights. Demographic changes imposed on Kurdish society constitute an act of violence against the entire population—first and foremost against women. The occupations of Afrin, Shehba, Serekaniye, and Girê Spî serve as painful examples that will never be forgotten. This is also why national unity remains a necessity. Since every living being has the right and duty to self-defense, the YPJ, which defended humanity against the terrorism of ISIS, must be recognized as a force for legitimate self-defense for all women and as a direct outcome of the Rojava revolution. Those who gave their lives in defense of Rojava must be honored as martyrs of the Syrian revolution. It is our duty to realize the vision they fought for, and to achieve this, we must build a democratic Syria. To establish an alternative economic system to capitalist monopoly, it is essential to develop and promote women’s economic initiatives, which will serve as the foundation for a communal economy—a core characteristic of democratic society. Women’s diplomacy plays a vital role in achieving Kurdish national unity. A shared vision and a coordinated diplomatic approach are necessary—both to prevent external forces from fragmenting the Kurdish people and to build alliances with women around the world. For a people divided across four states, fragmentation leads to weakness, making every step toward national unity strategically significant. At the same time, the struggle of Kurdish women is becoming a source of hope and strength for women’s movements globally—proving once again that in this process, unity brings strength. Based on these principles, a final resolution was approved, reflecting the positions of all the participating forces. The key points are as follows:

1. The conference calls on all Kurdish forces, organizations, parties, and political figures to urgently convene the Kurdistan National Congress—a long-standing aspiration of all Kurdish communities and women—at this critical moment as we approach freedom.
2. The conference urges women’s organizations from all four parts of Kurdistan to convene the 3rd National Congress of Kurdish Women and invites them to hold this congress in Rojava.
3. Recognizing the historical importance of Kurdish unity in Syria, the conference calls on all relevant Kurdish political forces to convene a National Congress of Kurdish forces in Syria, ensuring that Kurdish women play a leading and active role in shaping the country’s future.
4. The conference rejects the interim constitution of Damascus and calls on the interim government to align with UN Security Council International Resolution 2254, which reflects the broader demands of society and women.
5. Building a democratic, decentralized, and pluralistic Syria is both the primary goal of all Syrian communities and the key to guaranteeing women’s rights. The conference affirms that the Democratic Autonomous Administration project is the most effective model for resolving Syria’s conflicts and challenges.
6. The conference emphasizes that women must hold at least 50% representation in all the discussions for building a democratic Syria.
7. The women’s rights provisions outlined in the Social Contract of North and East Syria should serve as a foundation for the new Syrian constitution.
8. The conference calls for collaboration among all women across Syria’s diverse communities and the formation of democratic alliances to protect women’s rights and enshrine them in the new Syrian constitution.
9. The right to legitimate self-defense is both a duty and a fundamental right for all women.
10. Kurdish women, through their organizations, must take a leading role in the fight against all forms of violence and feminicide in Syria. They must also provide support, share experiences, and offer assistance to women across Syria, drawing on the experiences of women in North and East Syria.
11. The conference underscores the importance of education and capacity-building for women in all fields, including politics, economics, and administration.
12. The conference calls for comprehensive efforts to ensure that all refugees from Afrin, Girê Spî, Serêkaniyê, Shehba, and other occupied regions can safely and voluntarily return to their homes. Furthermore, all victims of occupation and human rights violations must receive fair compensation.

The First National Conference of Kurdish Women in Rojava marked a historic step toward unity, democracy, and women’s liberation in the struggle for a free and democratic Syria. By fostering unity among the Kurdish people, recognizing women’s rights and strength, and combining these with the principles of the democratic nation, the conference laid the groundwork for broader alliances and resistance in the pursuit of peace and democracy.

RIC: What is the Syrian Women’s Council?

Youssef: The Syrian Women’s Council was established on September 8th, 2017. It is a feminist council that functions as an umbrella organization. It encompasses civil organizations, representatives of political parties and independent figures. Our council operates not only in North and East Syria [NES] but throughout all of Syria. The Syrian Women’s Council was established to address the ongoing suffering of women; a problem that has persisted throughout history and is deeply entrenched in societal norms and traditions. The crisis in Syria has only exacerbated the suffering of women, and led to displacement, poverty, killings and violations. Women were already facing difficulties before the crisis, and their misery has only intensified in its aftermath. The experiences gained in NES and the women-led revolution provided a solid foundation for our efforts.

Were the recent developments in Syria a shock to you? Were you anticipating the offensive of HTS

The Syrian crisis has been ongoing for 14 years. The most recent period has been marked by stagnation. The recent developments were not anticipated, particularly the seizing of Syria by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. We had expected that Iran’s role would diminish in the region. The Turkish attack was foreseeable due to the Turkish state’s antagonism towards any democratic initiative. Turkey seeks to restore the glories of the Ottoman Empire and wants to control as much of the region as possible by occupying it. Since the Gaza war, the Syrian Women’s Council anticipated rapid change in the region because all situations are interconnected. The war in Gaza, the killing of the Iranian president and the attack on Lebanon all indicated that events in Syria would change. However, the rapidity with which these events unfolded was not anticipated.

Do you anticipate another period of prolonged conflict in the near future?

We are at a major critical juncture. The situation has not stabilized, as evidenced by the ongoing conflict in Lebanon and the failure of any Arab country in which a regime has fallen to stabilize. The only thing that gives us some hope is the administration in NES [the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria – DAANES]. If the other parties, the international community and the new American government led by Trump enter into dialogue with us and put an end to the Turkish attacks through negotiations, the DAANES can chart the future of the region. The DAANES is open to any talks that will save the Syrian region, including dialogue with HTS. One can say that HTS’ experience in Idlib worked out, in that it was as stable as our areas in NES. If HTS rejects Turkish interference and does not return to its extremist mentality, there will be stability. However, if it allows Turkey to interfere in the Syria, the situation will deteriorate, leading to infighting, civil war and sectarianism. The Alawites are now in a very tense situation in the region; they live in a state of fear and terror.

The Syrian people must be aware that they are the ones who sacrificed during this revolution. They are the ones who lived in poverty. They are the ones who lost their children. They are the ones who endured displacement and suffering. The people must be more aware enough not to get drawn into hate speech and division, because they are the owner of this cause and they must stick to the right side.

There have been many initiatives to solve the Syrian crisis since 2011 – all of which failed. Now the conditions have completely changed. What possibilities do you see ahead?

Since the onset of the Syrian crisis in early 2011, all involved parties have sought to advance their interests. Russia, for instance, supported the former Syrian regime in light of its own vested interests. The Syrian crisis represented a strategic opportunity for Russia to re-establish its presence in the region, particularly in the wake of its failure to capitalize on opportunities in the aftermath of the Second World War. The establishment of military bases within Syrian territory by Russia can be seen as a manifestation of its aspirations to gain a foothold in warm waters. This ambition, in turn, was a key factor in its decision to support the Syrian regime. However, following the realization of its objectives, Russia has ceased to provide any form of support to the Syrian regime. The involvement of other actors, such as Turkey and Iran, is also noteworthy. Iran, for instance, supported the Syrian regime and played a significant role in the Syrian crisis. However, its motivations were not aligned with those of Russia, as it sought to advance its own agenda. The meetings held in Astana and Geneva, among others, proved unsuccessful due to the conflicting interests of the involved parties, which hindered the resolution of the Syrian crisis. It is evident that all negotiations that transpired excluded the Syrian populace and institutions who aspired to negotiate autonomously. Consequently, the rationale behind external entities negotiating on behalf of the Syrian people becomes questionable.

Since the beginning of the crisis, all parties have been looking at Syria as if it were a cake that they want to divide. Each wants to take their share of it. Turkey has occupied a great deal of land and still aspires to control more under the pretext that there are terrorists on its borders and it is protecting its national security. On the contrary, we are the ones who must protect our national security from Turkey. We have never entered Turkish lands, nor have we fired a shot towards Turkey. Turkey is always the one who attacks and occupies Syrian lands. The Baath regime was lazy. It did not care about the Syrian territories. It only cared about collecting as much money as possible, looting Syria and its wealth and preserving it within the family. This is why the Syrian crisis lasted for a long time, and the parties that offered genuine solutions were excluded from the negotiations. The DAANES tried before to talk with the regime to put our hands together to solve the Syrian crisis, but the latter did not accept.

How are your relations with other women’s organizations or activists in Syria currently?

From the beginning of the establishment of the Council, our goal was to bring together the Syria in its entirety: all its regions and governorates. Practically, we had offices in Aleppo, Manbij, Tartous, Damascus, Suwayda and Latakia. Our offices were not only in NES. We also had representatives from inside and outside Syria. After the fall of the regime, we made a statement which led to over 13 requests from parties wanting to participate. This followed a discussion between many parties on the Syrian scene including women from the Opposition. The Syrian Women’s Council is open to all parties and sects in Syria. We aim to ensure that women play a part in constructing the new constitution, so that their rights and effective participation in all branches of the state can be guaranteed. In NES there have been achievements along these lines. A Social Contract has been written.

We have communicated with many organizations and parties. When we held our second conference in Aleppo in May, we had 90 women from inside Syria who attended. They came from Homs, Hama, Idlib, Sweida and Damascus. We have representatives in Lebanon and Dubai. Our goal has been to unify visions. Parties and organizations who were from other parts in Syria did not join us so readily, but they saw that we are here, on the ground, they saw our ideas and what our demands are, and that we seek to preserve women’s rights in a new constitution. Through this, we were able to establish common visions between organizations and parties. This was not easy. This happened after we held many conferences and forums. Our goal is to unite women, regardless of their sect or wherever they live within Syria. The important thing is that we end the suffering Syrian women have been experiencing and preserve our rights in the new Syrian constitution and ensure that women can equally participate in life.

What kind of civil administration do you expect from HTS?

We sent a delegation from the Syrian Women’s Council to Damascus to talk to the new government, if they agree to dialogue. They have made many promises, but we see that this talk and the things that happen on the ground do not match. As the Syrian Women’s Council, we have no issue with who will take over the government, even if it is HTS. We have a path, a goal and principles. One of these principles is a peaceful solution for Syria, and that the Syrian people secure their rights, and that there be no internal warring between sects and ethnic groups. We are for the freedom, unity and territorial integrity of Syria. We want a federal system, where all sects have rights. For example, Alawites must have the right to practice its religious rituals, express freely, and live as they choose. Syria must be decentralized, pluralistic and democratic. This is our goal and this is our path.

The fall of the regime was a positive step, because the previous regime did not want to solve the crisis. The next step following the fall of the regime however, is a sensitive one. It needs a lot of work. Our delegation is now in Damascus. We will engage with al-Dibs, who is in charge of women’s affairs. We will see if she accepts our ideas, we will put our hands together. We are now in a transitional stage. We are not fully confident that the new government can control things and not create a security gap in the region. We have to be careful. We don’t want fighting between sects. We don’t want hatred being engineered, like the previous regime did, which led to killing people based on identity. This would drag the region into a long war. Therefore, this period requires a lot of work from us.

What is your position regarding the foreign forces who remain in Syria?

The US cannot now withdraw from Syria, because the situation is still unstable and we still have prisons full of ISIS members. The situation in Syria is a big crisis. ISIS families in al-Hol camp are like a ticking time bomb. An international trial for them has been requested. The Syrian Women’s Council has a camps committee. Every week we go to the camps and give awareness lectures to the women there. We try to extricate them from ISIS ideology, because there are women in the camp who are organizing themselves and committing many crimes. There is a new generation of ISIS being created in the camp.

So how do you see your position in this period?

A big role is on the shoulders of the Syrian Women’s Council. We want to be at the negotiating table. If we are not present in the negotiations occurring over Syria, the Syrian crisis will not be resolved. We represent the peaceful solution for all sects. We are now preparing to hold a forum in the near future to include all organizations, unions, parties and feminist figures who fight for women’s rights. We will discuss and determine the future steps and what our strategy will be, and we will continue along the path that we started.

Raqqa – The Confederation of Democratic Society Organizations (CDSO) was founded in North and East Syria on January 31, 2024, aiming at being an umbrella organization for all unions, cooperatives, chambers, women’s and youth organizations based on democracy.

In an interview with NuJINHA, Nesrin Hasan, Co-chair of the CDSO, emphasized the importance of women’s roles in society to guarantee the rights of all women and to build a democratic and free society led by women.

‘The Confederation aims to be an umbrella organization for all organizations’

Speaking about the foundation of the confederation, she said, “Following the liberation of Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir ez-Zor, we started to establish civil society organizations, as a result of a struggle that lasted more than ten years. In 2024, we founded the confederation, aiming at uniting all unions, cooperatives, women and youth organizations under an umbrella organization as part of the Social Contract.”

Nesrin Hasan also talked about the principles of the confederation. “The confederation aims to unite all segments in society. It adopts the system of the Autonomous Administration (of North and East Syria) based on equality, freedom, ecology and democracy. It supports the decisions of the Autonomous Administration.”

How the confederation works

Giving information about how the confederation works, Nesrin Hasan said, “The confederation is a non-government organization, aiming to defend the rights of the people. We have organized various seminars, campaigns and meetings in every canton to give information about the activities of the confederation. The confederation has six executive board members, two co-chairs and two vice co-chairs. It has a council consisting of 120 representatives of all organizations. The confederation has nine offices, including a women’s office responsible for organizing women, an anti-violence office, an office of foreign affairs and an environmental office aiming to raise environmental awareness.”

‘It aims to ensure public safety

The confederation is also responsible for protecting the resources in the region against the Turkish attacks, Nesrin Hasan said. “The confederation also aims to ensure public safety and defend civilian infrastructure in the region against the Turkish attacks.”

‘Women play an important role in the confederation’

Nesrin Hasan also mentioned the role of women in the confederation. “Women and women’s organizations play an important role in the confederation. Women play an important role in representing themselves in all organizations and segments in northeastern Syria,” she said, calling on all women to unite and increase women’s participation in decision-making positions. “We will keep making efforts to ensure that women’s thoughts and voices are taken into account in all decision-making processes.”

This rebirth of native languages, carried out alongside a turn towards indigenous and feminist liberation philosophy in academia, played a crucial role for the self-sustenance of a revolution that started over a decade ago. While students at Rojava’s newly reconstituted and founded universities can freely study more subjects than before, they struggle to gain accreditation for their studies by the international community.

“Rojava University, the University of Kobanê, and Shark University are all results of our revolution,” says Zozan Sîma, a member of Jineolojî Academy¹ in North and East Syria (NES), and continues, “We call our revolution the woman’s revolution. That is why students of our universities should learn about the women’s revolution, its gains, its struggle against sexism, and its aim to create free coexistence through the equality of men and women in the democratized space of politics, and learn about all these norms.”

It is an ongoing revolution in an ongoing war with multiple warring parties and multiple interfering regional and international actors. The situation critically raises the question of how a society can invent a new educational system—even higher education institutes—during the ongoing revolution while navigating warfare and the permanent threats of occupation by Turkey, the Syrian regime, and their proxies? This is not a hypothetical question but a very real one that people in Rojava have been asking themselves for about a decade. The answer is not easy.

Aras Hiso, one of the teachers organizing the first Kurdish classes in the schools in Kobanê after July 2012, remembers how they were “teachers and students at the same time” with almost no practical experience. Qualified teachers working at the schools established by the Ba’ath regime belittled them, saying, “You can’t organize any educational task, you are not qualified, you are not teachers; you have neither people to direct schools nor people who can establish educational systems.”

Skeptics were eventually proven completely wrong, with the system now sustaining more than 4,700 schools, 900,000 pupils, and 60,000 staff.² There are also three universities, several higher education institutions, and academies now operating. However, the real challenge is not simply to build schools and universities, but to develop an entirely new educational system with a philosophy based on new sociological principles. Discourses based on concepts found in the Sociology of Freedom as well as jineology – the science for understanding life from a woman’s perspective – are crucial aspects of this new educational system.

A former colony inside a former colony

For institutional reasons, we have to view the whole Cizîr region of Syria as well as Kobanê and Efrîn—the three cantons that together constitute Rojava—as internal colonies of the Syrian state until the beginning of the Rojava Revolution. Hîva Mihemed Elî, the deputy of co-presidents of the Educational Committee of Kobanê Canton, describes the exclusion of Kurds from the whole public and formal spaces before the revolution: “There were no prospective for Kurds to have any real space in the institutional structures of the Ba’ath regime in Rojava.”

The Kurdish language was banned, the culture was not recognized, and most importantly, the Kurds were mostly seen as non-indigenous population elements. Several thousand Kurds were denied Syrian citizenship, inflicting far-reaching consequences for those affected, forcing primarily men from those areas to emigrate to other regions within Syria or neighboring Arabic countries to find work. The state determined their political, social, and economic lives so that they could provide resources most desired by Damascus: oil, wheat, olive oil, etc.

The fact that the Syrian state gained its independence after several decades of the French mandate regime, first in 1946, means Syria was, until then, a de-facto French colony. On the other hand, this means Syria as a whole has both its colonial past and its subsequent post-colonial history of integration into different blocks and alliances. During the Ba’ath reign, it was mainly the Soviet block. After 2000, Bashar Al-Assad started several economically liberal reforms to integrate the country into the Western world order. We may consider Rojava from this background as a former colony inside a former colony. These intersecting colonial relationships are crucial to understanding the region’s recent history.

Discourses on Decolonizing the Universities of Former Colonies

Let us look at the example of the African experiences of developing educational systems and universities under postcolonial conditions. With the exception of South Africa and its different paths of liberation and post-liberation processes, the idea of colonizing structure is actually a relatively new introduction to the discourses on decolonizing education, especially higher education in African “decolonization” discourses. In the late 1980s, Congolese philosopher and writer Valentin Yves Mudimbe introduced the the concept of a “colonizing structure” (1988: 2). He found this structure reproduced in and continuing to manipulate and “integrate” postcolonial African societies and states. In the case of the elites of the “postcolonial” era in many African countries, they were very successful within the colonizing structure. As a result, the elite willingly and actively attempted to establish the same educational models—also in higher education—needed for the extraction of resources and knowledge. The influence and power of these educational systems, their methods of producing knowledge, were terrifyingly effective: they are still the mainstream in all African countries with a colonial past.³

Prompted by Mudimbe’s criticism, several efforts are now underway to reorganize and decolonize African educational systems and universities, and this also includes the field of African Studies as such in the former colonial centers. These efforts primarily aim at decolonizing education and building an alternative educational system, that is, developing higher education with a fundamentally new philosophy.

We can thus understand why for Ferat Gernas, a member of the Coordinating Committee of Universities in North and East Syria, it is vitally important to recognize the role of universities in “capitalist modernity”⁴ as to be able to imagine and invent new universities: “We witness daily how, in capitalist modernity, actual physical and moral genocides are going on.”

Gernas points out how the system’s crises boil down to the crisis between capitalism (with human actors) and nature. He summarizes this thesis by saying, “The global hegemonic system and its pushing ideology, liberalism, are normalizing this annihilation of humans and nature.”

Annihilation is indeed perceived as a deed that should not be happening. As a consequence, Gernas develops his arguments as follows: “We see the need for an intellectual intervention, and we ask ourselves: why are intellectuals, universities, and as a whole the academia so helpless and desperate? Yes, I generalize, but I have to ask, are they willing to participate in that genocidal way of organizing society, which is absolutely dark and inhuman?”

The question seems to be a starting point for a systemic critique and is indeed followed by one: “We felt, and still feel, there is a need for a revolutionary intervention to initiate an intellectual and academic revolution, too, indeed a mental revolution, which can challenge the mentality of 5000 years of state-formed and forced mentality. If not, we will continue seeing all of this darkness around us as normal. No doubt it is all but normal,” Gernas concludes.

The Myth of Independent Academia

In the colonial context, the fact that research and academic work are not independent and, to the contrary, serve as tools of the colonizers, is today partially known. But identifying research “as a significant site of struggle between the interests and ways of knowing of the West and the interests and ways of resisting of the Other” opened the way for liberating research and academia from the colonizing structure. (Smith 1999: 2)

The leader and theorist of the Kurdish liberation movement Abdullah Ocalan conceptualized this critique, through the term scientism, which he has called the new religion of hegemonic power structures.⁵ His critiques of science focus on the purpose of science, and he convincingly compares the social role of the knowledges produced by various religions and knowledges produced by modern scientific structures.

According to Ocalan, both knowledge production systems produce and spread knowledge for power structures to enforce their dominance over the masses. Their difference is simply a matter of method: different technologies are applied to enact violence and power over people, while distinct knowledges are produced to justify these applications. (Ocalan 2020) We may also refer to Ocalan’s earlier reflection on state and power, where he argues that the reproduction of slave-holding social organizations, required—at least partially—convincing the slaves to be satisfied of their social role within their respective society. (Ocalan 2007) Accordingly, ideological or technological knowledges produced by religions or science are not as different as they seems if they are used to build power structures, serving merely their perpetuation instead of solving societal problems. The critiques of science and more generally Western knowledge-producing systems in the Kurdish Liberation Movement  are largely based on these reflections by Ocalan.

With the July 2012 Rojava Revolution, society in Rojava and the neighboring Arab majority lands started to develop a school system. It was primarily interested in schooling children in a more democratic way. The Kurdish Liberation Movement’s proposal to home-school Kurdish pupils has been practiced since 2008, despite the Ba’ath regime.

The Administration is well aware of criticism against the school system and curricula and the dissatisfaction of parts of the population with the lack of recognition, personnel (even though regime schools have the same lack of qualified personnel), laboratories, and educational equipment (for more, see Al Ahmad 2023). But it doesn’t give up the idea of a constitutive democratic educational system, enabling each entity to organize education and curricula autonomously, something indeed entirely new in that region and anchored in the “Social Contract” of the DAANES.

It may seem a small step, but such a small deed as offering public spaces for native languages has huge consequences for challenging power structures and ideologies too. This may partially explain why Kurds were politically and socially much more prepared for the “Spring of the Peoples” than many of Syria’s other communities.⁶ In Syria, the Revolution became militarized and turned into a bloody civil war, with several international and regional actors interfering. Eventually, the war between the regime, myriad Syrian opposition groups, and other Islamic factions evolved into a proxy war. The experience of organizing Kurdish schools and regular neighborhood meetings that were to be turned into neighborhood councils gave the areas with a Kurdish majority the opportunity to organize society autonomously. This also meant putting locals in charge of their own self-defense.

Critics of the new educational initiatives, including the Turkish-backed Kurdish National Council, which is frequently in dispute with the Autonomous Administration, have raised the issue of non-recognition.

According to Hîva Mihemed Elî, the deputy head of the Educational Committee in Kobanê, “this vocal critique on the DAANES’s schools by the opposition patronized by Turkey is an exaggeration of the non-recognition of degrees. The degrees of our schools are not nationally and, consequently, internationally recognized. Yet, people trust in the ability of our school system. However, the fact that the degrees are not recognized remains the main problem. That is why a social class looks down on the autonomous Administration’s institutions and its teachers.”

“A close look would make it visible that the undermost social class sends its children to the schools and institutions of autonomous Administration. That is why those with more financial resources, who are rich, are sending their children to cities like Damascus and Aleppo for their studies or enrolling them in the regime schools in Qamişlo and Hesekê,” she continued. This social segregation is critical in that it may aggravate the social cliff between classes, something the revolution acts against.

Aras Hiso, a member of the Educational Committee in Kobanê and staff at the University of Kobanê, confirms that the education system’s critiques are partly justified. However, he differentiates between two arguments for those officials enrolling their children in the regime’s institutions: “There are officials of the Autonomous Administration who send their children to regime schools and universities. One of the arguments is generally accepted and causes no dissatisfaction. It states that the subjects their children study are not offered in the higher educational institutions of DAANES; people show understanding for them. However, there is strong dissatisfaction and legitimate criticism for those who send their children to the regime’s school because of a lack of national recognition. But I have to add, with our graduates showing their qualification in the practical field, this tendency weakens among all social classes.”

Hîva Mihemed Elî was schooled before the Rojava Revolution. Given her background, she is able able to compare the educational systems of the Ba’ath regime and the Autonomous Administration: “The main difference between the educational approach of Ba’ath regime’s schools and those of DAANES is that, at the regime schools, information should be memorized without sharing information about how, why, and where to use this information. In the schools of the Autonomous Administration, there is a clear effort to mediate the meaning and use of any given information. Another important difference is the assessment process for pupils. In the regime’s educational institutions, assessment takes place through exams, and failing exams means being eliminated from the respective educational institution. On the other hand, in the institutions of DAANES, a pupils’ participation in the classroom, their general understanding and ability to discuss, their attitude versus others in the classroom, and the way of and reasons for knowing are as important as assessment through exams.”

She has experienced that there are pupils who “indeed love to understand subject matters as they are taught at our schools” because, for them, it is “an entirely new experience” to be given the opportunity to understand a subject. However, the lack of formal recognition and criticism of some parts of society may force them to leave the school: “When they are told several times that their degrees are not recognized, they sometimes decide to study elsewhere.”

The Language Revolution

Aras Hiso, a member of the Educational Committee in Kobanê and staff of the University of Kobanê, remembers how the first Kurdish classes after the revolution in Kobanê were held in the Martyr Osman School in the neighborhood of Gumruk. “At that time, the regime’s curricula continued to be applied at the schools. There were no teaching staff able to take on the task,” he said.

The cooperation between the Institution for Kurdish Language (SZK) and the Confederation of Kurdish Students organized Kurdish language classes for two hours a week in all schools.

Hiso remembers, “Sometimes teachers at those schools, some of them also Kurds, tried to hinder those language classes, but we eventually succeeded in entering all of the schools in Kobanê.” He also emphasizes that he was one of the first teachers in Kobanê. In a group of 14 teachers, he was one of the youngest. The same group also prepared Kurdish language teachers with support from teachers from the Refugee camp in Mexmûr (Makhmour) in Iraqi Kurdistan.

He recalls the first meeting to develop curricula for the schools as follows: “In 2015, in Efrin, a campaign to change the whole curricula was started. The same year, they succeeded in preparing their own curricula for the 1st to 3rd classes of elementary school. After the liberation of Kobanê in May 2015, there was a first meeting of the Committee for Social Education (KPC) in cooperation with the SZK, and we decided to develop a more democratic curriculum in Kurdish for the first six classes. That is why we established higher education institutes to educate teaching staff for our schools. It was decided that a curriculum for all schools, including high schools, should be ready the following year. The new curricula were ready after printing all books for all classes and subject matters. Classes such as Jineolojî were introduced at the high school level after 2018.”

Meanwhile, the Manbij City Council, in a rare move, decided to continue with the regime’s curriculum while adding courses from the Autonomous Administration’s curriculum. There is still an ongoing negotiation between different views within the City Council to accept the curriculum developed by the Autonomous Administration. However, Aras Hiso feels that the “language revolution” has succeeded: “Anyway, now, having master’s programs at our universities and preparing for doctoral programs makes me feel successful in the language revolution.”

It is not Our Fate

The future of Rojava’s revolutionary project will largely depend on how its higher education is structured. Rojava’s education system is being built under two postcolonial conditions: one being the beginning of the Syrian state after its independence in 1946, the other starting with the Rojava Revolution on 19th July 2012.

This is why Ferat Gernas, a member of the coordinating body of universities in NES, explains that “we, the actors of democratic modernity, those who place themselves within the philosophy of the Democratic Nation, are convinced that there is a need for an intellectual intervention into this existing hegemonic regime of truth.” Consequently, he states that “one of the main reason for us to establish universities is exactly this. If not, we fear this dark regime of truth will continue its hegemonic status. Mainstream and mainly positivist science may continue to try convincing us that this dark regime of truth is our fate, but we never fell into this trap and never believed that this darkness is our fate.”

One of the Autonomous Administration’s declared aims is to organize higher education based on a critique of the existing social sciences. Ferat Gernas describes the existing social sciences as a tool to “destroy social, ethical, and historical norms.” His view concurs with the broader idea that capitalist modernity and its ideology of liberalism (also neoliberalism) are anti-society, on a level that they actively destroy the very society they depend on (Ocalan 2020).

“By a new sociology, we mean that the social sciences should be based on strong historical and social sources, in a way that sociology can be reinterpreted and reconstituted,” stresses Gernas, highlighting the importance of “a new view” on history and anthropology, and a “new philosophy.” Successful implementation of this aim would accordingly bring about an amendment of social sciences and relations within society and the democratization of the social base itself.

That is why students of all faculties and higher educational institutions go through classes of jineolojî, democratic nation, history, and democratic confederalism. Gernas likens capitalist modernity to a “black hole creating a big and terrifying vacuum drawing and swallowing all social norms of the society.” Universities in DAANES are actively working to defend their students “against the huge impact of this vacuum” on them.

The successful implementation of a new social science is seen as a key for alternative universities, where students will be spared from the impacts of capitalist modernity. According to Gernas, these alternative universities not only condemn the idea of “industrialism in the service of political power and state, but we want to hinder its practical implementation.”

“When we produce knowledge, it is directly related to society itself, and we aim to find solutions to its problems. We don’t produce knowledge for power, market, and material gain,” he said.

While it is difficult to estimate how successful these efforts are, a few examples show there is plenty of room for hope. Ferat Gernas mentions that, in Syria, those studying medicine tend to rapidly open a medical office for financial gains, whereby their medicine students’ first choice is to work in health centers called Kilînîkên Gel (People’s Clinics), which provide free healthcare for everyone.

Until Rojava University opened its Petrochemical Faculty in Rimêlan, no women were allowed to enter spaces reserved for the oil industry and petrochemical studies in the city. With women studying petrochemistry, not only those spaces but also the politics of developing the petrochemical industry became “more human,” as Ferat Gernas put it.

“When women entered oil fields as engineers, their ecological sensitivity and their readiness to more actively preserve nature rapidly changed the politics and ways of oil production,” said Gernas. Oil is certainly not ecological in itself, but Rojava and DAANES rely on it as a source of energy and finances. According to Gernas, the fact that women are entering this field is already a significant change.

The biggest challenge in this continuing construction of an alternative university is still the same problem that the founding actors call the “big and terrifying vacuum” of capitalist modernity. As Ferat Gernas expresses it, “This vacuum draws many students to itself.” By contrast, the only imperative of alternative education is meeting the actual needs of society.

“We decided to develop a study program when we saw there is a real need of the local communities, of the institutions of Democratic Autonomous Administration or our educational system,” says Şervan Mislim, the co-president of the University of Kobanê. As an example, he evokes how they developed the master program for Kurdish Studies in their university: “At our university, we developed a master program for Kurdish Studies because there was a real need in our schools and communities in Kobanê to develop such a program.”

They first identified a need and proceeded to find the necessary spaces and capacities for fulfilling it. One need arose for schooling in the mother tongue: “Most of our students are schooled in Kurdish, but at the university level, we have not been able to secure all teaching in Kurdish until now, which is a real obstacle for some of our students,” says Mislim.

The universities were able to “successfully” mediate between their graduated students and the DAANES institutions, which, according to Mislim, “renders those institutions more capable of dealing with the tasks and services they are supposed to produce for the communities.” As a result, people consider this “as a gain of the whole society and the revolution.” At the same time, the graduate students’ participation in organizing social and political spaces raises people’s trust in “our universities and educational system as a whole,” states Mislim subsequently.

Şervan Mislim deals with the practical issues that emerge in organizing teaching and researching, much more than with theoretical considerations. That is why, according to him, “a lot of deficiencies” relate to the immaturity of the universities and the lack of personnel and several material resources. However, he states, “In our young history of about seven years at the University of Kobanê, we had successes and failures; we actively try to improve and develop according to the needs of communities and our students.”

In line with this practical approach, he calls for solidarity, saying, “We think there is a need to act in solidarity with our university, especially in developing teaching material and obtaining material needed for different laboratories in 12 different departments in our university. For academics, it is an act of solidarity to share their expertise with our students and staff.”

Hîva Mihemed Elî, a deputy of the co-presidency of the Educational Committee in Kobanê, indicates that the graduates have high employment rates.

“Those who finish the Autonomous Administration’s high schools mostly study at our universities. And every graduate student from our universities has been employed. There is no graduate student who hasn’t been employed. Actually, the students who graduated from the regime’s universities are also employed in the institutions of the Autonomous Administration. As an example, I can mention the staff of the University of Kobanê, especially in different fields of engineering, who graduated in 2022 and 2023 and have been employed by the university.”

Interpreting and Understanding Life and Society from a Woman’s Perspective

Jineolojî is an integral part of the alternative universities in Rojava. Zozan Sîma, a member of Jineolojî Academy, points to how women’s oppression – as well as their resistance and knowledge – are rendered invisible. This was the main reason for establishing Jineolojî Academy, which coordinates jineolojî classes at the university level.

“Jineolojî Academy was necessary because we couldn’t see either the way how we as people and as women are subjugated or our struggle against this subjugation within the existent science practices. Our identity as women and our issues were invisible within mainstream ways of knowing,” says Sîma. “On the other hand, the struggle of Kurdish people in the quest for freedom and its experience of more than 40 years has its own history and experience. Indeed, with the establishment of this academy, we could discuss the Kurdish movement’s ways of seeing things, its interpretations, its solutions for different problems and questions.”

The concept of a woman as the first colony played a role in establishing jineolojî as an independent discipline within the academia in NES. According to Sîma, conflicting descriptions and interpretations of women’s identity, and also still very present oppression of Kurdish culture and people, keep the traces of oppression and resistance against it very alive. She continued. “If we try to know ourselves, to understand the oppression against us as Kurds, we conclude that women as the first colony is a truth. It is a statement by Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan],” said Sîma about the concept of women as the first colony.

“When the movement analyzed our society as a whole, it discovered some truths about the situation of women as well. We see that it is not an eternal colonization; the identity of women was not invariably and forever an oppressed one. There are several different theories on the identity of women. Some of them consider women as an entirely oppressed identity, while others consider this situation as a natural state of being. But we will also show our differences in this respect. For us, women’s identity is neither an essentially sexual one, a naturally oppressed identity, nor an eternally oppressed identity. As I mentioned, being a woman is not an eternally oppressed identity, but ‘housewification’ has become the main method to subjugate any identity. When we speak of the first colony, our interpretation is based on this, and our interpretation continues to conclude that the first colony and the last colony are closely related, which implies that social liberation is connected to the ending of this last colony. The hegemonic global system, which is strongly patriarchal, is based on the colonization of women. Our conceptualization of women as the first colonized nation is based on such a reflection,” Sîma said, paraphrasing again Abdullah Öcalan.

According to Sîma, academies seem to be best fitted spaces to develop the expression of “our own ways of knowing, which have been rendered invisible in mainstream science and its different practices.” She says this is why “there is a need to build our revolution through a knowledge which is freed from occupation and colonization and make sure that this knowledge is produced outside of positivist sciences.” According to her, the way to ensure this is to “produce from our experience knowledge and share it with the broader society, that is why we see academies as a well-fitted format to produce this knowledge.”

Zozan Sîma thinks they can “erase all hierarchies and dogmas structurally fixed within the mainstream sciences” within the academy framework. This, in turn, will further enable them to “develop the curricula of Jineolojî independently, collect different knowledges, and register different ways of knowing.” She argues that the Kurdish movement’s experiences led it to decide on its method for the revolution, and their own experiences of education within the movement had led them “to establish these academies for Jineolojî.”

Sîma confirms the description of Jineolojî as the science of women, saying, “[it] is not a wrong description, but meanings we give to being women are multiple.” She states that constructing women’s knowledge is at the core of jineolojî and pursues her argument further, saying, “important thing hereby is, we don’t consider the identity of women as a biological one.”

For the system to reproduce existing social relations, sexism’s influence in society is considered a decisive one. In the field of sciences, Jineolojî sees the same “overwhelming impact of sexism.” According to Sîma, this is why jineolojî “plays a key role” in the struggle against the influence of sexism in “our higher education” but also in academia in general.

“This is an unimaginable political gain for the women’s movement,” says Sîma. “Our revolution made a dream come true: Educating our children against sexism and its influences.”

Knowing is “Xwebûn”

The new building of the University of Kobanê has a quote on its entrance: “zanîn xwebûn e, xwebûn hebûn e,” meaning “knowing is being oneself, being oneself is existing.” The relation conceived between knowledge and xwebûn—being oneself—is crucial for universities in the NES. The universities engage in processes of self-analysis to ensure that their foundationally anti-colonial perspectives are reproduced continuously. A research project called Project Xwebûn is part of this societal engagement and has been going for eight years at universities in the NES. A member of the research team working on the project, Leyla Ebdo, points out the importance of redefining the very concept of knowledge and producing and democratizing knowledge, especially as it concerns the “political subjectification” of individuals and the continuous application of alternatives.

“These processes and their socio-political effects, how they affect individuals, have hardly been investigated. That is why the Xwebûn Project is vital for understanding development and assessing our universities’ role in social change. To see what was implemented successfully, to redefine, democratize, and decolonize knowledge and the ways of knowing,” says Ebdo.

This self-analysis project calls for the participation of students and teaching staff to secure the decolonization of research processes. It is done through a method of dialogical meetings that is geared toward avoiding euro-centric influences. According to Ebdo, “not only the philosophy of the research […], but also the methods to conduct the project will be decided upon in an internal dialog between the teaching staff and students.”

Ebdo finds it important to secure expertise and, at the same time, “academic solidarity.”

“We want to have an external dialogue with academics with expertise,” she says. “We see it as an act of solidarity.”

Footnotes

1. Jineolojî is the science of woman and life, proposed by Ocalan. ︎
2. Şahîn Oso, a member of the Educational Committee of DAANES from Kobanê, gave these numbers during an earlier interview with the author. ︎
3. Japan is often mentioned as the only country outside the Western sphere that was able to industrialize successfully because it had never been colonized. ︎
4. As conceptualized by Abdullah Ocalan, capitalist modernity is the ideological, cultural, and social project that dominates and colonizes contemporary human imagination. In the same discourse, liberalism as a European ideology is a pillar of capitalist modernity, seemingly tolerating different views but monopolizing the claim to truth and judgment over good and evil. Ocalan sees it as the worst anti-society ideology. He proposes to strengthen democratic modernity to encounter capitalist modernity (2020). ︎
5. Scientism is the view that science and scientific methods are the only way to render the truth about the world and reality. The way Ocalan criticizes scientism can be read from this sentence: “The nation-state’s second most important eclectic ideology is positivist scientism [The first one being liberalism]. It is the ideological source closest to nationalism. They foster one another. Its founder, Auguste Comte, explicitly wanted to construct positivism as a secular, universal religion.” (Ocalan 2020) ︎
6. Actors of the Rojava Revolution refer to the struggle for regime change in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East in 2011 and 2012 not as the “Arab Spring” but as the “Spring of the Peoples,” highlighting that in many of those countries, the concerned population was all but homogenous. ︎

Sources

Al Ahmad, Samer. 2023. Education under strain in Al-Hasakeh Governorate: Disjointed Curricula and Political Antagonism Impact Civilians. Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Alfaisal, Haifa Saud. 2011. “Indigenous Epistemology and the Decolonisation of Postcolonialism” in Studies in Social & Political Thought, Volume 19 Summer 2011.

Mudimbe, Valentin-Yves. 1988. The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Ndofirepi, Amasa P. The African University in the Neoliberal Era: In Pursuit of Socially Just Knowledge in the 21st Century. In: Decolonizing African University Knowledge,

Volume 2: Challenging the Neoliberal Mantra (edited by Ndofirepi et al.) New York and London: Routledge. Pp 32-50.

Ocalan, Abdullah. 2007. Prison Writings: The Roots of Civilisation. London: Pluto Press. 2020. Sociology of Freedom: Manifesto of the Democratic Civilization 3. Oakland: PM Press.

Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 1999. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples

The Rojava revolution established a radically democratic system in Northern and Eastern Syria. The Autonomous Administration continues to work under permanent conditions of war. While villages and cities have been occupied by Turkey and its mercenaries, the free areas of Northern and Eastern Syria are repeatedly attacked. Members of the Autonomous Administration are the target of Turkish armed drones.

The Autonomous Administration for the entire region was established on 6 September 2018. Evîn Siwêd, a member of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria, spoke to ANF about the conditions of the institutional construction of the Autonomous Administration and the current situation.

The seventh year of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria has begun. How do you assess the past six years?

The Autonomous Administration of Cizîrê was proclaimed in 2014, followed by the Autonomous Administrations of Kobanê and Efrîn. After the liberation of Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, the construction of a self-government of the entire region began on the basis of self-defense and service to the peoples. Self-government was a new model. However, the insufficient experience of the peoples of Northern and Eastern Syria did not prevent them from governing themselves and taking a position, attitude and decision on the future of Syria. Because the desired system was clear and open. That is why the peoples worked hard for the territorial integrity of Syria and made great sacrifices for it. On 6 September 2018, it was decided to establish the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria while preserving the existing unique cantonal system and ensuring its harmonious cooperation and integrity.

Its main task is to ensure that the existing seven cantons can work together, cooperate and ensure the sustainability of work. The Autonomous Administration also emerged on the basis of the political will of the peoples and reflects their activities and efforts in line with their desire to build a future Syria. It was created with the perspective of a decentralized Syria, that is, a country built on the inclusive experience of the region’s many religious and ethnic identities.

What political, social, educational, diplomatic and economic steps have been taken in the past six years?

For the first time, all peoples and beliefs in a region have been able to govern themselves according to their democratic will. This has created a very valuable image that embodies the basic positive qualities of human beings, such as love, justice, equality of people and peace. With this model, self-government plays a pioneering role in both Northern and Eastern Syria and in Syria and the Middle East. There have been changes and transformations, such as the reconstruction or reorganization of society, the distribution of roles among all identities and the leading role of women and young people. In addition, important steps have been taken in the Northern and Eastern Syrian revolution in many areas – from education, culture and art to self-defense.

A strategy has been adopted that includes, embraces and accepts all peoples living in Syria. The policy to overcome the crisis in Syria is clear and fundamental. The Autonomous Administration expressed itself in this direction with the statement published on 18 April 2023. Intensive diplomatic activities are being undertaken to convey the system, publicize the activities carried out and protect the region together. In the Rojava Revolution, also known as the Women’s Revolution, women’s diplomacy in particular made important breakthroughs.

The peoples learn in their mother tongue

In Northern and Eastern Syria, many people could not read or write in their mother tongue. Now that the education system is in place, every person has the right to education and training in their mother tongue; trilingual education in Kurdish, Arabic and Syriac has been introduced. They have the right to be taught in their mother tongue from primary school to university.

Step forward in the development of art and culture

It would be incomplete to analyze Northern and Eastern Syria only from a political and military perspective. There has been a step forward in culture and art in the region. Culture and artistic activities are being promoted to a great extent. Artists have also contributed a lot to creating an environment where different nations and faiths come together. Thus, a significant level of artistic activity has been achieved in both Kurdistan and Syria.

What problems have arisen in these six years; what problems have you faced as a new self-government model?

One of the main issues that the Autonomous Administration places particular emphasis on is service activity. As is known, we are in a unique process. Despite the serious difficulties affecting both working conditions and the financial situation, each and every individual feels responsible to society.

We have been and continue to be subjected to attacks aimed at eliminating the system. The Turkish state openly attacked Serêkaniyê as early as 2013 and to this day is mobilizing all its forces to smash this system, displace the people and change the demographics of the region. The occupation of Efrîn, Girê Spî, Serêkaniyê by the Turkish state and the mercenary troops led by it is a bleeding wound in our hearts. The peoples who originally lived there had to flee to Northern and Eastern Syria. The people in northern and eastern Syria are under a severe economic embargo. To this day, we are not officially recognized politically, so the closed border crossings prevent aid supplies from reaching the refugees in Northern and Eastern Syria. Every single person who lives in the region feels the hardship deeply.

How has the war affected the system?

To date, the Autonomous Administration has carried out all its work in a warlike environment. This causes both difficulties in life and psychological problems. It is not a model that was proclaimed in an environment of peace and calm. The war has caused problems in achieving the desired level, which mainly refers to the implementation of work and the provision of services to the population. All work is carried out under attacks and attempted invasions. This has a direct negative impact on our work. In our region, people are attacked every day and there are deaths every day. In such a situation, it is difficult to develop institutionalization. Nevertheless, the Autonomous Administration is doing everything it can to serve the people as best as possible and to convey its political message to the people of Syria and the region.

What are your goals as the Democratic Autonomous Administration?

Everyone is responsible for protecting this project. It was built with a lot of effort and at great sacrifice. The people of North and East Syria are also aware of this. We continue our activities to protect the model, develop it, overcome the shortcomings and criticisms, make the institutionalization that arose in the war environment permanent with the adopted social contract, develop it further and fill it with content. Our main goal is to popularize the new model in Syria and, in general, in the best possible way. Our strategy for resolving the Syrian crisis is clear. Our efforts to bring the peoples of Syria together will always continue. We consider the protection of our territories, the territorial integrity of Syria, the sovereignty of the peoples of Syria and the intra-Syrian dialogue of strategic importance. We will continue our work on this basis. If the regime in Damascus approaches those who join forces for attacks against the Autonomous Administration, the situation in Syria will again be negatively affected. It will lead to conflicts in Syria and ultimately a place called Syria will cease to exist. We have striven to protect the integrity of Syria until today, and we will continue to do so in the future. Furthermore, our main goal is to serve the people of Northern and Eastern Syria in the best possible way, because they deserve it.

Social-Contract-English-FinalDownload

In October 2013, the first talks to begin sketching a “Social Contract” for the newly-autonomous regions in northern Syria began and the outcomes were presented to the region’s people for their analysis. During 2014, over 50 organizations and political parties came together to discuss, resulting in various agreements and compromises on what the content of a Social Contract should be. Key topics where all involved parties found agreement were the rejection a nation-state with a centralized system of governance, as well as the prioritization of gender equality and democratic and ecological principles. In 2014, a “Charter of the Social Contract of Rojava” was adopted, which was reformed in 2016. In December 2023, the Autonomous Administration of North and East (AANES) released their newest version, which RIC has translated. While the AANES had planned a much earlier publication date, AANES officials told RIC that restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic, war threats and attacks from Turkey, and an extensive series of consultations that were lengthier than planned due to the quantity of amendments and queries, meant that the process was delayed. While the Social Contract was created for North and East Syria, it makes reference to a “Democratic Republic of Syria”, which would include all other regions of Syria alongside that of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, thus emphasizing the AANES’ commitment to Syria’s integrity and unity in the face of accusations of secessionism.

In 2018 – the year that the AANES was formed and a draft copy of the updated Social Contract was presented to various concerned civil society organizations, groups and political parties for evaluation – the first official agreement to form a Syrian Constitutional Committee (SCC) and establish a new constitution for Syria took place in Sochi, Russia. This Constitutional Committee would eventually have 150 members: 50 members from the Syrian Opposition, 50 members from the Government of Syria, and 50 “independent figures”. The AANES were excluded.

This UN-guided process to re-write Syria’s constitution and shape the country’s political future occurred in parallel to the efforts undertaken by the SDC and AANES. On the same day that the AANES announced the publication of this newest Social Contract, Sergey Vershinin, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, held a meeting with Geir Pedersen, the UN Special Envoy for Syria, with the objective of restarting the Syrian Constitutional Committee, which had faded from prominence due to its failure to reach agreements and achieve a sustainable political settlement for Syria.

The political positions, ideas and principles contained within North and East Syria’s Social Contract differ greatly from those articulated by the SCC. In the Social Contract, gender equality and decentralized democracy are highlighted as two of the main pillars of governance and social life. Public consultations played a central role in the writing of the Social Contract long before it was finally ratified by the AANES’ Executive Council. A significant addition to the updated Contract is that towns, cities and regions are all permitted to hold referendums on topics affecting their area, hence potentially overturning AAANES-level decisions.

“A basic principle of our Contract is that it be flexible and adaptable,” says Amina Omar, co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC – the political assembly for a democratic Syria, founded in 2015). For Omar, the fact that the Social Contract has been updated has much to do with the fact that “not all areas of North and East Syria were liberated at the same time. In 2014, the three cantons of Rojava – Afrin, Kobane and Jazira – united on a federal basis. The institutions there are still based on the 2014 agreement.” Other regions, such as Tabqa, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, were more gradually liberated and have different institutions. This is partly the reason for the need for a new contract.

One other reason for the decision to commence with the updating of the Social Contract was “the need to create a unified constitution for North East Syria”, says Berivan Khaled, co-chair of the Executive Council of the AANES. To formulate the new Contract, all seven regions – referred to in the new contract as cantons – of the AANES were contacted and proposals sent to them so that discussions could begin regionally. Each region, as well as political institutions and civil organizations, sent representatives to be a part of the Social Contract writing committee. Khaled stated that the “all sides’ points must be considered, since each must have their place in the Social Contract, particularly under the condition of parity between men and women.” The writing committee had 158 participants, tasked with representing the requirements and wishes of the people of North East Syria in every clause of the contract. On this basis, wider meetings and consultations began.

This process of re-writing the Social Contract had three phases, as Amina Ose the Vice-President of the Executive Council of the AANES explained: The first phrase was “the preparation of a draft by the big and small [writing] committee.” In the second phase, “the draft was presented to the population and their ideas, opinions and suggestions were received.” For the third phase, “the AANES Executive Council got involved and general laws were established like the election law, a law on parties and administrative division.” She states that “this contract is a win-win for the people because it guarantees the rights and duties of each individual. Of course, we cannot say that this contract is 100% perfect, but the manner by which it was formulated is highly accepted by the population.”

Ose adds that the re-writing of the Social Contract is also linked to preparations for upcoming elections: “After the approval of the final version of the social contract by the Executive Council, we begin to prepare for the elections.” NES’ Social Contract reflects the idea of people living together without an imposing higher authority. In the preamble to the Social Contract, a centralized state is presented as a cause of conflict and injustice. In this respect, the AANES does not aim to proclaim a state but a system where structures like those of states are replaced by more horizontal and egalitarian ones. Ose says that the AANES Executive Council is given less importance in the updated Social Contract: “The Executive Council had a lot of powers in the previous version, but now these powers will be given to the Peoples’ Councils of each canton, as well as to the different commissions.”

The Contract means to cover all spheres of social and political life. “The social contract highly respects all religions in North East Syria. It stipulates the right to democratic practice of each religion,” says Ose.  Regarding economy, the proposal for a “societal economy” is retained from the original Contract: “the idea of the societal economy means that the economy and society work closely together on the basis of cooperatives. It is about the unification of all hard working and productive systems, so not only focused on the side of the consumers.” The updated Contract references the establishment of independent financial management and oversight bodies, reflecting the AANES’ efforts to stabilize the region economically in the face of Syria’s financial crisis. The health sector is crucial because of the reality of war and poverty in NES. Ose explains that “all [AANES] health care facilities will offer their services free of charge. Health insurance will be expanded to include all segments of society. As for private hospitals, the Social Contract stipulates that investors and the private sector will be allowed. However, they must not monopolize the people and influence the societal economy. Likewise, they must not interfere with our health care strategy. This means that everyone in NES has the right to open a private hospital, but on the condition that it does not violate the content of our Social Contract and does not have a negative impact on the health sector and the people of North East Syria.”

“The social contract states that self-defense is the duty of every individual in NES”, says Ose. “This includes several components: The Community Protection Forces (HPC), the Self-Defense Forces (HXP), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). When all these components elect leaders, they must first present them to the Peoples’ Council. When promoting or adding a new person to the group, the People’s Council must be consulted. It is equally responsible for giving the order to defend in the event of an attack on NES.”

The Contract puts emphasis on women’s rights and organizations. Jihan Khadro, a member the AANES’ Women’s Body, tells RIC that “this Social Contract has basic principles, the most prominent of which is ensuring the rights of all components of the region. In addition, the most important of its goals is the principle of women’s freedom and harmonious coexistence [between men and women].” For Khadro, considering “the unending threats and attacks from the Turkish state, today we are making a great achievement, simply by writing the Social Contract.” Khadro explains that for the Social Contract writing committee, “the most prominent and pivotal thing was the equality of women within the committee. Women comprised 50 percent of the committee. In fact, this is the first time that women participate in such a manner in writing a Social Contract in all of women’s history. Women had an active role in the discussions that took place around the draft of the Social Contract. We all know how the situation of women was before; especially in the areas of Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir ez-Zor during the presence of ISIS. Women were deprived of their most basic rights, such as leaving the house. But today, with the AANES, women participate in writing the Social Contract as a constitution for the region. The impact of women’s participation means the presence and application of justice.”

Relations with the Government of Syria is another main issue that had to be taken in consideration while writing the Social Contract. Berivan Khaled, co-chair of the Executive Council of the AANES, said: “From the beginning of the revolution until today, we have constantly called for dialogue with the government in Damascus. Our message has been always the same: we sit down at the negotiating table with the involvement of the major powers and want dialogue. However, our condition is that the [Syrian] regime does not take hostile measures against the Autonomous Administration. Its existence must be ensured while respecting the autonomy of the Syrian Democratic Forces. However, the regime has always been stubborn in accepting our forces.” The flexibility for change in the Social Contract exists in case of need as Amina Ose explains: “The social contract can be changed again if there is a serious dialogue [with the Government of Syria] about it and it forms the basis for a common Syrian constitution in which our democratic system and the autonomy of our regions are protected. The social contract can be changed in the event of a meeting with the regime in Damascus, but it must be based on a democratic constitution that guarantees our representation in it. However, if these changes are undemocratic, then the regime remains part of the problem and solidifies the division of all of Syria, not just in our regions. In any case, we remain committed to managing our regions, protecting them, liberating them, and implementing our democratic system. But if there is a political change in all of Syria, we will of course participate in it.”

The Social Contract is not then just a project for NES but for all Syria. Regarding the current situation in Syria, Ose concludes: “In my opinion, there is no sign of a solution to the Syria crisis. Of course, not only Syria is in a crisis, but the whole Middle East is going through a difficult period. Many regimes have been replaced, and there are many wars and conflicts. In my opinion, all these conflicts are linked to the conflict between the global powers, all of which are trying to impose their interests and influence the region with their ideas and visions. Likewise, the regional powers are in a constant struggle to resolve these conflicts. This can only be done through the solidarity and unification of the peoples in the region, who defend their homeland, guarantee their rights and govern themselves independently. All this requires that people be aware of the danger of this phase. In all this chaos, it is important for the AANES to affirm the success of the democratic nation project.”

The Social Contract of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the North and East Syria Region

Preamble

We, the daughters and sons of North and East Syria – Kurds, Arabs, Syriac Assyrians, Turkmen, Armenians, Circassians, Chechens, Muslims, Christians and Yazidis – in our awareness and belief of the duty upon us from the martyrs, in response to the demands of our peoples to live in dignity, and in response to the great sacrifices made by the Syrians, came together to establish a democratic system in North and East Syria to form a basis for building a future Syria, without racist tendencies, discrimination, exclusion or the marginalization of any identity.

Together, we resisted against tyranny, betrayal, and extremism, and we rejected all types of nationalist, religious, gender and secular fanaticism. Our adoption of the principle of the democratic nation strengthened our national unity, gave us strength in the face of our enemies and became hope for our friends.

We, the peoples of North and East Syria, have suffered from successive undemocratic regimes in Syria, from the policies of thousands of years of state centralization and authoritarianism and from the practices of capitalist modernity that dominate the region. We have been exposed to all kinds of injustice and oppression over many years.

We are determined to establish a democratic system based on democratic autonomous administrations, achieve justice and equality among all peoples and components, preserve all cultural, religious and ideological identities, spread a culture of diversity and tolerance, reject all types of violence and take the principle of legitimate defense as a basis.

The societal revolution that was achieved under the leadership of women in North and East Syria opened the way for an intellectual and social renaissance, and women became a fundamental pillar of our democratic system. The struggle and sacrifices of youth in bringing together all components also played a historical role in consolidating and strengthening the brotherhood of peoples.

The Democratic Autonomous Administration, which was achieved by the will of the people, is based upon an ecological democratic society, co-chairing, societal economy, social justice, and the principle of democratic confederalism.

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is an integral part of Syria. With the democratic system it established, the common values it created, and the political positions it expressed over the past years, it formed a strong foundation for true unity, thus becoming the basis for building the Democratic Republic of Syria.

We, the peoples of North and East Syria, with all its components, have decided, with full freedom and choice, to write this social contract from the system of values and democratic civilizational heritage of the Middle East and humanity as a whole, so that this becomes a guarantee of freedom, peace and unity among Syrians.

Chapter One: Basic principles

Article 1

This charter is the social contract for the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the North and East Syrian Region, and the preamble is the core of this contract and an integral part of it.

Article 2

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria adopts the following systems: democratic, environmental, societal, and women’s freedom.

Article 3

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria develops and consolidates a moral-political society, adopting the principles of democratic modernity in the face of capitalist modernity.

Article 4

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria derives its legitimacy from the will of peoples and groups on the basis of free and equal participation and through democratic elections.

Article 5

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is part of the Syrian Democratic Republic.

Article 6

All languages ​​in the geography of North and East Syria are equal in all areas of social, educational, and cultural life. Every people or cultural group has the right to organize its life and conduct its affairs in its mother tongue.

Article 7

Languages: Arabic, Kurdish, and Syriac are official languages in the areas of the Democratic Autonomous Administration

Article 8

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria has a special status and flag that is raised alongside the flag of the Syrian Democratic Republic. It has a logo and this is enshrined in law.

Article 9

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria adopts the principle of independence of the judiciary.

Article 10

Oath: I swear to God Almighty, and I pledge to the martyrs: to abide by the social contract and its articles, to preserve the democratic rights of the peoples and the values of the martyrs, to preserve the freedom, safety and security of the regions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Democratic Republic of Syria, and to work for a free, equal life and the achievement of social justice, according to the principle of the democratic nation

Article 11

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria consists of cantons based on the concept of local democracy based on the democratic system that takes the confederal democratic organizations of social groups and segments as its basis.

Article 12

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria depends on a secure society and the free individual, and takes the local organizations of peoples, groups and components as its basis in accordance with the principle of direct democracy.

Article 13

Decisions that directly affect components are taken according to the principle of consensus.

Article 14

Adopting environmental and societal democratic life as a basis, and working to build an environmentally democratic society, and preventing unjust dealing with, plundering of and destruction of nature.

Article 15

Consolidating the values of coexistence in accordance with the principles of a democratic nation filled with a spirit of brotherhood among all peoples and groups in North and East Syria within a free and just democratic societal system.

Article 16

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria guarantees the political, economic and cultural rights of the Kurdish people and preserves the historical characteristics and authentic demographic structures of the Kurdish regions.

Article 17

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria guarantees the political, cultural and economic rights of the Syriac-Assyrian people, preserves its values and historical existence, and rejects any demographic change in its regions based on fair representation and the principle of interoperability.

Article 18

The Democratic Autonomous Administration adopts the principle of societal economy, which establishes self-sufficiency and sustainable and balanced development.

Article 19

The Democratic Autonomous Administration develops the societal economy for women, eliminating the exploitation of women.

Article 20

Natural wealth and resources belong to society. They are used and invested according to the needs of the regions and in a fair manner. This is enshrined in law.

Article 21

Developing health insurance for all society; public health services will be free.

Article 22

Preventing monopolies in the fields of education and health.

Article 23

Martyrdom is a sacred value, and the Autonomous Administration guarantees the families of martyrs, the wounded and prisoners of war care and a decent life.

Article 24

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria adopts the system of co-chair-ship in all political, social, administrative and other fields and considers it a principle of equal representation between the sexes, which contributes to the organization and consecration of the democratic confederal system for women as their own entity.

Article 25

Ensuring women’s freedom and rights in society and gender equality.

Article 26

Women enjoy their free will in the democratic family that is established on the basis of a shared equal life.

Article 27

Preserving environmental life and the ecosystem is a duty for the citizen, society and all organizations and institutions.

Article 28

Youth is the effective and pioneering force in society. It organizes itself in all social activities and participates, of its own free will and organized force, in all areas of life.

Article 29

Fair representation of all components in Democratic Autonomous Administration institutions according to the demographics of the regions.

Article 30

Self-defense against any external or internal danger is a legitimate right, and it is a duty for individuals and groups living under the Democratic Autonomous Administration to defend themselves and preserve their dignity in the event that they are exposed to attack.

Article 31

The citizen in the Democratic Autonomous Administration is a free individual, endowed with moral and democratic values and has the right to participate in more than one commune.

Article 32

The historical monuments, monuments, and cultural heritage of the peoples of northern and eastern Syria are a national heritage that all individuals and society must preserve.

Article 33

There is no crime and no punishment outside of the legal system

Article 34

The accused is innocent until proven guilty by final judgment.

Article 35

There are no taxes or fees outside of those which are legally stipulated.

Article 36

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is committed to liberating the occupied territories and returning their people to their regions.

Chapter Two: Fundamental rights and freedoms

Article 37

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria adheres to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all relevant human rights regulations.

Article 38

The right to life is a fundamental and inviolable right. The death penalty is not permitted.

Article 39

Human dignity is protected and no one may be psychologically tortured, in accordance with the law.

Article 40

Every person has freedom of belief, conscience, thought and opinion.

Article 41

The Yazidi religion is an independent religion, and its adherents have the right to preserve their religious, social and cultural privacy, and protect it from all types of assimilation and extermination through their institutions and the relevant institutions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration

Article 42

Everyone has the right to hold meetings, march and protest. This is regulated by law.

Article 43

Freedom of political thought is guaranteed for all peoples, components and individuals, and they have the right to create and establish parties that represent their aspirations. This is regulated by law.

Article 44

Peoples and components have the right to organize and express themselves freely in: the commune, the council, cooperatives, academies, and the Autonomous Administration.

Article 45

Community groups can organize themselves freely and carry out their work in the form of: commune, council, association, union, federation or chamber, organized specifically according to the legal framework specified for them.

Article 46

Oppression, assimilation, cultural genocide, demographic change, occupation and rape are all crimes against humanity, and peoples and groups have the legitimate right to resist them.

Article 47

Each administrative unit, starting from the village, neighbourhood, town, city and canton, has the right to decide on matters and affairs that concern it, provided that this does not conflict with the content of this contract.

Article 48

Everyone has the right to participate in democratic politics, and to nominate and elect according to the law.

Article 49

No person may be discriminated against, insulted or excluded due to differences in colour, gender, race, religion, belief or sect.

Article 50

Practicing all types of violence against women, exploiting them, or imposing negative discrimination on them is a crime punishable by law.

Article 51

Women have the right to equal participation in all areas of life and to make decisions related to their affairs.

Article 52

The youth have the right to organize themselves in particular, and to participate in an organized and voluntary manner in all areas of life.

Article 53

The Democratic Autonomous Administration and society secure and provide the necessary capabilities for mental and physical participation in all areas of life for people with special needs, and secure a decent life for those who cannot provide for their needs.

Article 54

The elderly are the memory of society and people of knowledge. They have the right to social security, to participate in all aspects of life properly and to be given the appreciation they deserve.

Article 55

Children’s rights are protected, and the use of violence against them, their employment, exploitation and recruitment is prohibited. This is regulated by law.

Article 56

Everyone has the right to a fair trial.

Article 57

It is not permissible to arrest, enter, or search private places or residential homes except with judicial permission or in cases of flagrante delicto.

Article 58

Individual freedom is not restricted without a legal document.

Article 59

Everyone has the right to live within a healthy environmental society.

Article 60

Cultural, ethnic and religious groups and components have the right to name and form their democratic organizations and institutions and to preserve their cultures. No person or entity has the right to impose its belief, thought, or culture on others through coercion.

Article 61

The Autonomous Administration is keen to enhance the historical values of tribes and clans in a way that serves development and peaceful coexistence among society, and opposes all tribal customs that are inconsistent with the social contract.

Article 62

Education is free at all levels, and primary and intermediate education is compulsory.

Article 63

Every citizen has the right to work, movement and housing.

Article 64

The rights of hard-working people are protected and the right to organization and social life is ensured, and this shall be regulated by law.

Article 65

Freedom of the media, press and publication is guaranteed, and this is regulated by law.

Articled 66

Everyone has the right to access and obtain information, and this is regulated by law.

Article 67

Everyone has the right to develop and disseminate their cultural, artistic and community activities and to participate in and benefit from them, and this is regulated by law.

Article 68

Every human being has the right to request humanitarian and political asylum and to renounce ill-treatment. A political refugee shall not be returned to his country without his consent. This is enshrined in law.

Article 69

Natural wealth and resources are public wealth for society. It is forbidden to convert them into private property, and their investment, management, and disposal are regulated fairly by law.

Article 70

Private property is protected and may not be taken away except for the public interest. It must be compensated fairly, and this is regulated by law.

Article 71

Owning and giving property for the purpose of demographic change is prohibited.

Article 72

The participation of all citizens in legitimate defense is a right and a duty to deter any attack on the areas of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Democratic Republic of Syria.

Article 73

Intellectual property is protected and this is regulated by law.

Chapter Three: The Societal System

Section One

Article 74

The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria organizes its democratic and free community life based on the formation of: communes, councils, academies, cooperatives, community economic units and institutions that complement the community system, which organize themselves in a confederal manner. The democratic system of society develops and is consolidated based on these institutions.

Article 75

The commune:

This is the basic grassroots organization form of direct democracy. It is the smallest administrative unit in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. It is the place where the moral-political community develops, which produces social, economic and cultural life. The commune is a self-contained council and is the place of decision-making, administration and has the power to resolve social issues within the administrative and organizational fields.

Article 76

The structure of the commune:

1 It consists of a number of families who live within the administrative and geographical boundaries of the commune.

2 Every citizen of North and East Syria is a member of the commune.

3 The co-chairs and committee members are elected by the members of the commune. If the co-chair of the commune or a member of one of the committees does not carry out their duties in the required manner, a vote of no confidence can be cast and an election can be held without waiting for the general elections.

4 The commune adopts direct democracy in its work.

Article 77

People’s councils:

They are the community unit that represents the people. They make their own decisions in terms of social, political, cultural, and economic aspects, work to follow up their implementation, and set rules and principles relating to free democratic life, starting with villages, neighborhoods, towns, cities, and cantons in the North and East Syrian Region. Councils deliberate on community matters, decide on its affairs and determine their policies regarding it. On this basis, they organize society, enhance its protection, ensure the sustainability of its existence and secure its needs in the political, social, cultural, economic and security fields. The bodies are organized on the principle of democratic confederation.

Article 78

Structure of people’s councils:

1 The number of representatives in councils is determined according to population density, and this is regulated by law.

2 The councils shall consist of a sufficient number of elected members, at a rate of 60% of the representatives who receive the votes of the people who directly vote for them, and 40% of the representatives elected by the organized social institutions and the ethnic and religious components among themselves in a transparent and democratic manner.

It is organized by a special law according to consensual democracy.

3 The duration of the electoral cycle is two years.

4 Council members, members of the executive body, and the co-chairs are not entitled to run for office after holding the same position for two consecutive terms.

5 The council works through committees and follows up their work and the work of the executive bodies.

6 Members of the executive councils are elected by the elected members of the people’s councils, but 20% comprises of appointed experts and specialists as needed.

7 The percentage of women’s representation in all councils is 50%.

8 The co-chairs of the municipalities participate in the people’s councils and at the same time in the executive councils.

9 Women represent themselves in all people’s councils, starting from the commune, town, city, canton, and the North and East Syrian Region through women’s councils.

Article 79

Tasks of the people’s councils:

1 Elect the co-chairs of the council.

2 Approve the co-chairs of the executive council and the members of the executive council whose names are proposed by consensus by the components.

3 Approve the co-chairs of the justice institutions whose names are proposed by the justice councils.

Justice institutions are accountable before the people’s councils by working in accordance with the social contract.

4 Approve the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) leaders whose names are proposed by the internal security institutions, and the councils supervise them. The Asayish submits its reports periodically to the people’s councils.

5 Approve the leadership of the Community Protection Forces, whose names are proposed by the leadership of the Community Protection Forces.

The council supervises this. The Community Protection Forces submit its reports periodically to the people’s councils.

6 The councils work together in the form of coordination and integration.

Article 80

Neighborhood council:

1 The number of its members is determined according to the population density in the neighbourhood.

2 The neighborhood council shall be formed 60% by the representatives who received the votes of the electorate, and 40% by the representatives of community organizations and components elected in a transparent and democratic manner. The co-chairs of the communes affiliated with that neighborhood, who are members of the neighborhood council, and the co-chairs of the municipal committee in the neighbourhood participate in it.

3 The neighborhood council elects its office and the co-chairs of that office.

4 It elects the co-chairs of its executive council.

5 It approves the members of the executive council and the Internal Security Forces department in the neighborhood.

6 It approves the leadership of the Community Protection Forces in the neighborhood whose names were suggested by the leadership of the Community Protection Forces.

7 It supervises the work of the neighborhood executive council.

8 It approves the members of the reconciliation committee proposed by the justice council.

9 The council has the right to discuss and decide on decisions affecting the neighborhood, develop plans and follow up on their implementation without interfering in the work of the communes.

10 The neighborhood council and communes work in a coordinated and integrated manner. The co-chairs of the district council are members of the city council.

12 It organizes work according to the internal regulations.

Article 81

The executive council of the neighborhood council:

1 It implements the decisions of the neighborhood council.

2 It follows up the work of the council’s committees.

3 It submits its reports to the council.

4 It coordinates between the executive committees and the communes affiliated with the neighborhood.

Article 82

Town: this consists of the town center, its affiliated villages and other residential units.

Town council:

1 The town council shall be formed 60% by the representatives who received the votes of the electorate, and 40% by the representatives of the community organizations and components elected in a transparent and democratic manner, in which the co-chairs of the communes affiliated with that town, and the co-chairs of the town, participate.

2 It elects the co-chairs of the council’s office.

3 It elects the co-chairs of the council’s executive council.

4 It approves the members of the executive council and the Internal Security Forces department in the town.

5 It approves the leadership of the Community Protection Forces in the town whose names were proposed by the leadership of the Community Protection Forces.

6 It supervises the work of the town’s executive council.

7 It approves the members of the reconciliation committee proposed by the justice committee.

8 The council has the right to discuss and decide on decisions affecting the town, develop plans and follow up on implementation.

9 It decides on decisions affecting the town without interfering in the affairs of the commune.

10 The town council and the communes work in a coordinated and integrated manner.

11 It organizes its work according to an internal system.

Article 83

Executive council of the town council:

1 It implements the decisions of the town council.

2 It follows up the work of its committees

3 It submits its reports to the council.

4 It coordinates between the executive committees and the communes affiliated with the town.

Article 84

City: this consists of the city center and the towns, villages, and residential units adjacent to it.

City council:

1 The city council is composed 60% by the representatives who received the people’s votes and 40% by the candidates nominated by community organizations elected in a transparent and democratic manner, in addition to the co-chairs of the towns and communes located in the city’s neighborhoods. The co-chairs of the towns are members of the city council.

2 In large cities, a neighborhood council is formed, and the co-chairs of the neighborhood council participate in the city council.

3 The town, city, and large city are organized by a particular law.

Article 85

City council duties:

1 It elects its office and the co-chairs of the office.

2 It elects the co-chairs of the executive council.

3 It approves the members of the city’s executive council and supervises their work.

4 It approves the co-chairs of the court of justice and the city’s reconciliation committees, whose names are proposed by the Justice Council.

5 It approves the city’s Internal Security Forces leadership and supervises its work.

6 It approves the leadership of the Community Protection Forces for the city whose names were proposed by the leadership of the Community Protection Forces.

7 It draws plans and projects and decides on decisions affecting the city.

8 It decides on decisions related to the city without interfering in the work of towns and communes.

9 It works according to its own internal system and follows up the work through committees.

10 It carries out work in the form of: coordination and integration with towns councils, communes in the city, and neighborhood councils.

Article 86

Duties of the city executive council:

1 It implements the decisions and projects approved by the city council.

2 It supervises and follows up on the work of its committees.

3 It coordinates between the city’s executive committee and the town executive committee.

4 The executive council of large cities coordinates between the city’s executive committee and the neighborhood committees.

5 It shall be accountable to the People’s Councils and submit its reports to it monthly.

6 It determines its mechanism of work through an internal system

Article 87

Canton

1 The canton consists of cities, towns, villages and farms.

2 The canton in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria organizes itself in terms of: political, social, economic, ecological, cultural, security, educational, women and youth, on the basis of democratic confederation and the principles that the Democratic Autonomous Administration decides and operates according to.

It has the powers and rights specified for it in the social contract.

3 In parallel with public investments at the level of North and East Syria, each canton organizes itself according to the principles of self-sufficiency and integration in the economic field, and works with the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to secure the basic needs of society, and obtains its share of capabilities according to population density and according to the need.

4 The cantons adopt the fair distribution of underground and surface wealth as their basis in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The fair distribution of wealth is regulated by law.

5 Each canton council is responsible for organizing and empowering its internal security forces and supervising their work.

6 Every canton has the right to legitimate defense against external attacks, and it is responsible for defending the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Democratic Republic of Syria.

7 Each canton has the right to develop and strengthen diplomatic, economic, social and cultural relations with peoples and countries, provided that they do not contradict the social contract of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

8 The ethnic and religious components of each canton organize and manage their political, social and cultural affairs in their own languages and cultures.

9 The foundations of the rules and mechanisms for each of the above-mentioned rights, powers and responsibilities of the cantons are determined by separate and detailed laws.

Article 88

Peoples’ council of the canton

1 This is the council that represents the peoples and social groups in each canton. It performs the role of legislation, oversight, and drawing up public policies. The duration of the electoral term here is two years. The mechanism of work of the council and its committees is determined by internal regulations.

2 The council shall be composed according to population density, 60% comprised of those elected by the people in general elections, and 40% comprised of the members of the people’s council in the canton (including the co-chairs of the people’s councils and the executive council in the cities) who are representatives elected in a democratic and transparent manner within the ethnic, religious, ideological and cultural components. This is regulated by the Elections Law.

3 The first session will be held on the sixteenth day after announcing the final results in all cantons at the invitation of the High Electoral Body. Two-thirds of the members are required to attend. In the event that the first session is not held because the required quorum is not achieved, another date will be set and the quorum is considered achieved in the presence of 50+1 of the general total. The first session of the peoples’ council is chaired by a man and a woman from the oldest and youngest members, and the co-chairs and the office are elected. After that, the members of the council take the oath, and its sessions are public unless necessity requires otherwise in accordance with what is stipulated in its bylaws.

4 The session of the peoples’ council may be extended for a period of six months in exceptional cases and at the request of 1/4 of the members or at the request of the council’s co-chair office. The extension shall be made with the approval of 2/3rds of the council’s members.

5 A member of the council shall enjoy immunity throughout his term of membership. He shall not be held accountable for the opinions he expresses, and he may not be prosecuted judicially without the council’s permission, except in the case of flagrante delicto, in which case it is merely required that the council’s office be notified.

Article 89

Tasks of the canton peoples’ council:

1 It formulates general policies, discusses projects, and makes decisions related to social, economic, financial, energy, internal security, education, culture and enlightenment, women and youth, and others in the canton.

2 It decides on decisions and laws pertaining to the canton without interfering in city affairs.

3 It elects the co-chairs of its office and four deputies of the office, to organize and conduct the council’s activities.

4 The council works on the basis of committees, and through its committees it follows up and supervises the activities of the executive council and submits its report to the council.

5 It elects the co-chairs of the executive council by a two-thirds majority and assigns it to present the composition of the executive council. Confidence is granted to the members of the executive council at a rate of 50+1 of the number of votes of the council. When determining the members of the executive council, fair representation of the ethnic and religious components must be taken into account. The percentage of women in the executive council is 50%, and they are also entitled to withdraw confidence from the executive council or one of its members, and this is regulated by law.

6 It approves the Internal Security Forces department whose names are proposed by the Internal Security Forces institutions, and it supervises its activities.

7 It approves the leadership of the Community Protection Forces whose names were proposed by the leadership of the Community Protection Forces, and submits its periodic reports to the district council.

8 It approves the co-chairs of the canton Justice Council whose names are proposed by the Justice Council.

9 It enacts and legislates laws in the canton.

10 It discusses and approves the general budget of the canton with the participation of city councils.

11 It approves the general policy and development plans of the canton.

12 It shall issue a general amnesty law in the canton or based on the proposal of the peoples’ council in the canton or the Justice Council of the canton, provided that the cases of crime against which the peoples’ council in the canton can approve amnesty are determined by law.

13 It works according to an internal system.

Article 90

Canton executive council:

1 It is the executive body in the canton. It implements the decisions of the peoples’ council and judicial decisions of justice and submits reports of its activities periodically to the canton peoples’ council.

2 It consists of the co-chairs of the executive council and their deputies, the co-chairs of the committees, and the co-chairs of the executive councils of the cities.

3 It organizes itself on the basis of executive committees, and forms its collective executive force accordingly.

4 Each committee consists of co-chairs and a sufficient number of members according to the requirements of its activity.

5 After the formation of the executive council and granting confidence to it, it issues a statement specifying its work schedule for the next stage, and it is obligated to implement it during its session after its approval by the peoples’ council in the canton.

Section Two

Article 91

North and East Syria Region: It consists of seven cantons, namely Jazira, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, Euphrates, Manbij, Afrin/Shehba, and Tabqa.

The Peoples’ Democratic Council of North and East Syria

1 The Peoples’ Democratic Council represents all the peoples living under the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

It is a symbol of integration in fraternal coexistence, and the free and democratic union established by the peoples of the region.

2 The Peoples’ Democratic Council consists of representatives of the peoples: Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens, Circassians, and Chechens. The percentage of women in it is 50%. It also represents ideological and cultural groups such as: Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and others that fall under

the ceiling of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

3 It takes into account the historical, demographic, geographical, religious, ideological, ethnic and cultural structures and characteristics of all peoples and groups when making decisions and in the activities it undertakes.

4 The Democratic Peoples’ Council guarantees the right of peoples and groups to establish democratic autonomous administrations.

Its characteristics and ideological, ethnic, and cultural freedoms are guaranteed by law within the framework of the social contract.

5 Adopts the democratic confederal system in organizing society.

It enables living within an environmental and economic balance.

6 The Peoples’ Democratic Council views the organization of Democratic Autonomous Administration cantons, groups and local units as the pillar of the democratic confederal system.

It aims to unite all groups under the Democratic Autonomous Administration based on their own will.

Article 92

Structure of the People’s Democratic Council:

1 The Peoples’ Democratic Council undertakes legislation and general representation of the peoples and groups under the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

2 The duration of the electoral cycle is two years.

3 The number of members of the Peoples’ Democratic Council coming from each canton is determined according to population density, and this is enshrined in law.

4 The members of the Peoples’ Democratic Council are elected according to the following: 60% people’s representatives who are determined in general elections in which the general public participates, and 40% from the representatives elected in a transparent and democratic manner from within ethnic, religious, ideological, and cultural components according to their population densities and within social segments, in accordance with the electoral law. The co-chairs of the canton council, the co-chairs of the executive councils in the cantons, and the co-chairs of the Union of Municipalities of North and East Syria are members of the Peoples’ Democratic Council.

5 The office of the Peoples’ Democratic Council consists of the co-chairs and four deputies.

Their names are proposed to the Council after the consensus of the representatives of the social groups and segments present in the Peoples’ Democratic Council. The co-chairs are elected with the approval of two-thirds of the full number of Council members. While the members of the Presidency are elected by a vote of 50+1 of the participants in the session of the Peoples’ Democratic Council.

6 The Peoples’ Democratic Council works through committees.

It formulates final decisions and presents projects to the meeting of the Peoples’ Democratic Council. It can form the necessary committees when needed.

7 It conducts its activities in accordance with its internal statutes.

Article 93

Tasks of the Peoples’ Democratic Council

1 It elects the co-chairs of the Executive Council by a two-thirds majority and assigns it to present the composition of the Executive Council within a month of granting confidence.

It also has the right to withhold confidence from the Executive Council or one of its members. The co-chairs and members of the Executive Council are elected from among the Peoples’ Council’s elected officials. In the event of non-acceptance, new names will be proposed by the co-chairs of the Executive Council, with 80% from the council members and 20% from the specialists, and that there be consensus between the ethnic and religious groups and cantons when electing the co-chairs of the Executive Council, to ensure equitable ethnic and religious representation. Women’s representation is equal to men’s.

2 It meets periodically and when needed. It formulates general policy and determines strategic goals outside the jurisdiction of the cantons at the regional level. It discusses proposed projects in all fields and makes plans.

3 The Council approves the states of peace and war within the scope of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, with the participation of the canton councils and the Women’s Council of North and East Syria.

4 The Peoples’ Democratic Council sets laws and enacts legislation regarding the region of North and East Syria, without interfering in the affairs of the cantons.

5 It follows up the work of the executive bodies through committees and the committees submit their reports to the Council.

6 It approves the co-chairs of the Social Justice Council for North and East Syria, whose names are proposed by the Justice Council of North and East Syria.

7 It approves the General Command of the Internal Security Forces, whose names are proposed by the Internal Security Service, and the Council supervises their activities.

8 It approves the members of the High Electoral Body whose names are proposed by the Justice Council and the canton people’s council, with the agreement of the Justice Council and the Democratic People’s Council for North and East Syria. With the votes of two-thirds of the members of the Peoples’ Democratic Council, and in the event that the quorum is not reached, it will be postponed to another session, and the vote will be in the ratio of 50+1.

9 It approves the appointment and promotions of the General Command of the Syrian Democratic Forces, and supervises its activities

10 It examines and decides on the charters and agreements made in the name of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria with peoples, states, institutions or in coordination with the peoples’ councils in the cantons, and approves them.

11 The session of the Peoples’ Democratic Council may be extended in exceptional cases for a period of six months, at the request of a quarter of the members or the Council’s office and with the approval of two-thirds of the Council’s members.

12 It can approve the accession of a region or canton to the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria with the participation of the canton councils after that region accepts the social contract by a vote of two-thirds of the council members. If a quorum is not achieved, the session is postponed and the vote is taken by a ratio of 50+1

13 It discusses and approves the general budget for the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria with the participation of the canton councils.

14 It approves and grants a general amnesty in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in the required cases on the proposal of the Peoples’ Democratic Council or the Justice Council.

Article 94

Duties of the Peoples’ Council Office:

1 Represents the People’s Democratic Council in the northern and eastern region of Syria. It is responsible for arranging, coordinating, implementing and supervising all Council activities.

2 It activates, monitors and supervises the committees.

Article 95

The Executive Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria

1 The co-chairs of the canton executive councils are members of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and they are entitled to attend the meetings of the Executive Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration and participate in discussions and decision-making.

2 The co-chairs of the canton executive councils are not entitled to run for the co-chair-ship and the bodies affiliated with the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration.

3 The co-chairs represent the Executive Council and directs its activities.

Article 96

Tasks of the Executive Council of Democratic Autonomous Administration

1 It implements the decisions and implements the policies drawn up and determined by the Peoples’ Democratic Council in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria through the executive bodies.

2 It carries out diplomatic activities in the name of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

3 It ensures coordination and integration between cantons in the political, economic, social and cultural fields.

4 The powers of the Executive Council of North and East Syria are determined in accordance with the principle of democratic confederalism by law on the basis of compatibility with the canton within the framework of the social contract.

5 It reports to the Democratic People’s Council in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

6 The Executive Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria organizes itself through its Bodys.

7 Each Body consists of the co-chairs of the Body, the co-chairs of the council, and a sufficient number of members.

Article 97

Councils of all Bodys and executive committees

Our societal system depends on the principle of democratic confederalism, and on this basis every Body organizes itself within councils, starting with the town, city, canton and the region of North and East Syria. Thus, it plays an important role in consolidating the democratic system. Each Body operates according to the council mechanism. These councils discuss issues related to the work of the committee or Body that falls within its scope. They work to organize the academies associated with it to qualify people to work within its scope. These councils include representatives of the institutions and unions concerned with each Body and committee. It elects its co-chairs and forms the committees associated with the council according to their need. The co-chairs of these councils are members of the town, city and canton councils and the Peoples’ Democratic Council. When the peoples’ councils discuss any decision that affects any Body or committee, work must be done in coordination with the relevant council regarding it. The draft resolution will be presented in agreement with them. As for matters related to any internal Body or committee, its council shall decide on them. There is integration in social life, so there must be a symbiotic relationship between the councils of all Bodys and committees.

Article 98

Education and Learning Council:

It is composed of representatives of institutions and bodies concerned with education, representatives of the University Council, the Education Authority, the Curriculum Foundation, the Language Foundation, the Teachers Union, representatives of the teaching staff, research and study centers, genetics committees, representatives of the communes and peoples’ councils and representatives of the Student Union. It develops an education strategy. It teaches the official languages and other languages within the Democratic Autonomous Administration. It is focussed on public consciousness. It develops the nation’s democratic mentality, starting from the nursery stage until the university stage. It develops educational projects and educational, cultural and scientific curricula, for all segments of society. It develops the institutions specialized in its work and opens academies that work to qualify educational staff.

Article 99

The Council of Culture and Enlightenment:

It consists of representatives of the academies of art and culture, the Information Committee, the Democratic Society Academies Committee, representatives of cultural centers and associations, unions of intellectuals and artists, and representatives of the colleges concerned with them. It regulates itself internally. It develops intellectual, enlightenment, artistic and training activities through academies and cultural centres, to consolidate the values of participatory life and democracy and combat the concept of capitalist modernity that trades in art and uses the media to degrade societal values and the cultural heritage of peoples. The Council prepares the specialized academic staff.

Article 100

Council of Families of Martyrs, Wounded, and Prisoners of War:

The families of the martyrs, the families of the wounded, and the prisoners of war are among the basic values of the revolution. The Council organizes the families of martyrs, the families of the wounded, and prisoners of war, and provides for their material and moral needs. It works to ensure that they play an effective role in all fields. In order to rehabilitate the war wounded and empower them professionally, it develops academies and specialized centers and works to secure job opportunities for them and secure a decent life for those who cannot work.

Article 101

Environment Council:

It consists of representatives of relevant organizations, institutions, associations, municipalities, and representatives of health and economic councils. The Council develops environmental awareness, establishes the values of life in harmony with the environment, and works in cooperation and coordination with all boards of Bodys and committees to develop the concept of ecological environmental culture in all aspects of life. It works to develop the environmental industry and opposes all industrial and construction activities that harm the environment. It carries out joint work with ecological movements in North and East Syria and at the regional and global levels.

Article 102

Council for Social Affairs and Workers:

It is composed of organizations and institutions concerned with the affairs of workers, peasants, toilers, craftsmen, people with special needs, and the displaced and refugees. In order to ensure their effective participation in social life and secure job opportunities for them, it develops federations, cooperatives, confederations, and vocational schools to contribute to establishing a democratic societal system. The working people are the basic group that contributes to building a democratic society and consolidating democratic politics. The council develops projects that develop the social and cultural aspects of working people. It works to build an economic system that brings value to women’s efforts. It also organizes people with special needs, opens academies and special centers that work to empower them psychologically and professionally, and provides financial support to those whose needs cannot be met.

Article 103

The Law Council:

It consists of human rights institutions, representatives of lawyers’ unions, representatives of organizations interested in human rights and women’s rights, representatives of the Justice Council, and the relevant colleges. It develops laws and regulations based on ethics and democratic principles of rights in the Democratic Autonomous Administration. In order for the laws issued to be consistent with the social contract, it works in coordination with the committees of the People’s Democratic Council. It monitors, documents and follows up on human rights violations and war crimes against the region of North and East Syria and the occupied territories. It works with institutions concerned with human rights and human rights organizations. It carries out activities aimed at achieving the legal legitimacy of Democratic Autonomous Administration.

Article 104

Health Council:

It consists of representatives of institutions and associations interested in health, as well as representatives of unions of doctors, pharmacists, dentists, health professions unions, representatives of the environment, municipalities and economic councils, and representatives of the relevant colleges and institutes. It develops projects and strategic plans that serve community health issues. It develops institutions and supports entities working in this field, and also plays a coordination role between them. It works according to the principle of health starting from ecological life and building a free society. In order to develop the field of services and health insurance, it develops academies that achieve community and scientific awareness among health staff, and seeks to provide health services free of charge to all. It opposes all types of exploitation and trafficking in the health field.

Article 105

Council of Economy and Agriculture:

It consists of representatives of economic institutions, farmers’ unions and associations, livestock breeders, chambers of commerce and industry, craftsmen’s union, research centers, and representatives of specialized colleges of engineers, veterinarians, and agricultural engineers.

It develops and realizes the economic system of a confederal democratic society, based mainly on environmental, participatory and community economics. It opposes all types of monopoly and works to develop the principle and concept of sharing: energy, land, and water. It opens academies that qualify economic personnel. It establishes cooperatives that achieve a participatory economy and develops projects in the field of securing sources for imports and investments. It works in coordination with finance bodies and committees to open the way for investing money in the societal economy.

Article 106

Council on Foreign Relations:

It consists of representatives of institutions working in the diplomatic field within the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and representatives of the Faculty of Political Science. It organizes and implements the work of foreign relations, develops its work strategy in accordance with the principles of the democratic nation, and takes the interests of the peoples and the peaceful solution as a basis for developing relations. It is developing its activities in order to achieve a democratic system in Syria, the region and the world. It opens intellectual and professional academies to qualify diplomatic workers.

Article 107

Council of Religions and Beliefs:

It consists of representatives of religious institutions in North and East Syria, and representatives of the College of Religious Sciences.

It works to facilitate the practice of all religious groups and beliefs in their worship and rituals in social life freely and according to their characteristics. It develops religious institutions that are consistent with the mentality of the democratic nation. It opposes fanatical and extremist concepts of the nation-state and non-democracy that differentiate between religions and sects and works to develop the ethics of freedom and the concept of tolerance between religions and beliefs.

Article 108

Youth council:

It is the vanguard force of the revolution in North and East Syria. It plays the leading role in building the democratic confederal system and organizes itself according to this principle. It includes liberal and democratic youth organizations and organizes itself specially. It can organize itself in the form of a commune, a council, an association, an academy and cooperatives. It represents all the youth in north and East Syria and makes decisions related to youth. It organizes itself within villages, towns, cities and cantons, in the intellectual, cultural, economic, political and diplomatic fields. It draws up policies and strategic projects related to youth. It develops the democratic and socialist concept of art and sports, and opposes all moral practices practiced by capitalist modernity against young people through industrial and monopolistic art and sports. He plays the leading role in organizing community protection forces for youth. Young women organize themselves in particular and play the leading role in developing the system of democratic confederation. The Council organizes its work according to its own internal regulations.

Section Three

Article 109

The democratic municipal system in North and East Syria:

1 The municipalities organize themselves according to the Union of Democratic Municipalities of North and East Syria.

2 The Municipal Council and its co-chairs are elected once every two years by the people.

3 Municipalities represent themselves in the people’s councils and the executive councils of the councils

4 Municipalities adopt a system of direct democracy in their work.

5 Municipalities coordinate among themselves through a coordinator nominated by the Council of the Union of Democratic Municipalities of North and East Syria.

Section Four

Article 110

The Women’s Council of North and East Syria organizes itself in North and East Syria, starting with the commune, the neighborhood, the town, the city and the region. On this basis:

1 It is the council that represents women in North and East Syria. Women are represented in the Peoples’ Democratic Council.

2 It draws up policies and strategic plans related to women.

3 It works to build a confederal system for women in North and East Syria.

4 It preserves, protects and develops the gains of the women’s revolution.

5 It makes decisions about women.

6 It organizes laws related to women and the family and presents them to the Peoples’ Democratic Council for issuance.

7 It works to educate and organize women, build the democratic family and preserve women’s’ rights in all fields.

8 It works to consolidate democratic principles in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria

9 It works to formulate a social contract for women.

10 The Council is elected once every two years, through voting by women in North and East Syria.

11 The Executive Council of the Women’s Council of North and East Syria is elected.

12 The Women’s Coordination Committee, which works to organize women’s affairs in the Democratic Autonomous Administration, participates in the Women’s Council for North and East Syria.

13 The Women’s Council organizes its work according to its internal statues.

Section Five

Article 111

Protection and self-defense:

Self-defense is a guarantee and continuation of life, and based on the right and duty to defend existence, it necessitated the establishment of a self-protection system based on the awareness of legitimate self-defense and the organized democratic society in North and East Syria through:

A – Community Protection Forces:

1 Community Protection Forces are the forces responsible for protecting North and East Syria and ensuring the protection of the lives and property of citizens against all attacks and occupation.

2 Community Protection Forces are organized with the participation of all citizens. Self-defense is a right and a duty for every citizen. It is obligatory for gatherings. Ethnic and religious organizations participate effectively in the self-defense system, starting with neighborhoods, villages, cities and all residential units.

3 The organizations of the Community Protection Forces are organized under a joint general command, and this general command is accountable to the Peoples’ Democratic Council and to the Syrian Democratic Forces, and the local organizations of the Community Protection Forces are accountable to the local peoples’ councils.

B – Syrian Democratic Forces:

1 The Syrian Democratic Forces are the legitimate defense forces in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

2 It adopts the voluntary joining of sons and daughters of the people and the duty of self-defense.

3 Its activities are supervised by the Peoples’ Democratic Council and the Defense Body.

4 It organizes itself almost independently within the Democratic Confederation System of North and East Syria.

5 It is charged with defending the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and all Syrian territories and protecting them against any potential external attack or danger.

6  It is responsible to the Peoples’ Democratic Council, which approves its general leadership.

C – Women’s Protection Units:

1 Self-defense is a woman’s right and duty, and she has the right to organize herself within its formations.

2 The Women’s Protection Units are the legitimate defense forces for women and society and organize themselves autonomously within the Syrian Democratic Forces.

D – The National Intelligence Service:

1 It collects information and deters threats to national security in North and East Syria. It works as an institution affiliated with the co-chairs of the Executive Council of North and East Syria or its deputies.

E – Internal Security Forces (Asayish):

1 It is the force that maintains security and stability within the areas of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

2 It depends on the voluntary joining of sons and daughters of the people in North and East Syria.

3 Its activities are supervised by the peoples’ councils, and are administratively and organizationally affiliated with the Interior Ministry.

4 Women organize themselves autonomously within it.

Section Six

Article 112

The financial system in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria

A – Public budget : It is a financial plan for a specific period of time that clarifies the frameworks for the workflow during this period, based on the estimated public revenues collected by the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and the public expenditures that need to be spent during the next fiscal year, according to the following:

1 The canton councils, in partnership with the town and city Councils and the canton executive councils, prepare the canton budgets to be approved by the peoples’ council in the canton

2 The People’s Democratic Council of North and East Syria, in partnership with the canton councils, the Executive Council of the North and East Syria region, the Justice Council, and the Women’s Council, prepares the general budget and has it approved by the People’s Democratic Council.

3 When preparing the budget, the population density and area of each canton, the needs of each canton, the particularities of the situation of each canton, and the size of the grants provided to it from abroad must be taken into account.

4 The general budget of the Justice Council for North and East Syria is determined with participation by the justice councils in cities and cantons and is to be included in the general budget and approved by the Peoples’ Democratic Council.

B – Central Cash and Payments Office:

This is an independent professional institution formed by the People’s Democratic Council of North and East Syria with the participation of the provincial councils.

It is responsible to the Peoples’ Democratic Council and is not subject to any political institution. It adopts an effective and secure system for financial payments and ensures liquidity, financial solvency and efficient performance of a stable banking system. It develops a financial system that maintains and encourages the societal economy. The co-chairs of the office is proposed by the Executive Council of North and East Syria and is ratified by the Peoples’ Democratic Council by a vote of two-thirds of the full number of members. If a quorum is not complete, the vote is taken by a vote of 50+1, and this is enshrined in law.

Section Seven

Article 113

General Institution for Financial Supervision and Accounting:

1 This institution is formed by the People’s Democratic Council.

Half of the members’ names are proposed by the Social Justice Council and the other half by the People’s Democratic Council in participation with the canton councils, and they are approved by the People’s Democratic Council by two-thirds of the number of council members. In the event that a quorum is not complete, voting takes place by 50+1.

2 It is prohibited to interfere with its work and expose its members to any pressure that negatively affects their performance.

3 It carries out financial follow-up and oversight on behalf of the People’s Democratic Council of North and East Syria and submits its reports to it.

Tasks of the General Organization for Financial Supervision and Accounting:

1 Follow up on the work of the councils and institutions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in terms of spending the budget, and the extent of its use in a legal, sound and transparent manner according to social life and the societal economy.

2 Follow up on the work of the tax system and public finances.

3 Follow up on imports and exports and to what degree they were carried out in a quality and proper manner.

4 Follow up on exchange work that conflicts with the social contract and applicable laws.

Section Eight

Article 114

The Justice system

It is a system of social justice, which is based on the moral and political principles of society. It aims to build a society that adopts the democratic and environmental approach and vision, women’s freedom as a basis, and takes life as fundamental. Society is its starting point; it protects the rights of the individual within social life according to the foundations of the social contract and takes the universal principles of justice and human rights as its basis. It solves problems related to justice through its own institutions, where justice is achieved through the participation of the people and the organization of democratically formed local units.

Article 115

Principles of justice

1 The social justice system is formed according to the organization of society. It solves social issues in communes, villages, neighborhoods, towns, cities, cantons and regions in accordance with the principles of moral and social justice. Reconciliation and harmony are the basis for solving problems.

2 Actions that harm individuals, social life and the environment are considered a crime. In the event of a crime being committed, the affected parties have the opportunity to defend their rights, and society is given the opportunity to evaluate the matter, criticize it, present proposals and participate in the context of decision-making. This is enshrined in law.

3 Its punishments aim to educate offenders and qualify them to re-engage them in social life properly.

4 Peoples, groups and social segments have the right to resolve their issues through reconciliation committees, provided that this does not conflict with the social contract.

5 Questions relating to the public interests and public security of all peoples and groups shall be resolved in institutions of justice that represent the whole of society.

6 The justice system supports equal and fair representation of both genders.

7 Women have a special justice council that adjudicates on the decisions concerning women.

Article 116

How the principles of the justice system are organized and work:

It consists of reconciliation committees, Women’s Houses (Mala Jin), the Justice Offices, the Justice Council, and the Women’s Council for Social Justice. These are institutions active in achieving and consecrating social justice, and their members are approved by the justice councils proposing names that are approved by the peoples’ councils of the neighborhood, town, city, and canton.

1 Reconciliation committees:

They constitute the basic pillar of the social justice and peace system. They work to resolve disputes, resolve conflicts, and achieve peace and social harmony. They are organized everywhere and at all levels as needed, through direct elections or by consensus, starting from communes to cantons, and its members are socially accepted volunteers.

2 Justice Offices:

These are the justice bodies (the public prosecution, the justice Body, the appeals Body, and the executive Body) that organize themselves in the cantons and in all necessary places, with the aim of eliminating cases of injustice towards communities and individuals and achieving justice. Their members are chosen on the proposal of the justice councils in the cantons, and with the approval of the cantons’ peoples’ councils. Justice offices are formed in cities as needed.

3 Canton Justice Council:

Organizes and supervises justice institutions in the canton. The co-chairs and members of the canton justice council are elected by the justice institutions in the canton. The co-chairs are approved by the canton peoples’ council. It ensures fair and democratic representation of peoples, groups and social segments, and this is enshrined in law.

4 The Social Justice Council for North and East Syria:

Responsible for supervising and monitoring the implementation of the justice system. It submits its reports and draft laws to the Peoples’ Democratic Council. It ensures mutual coordination between the canton justice councils. Its members consist of representatives elected by the canton justice councils.

Article 117

Women’s Social Justice Council:

It is composed of women representatives of the Women’s Houses (Mala Jin), representatives of reconciliation committees, justice Bodys, and members of the Social Justice Council. It is responsible for organizing and supervising women’s justice councils and plays a leadership role in consolidating and promoting social justice.

1 Women’s House (Mala Jin):

A social institution that works to spread awareness of social justice and solve problems related to women and the family from all aspects of life on the basis of reconciliation and fights against all inhumane practices against women in coordination with relevant women’s institutions.

2 The Social Justice Council for Women in cities and cantons:

It supervises the work of women within the women’s justice systems in the city and canton. It follows up on issues related to women, organizes women in the justice system, and works to guarantee women’s rights. It is composed of representatives of women’s institutions concerned with justice through democratic elections. It represents itself within the canton-level Women’s Council.

3 Women’s Social Justice Council of North and East Syria:

It consists of representatives from women’s councils in the cantons, and members of the Women’s Social Justice Council of North and East Syria. It plays the role of coordination between women’s social justice councils, and between women’s social justice councils and public justice councils. It also works in coordination with women’s organizations. It represents itself in the General Justice Council of North and East Syria and in the Women’s Coordination and Council of North and East Syria.

Section Nine

Article 118

Electoral Body

1 It is an independent body formed by and accountable to the Peoples’ Democratic Council. It consists of a sufficient number of specialized members, and is responsible for planning, organizing and conducting popular referendums, elections for members of the Democratic Peoples’ Council of the region, peoples’ councils in the cantons, and all legal elections in a democratic manner. This is enshrined in law.

2 One-third of its members are chosen by on the proposals of the Social Justice Council of North and East Syria, and the other two-thirds are on the proposal of the People’s Democratic Council and with the participation of the canton councils, taking into account fair representation of all the various social components and segments. They are approved by two-thirds of the members of the People’s Democratic Council of the region, and if the quorum is not complete, the vote is 50+1. In the event of non-ratification, the institutions themselves propose new names for ratification.

3 The High Electoral Body decides on cases of appeal and objection to the elections, and its decisions are not subject to appeal.

4 It can send its members as observers to conferences of political parties and official civil institutions in the Autonomous Administration.

Section Ten

Article 119

Court for the Protection of the Social Contract:

The Social Contract Protection Court consists of a number of judges, legal experts, and jurists whose names are proposed equally by the Social Justice and Peoples’ Councils of North and East Syria. When proposing to the members of the Social Contract Protection Court, the two councils must take into account, the representation of all ethnic and religious components, the representation of cantons and that of women. The decisions of the Social Contract Protection Court shall be considered final. Their number and the method of their selection and the work of the Court are determined by a law enacted by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Peoples’ Democratic Council. Approval of the proposed names depends on two-thirds of the members of the Peoples’ Democratic Council.

Tasks of the Social Contract Protection Court:

1 Interpreting the texts of the social contract.

2 Considering whether the laws issued by the Peoples’ Council, the decisions issued by the Executive Council, and the laws and decisions issued by the canton councils do not conflict with the social contract if it is objected to.

3 Settling disputes related to the implementation of this contract between the Peoples’ Democratic Council, the Executive Council, the canton councils, and the Justice Council.

4 Resolving disputes between the Executive Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, or between the cantons councils, or between the executive councils of the cantons, or between the Democratic Peoples’ Council and other councils.

5 Individuals and institutions have the right to object to a decision or law that they consider to be inconsistent with the social contract. If the court examining the objection deems that the objection is serious and necessary to decide on the appeal, it stops consideration of the case and refers the objection to the Social Contract Protection Court.

6 Individuals, organized groups, parties, and institutions have the right to submit an appeal to the Social Contract Protection Court, and this is enshrined in law.

7 Ratifying the results of elections and general referendums in accordance with the principles of the social contract.

Chapter 4: General Provisions

Article 120

Within the Syrian Democratic Republic, the form of the relationship between the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria with the center and other regions is determined at all levels according to a consensual democratic constitution.

Article 121

All elected administrations are subject to oversight by the entities that elected them.

Article 122

Voting bodies have the right to withdraw confidence from their representatives when necessary, and this is enshrined in law.

Article 123

The referendum system is adopted on all crucial issues concerned with the general interests of society in the neighborhood, town, city, canton, and Democratic Autonomous Administration. This is enshrined in law.

Article 124

Local components have the right to object to decisions of public bodies that conflict with their interests and are not in line with their will and decisions. If the objection is not resolved by consensus, it is presented to the concerned component and the result is approved.

Article 125

The town, city and canton may hold referendums [on decisions that affect it that it disagrees with]. If it does not accept a decision that affects it, the result of the referendum is approved.

Article 126

In the event that the decisions of the canton or local components conflict with public interests or contradict the social contract, the Social Contract Protection Court has the right to decide on them.

Article 127

Non-monopoly private investments that don’t harm the environmental societal economy are allowed. This is enshrined in law.

Article 128

The age of the voter and candidate must not be less than eighteen years for all Democratic Autonomous Administration institutions and councils, and the conditions for candidacy and election are determined in accordance with special laws.

Article 129

After the liberation of the occupied territories, the Democratic Autonomous Administration is committed to removing all traces of demographic change and returning them to what they were.

Article 130

The peoples’ councils can declare states of emergency according to exceptional circumstances.

Article 131

The powers of the executive councils are determined in detail in accordance with the principles of democratic confederalism so that they do not exclude the will of the people in the commune, the town, the city and the canton, and this is enshrined in law.

Article 132

Amending the basic principles of the contract requires the approval of the canton peoples’ councils and the People’s Democratic Council of North and East Syria with the approval of 3/4 of the members of the People’s Democratic Council of North and East Syria. While other articles of the Social Contract can also be amended with the approval of the canton councils and with the approval of two-thirds of the members of the People’s Democratic Council of North and East Syria.

Article 133

The contract is subject to amendment if a democratic constitution is agreed upon in Syria.

Article 134

This contract is effective from the date of its ratification by the General Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, Tuesday: 12/12/2023

Preamble

We, peoples of Rojava-northern Syria, including Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Assyrians, Turkmen, Armenians, Chechens, Circassians, Muslims, Christians, Yezidis, and the different doctrines and sects, recognize that the nation-state has made Kurdistan, Mesopotamia, and Syria a hub for the chaos happening in the Middle East and has brought problems, serious crises, and agonies for our peoples.

The tyrannical nation-state regime, which has been unfair to the different components of Syrian people, has led the country to destruction and fragmentation of the society fabric. To end this chaotic situation, the democratic federal system is an optimal solution to address the national, social, and historical issues in Syria.

The democratic federalism of northern Syria is based on a geographic concept and an administrative and political decentralization; it is part of the united Syrian democratic federalism.

The consensual democratic federal system guarantees the participation of all individuals and groups, on equal levels, in the discussion, decision, and implementation of affairs. It takes ethnic and religious differences into consideration according to the characteristics of each group based on the principles of mutual coexistence and peoples’ fraternity. It guarantees the equality of all peoples in rights and duties, respects the charters of human rights, and preserves national and international peace.

Within the consensual democratic federal system, all segments of people, in particular women and youth, shall form their organizations and democratic institutions. The democratic federal system guarantees free practicing of all political, social, and cultural activities, and enjoying all the merits of free and equal life.

The democratic federal system of northern Syria adopts, in this contract, the physical and moral values of the Middle East. This document is approved by the free will of all the components of northern Syria and according to the principles of the democratic nation.

General Principles

Article /1/

This document is named: “The Social Contract of the Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”. The preamble is considered an integral part of this contract.

Article /2/

The democratic federal system of northern Syria adopts the ecological and democratic system and women’s freedom.

Article /3/

The democratic federalism of northern Syria draws its legitimacy from the will of peoples and groups through free and democratic elections.

Article /4/

All languages in northern Syria are equal in all areas of life, including social, educational, cultural, and administrative dealings. Every people shall organize its life and manage its affairs using its mother tongue.

Article /5/

The Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria and its administration shall have a center and a special flag, along with the democratic federal Syria flag and it shall have an emblem; this is regulated by law.

Article /6/

The Oath

“I swear by the Almighty God and by the blood of Martyrs to abide by the social contract and its articles, preserve the peoples’ democratic rights and the values of Martyrs, protect the freedom, safety, and security of the regions of the Northern Syria Democratic Federalism, preserve the federal Syria, and work to achieve social justice according to the principle of the democratic nation.”

Article /7/

“The Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” consists of cantons based on democratic self-administrations, which depend on the democratic organizations of ideological, ethnic, feminine, cultural groups, and all social segments.

Article /8/

“The Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” is based on the organized society and the free individual. In this framework, peoples’ local organizations, groups, and components are the basis of this federalism.

Article /9/

The democratic, environmental, and societal life are the basis for building an ecological democratic society in order not to harm, abuse, and destroy nature.

Article /10/

Coexistence shall be established within a fair, free and democratic society system according to the principles of the democratic nation, which are full of the spirit of fraternity between all peoples and groups in northern Syria.

Article /11/

“The Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” is based on the principle of making the land, water, and resources publicly owned; it adopts ecological industry and societal economy; it does not allow exploitation, monopoly, and the objectification of women; it shall realize health and social insurance for all individuals.

Article /12/

The Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria adopts the co-presidency system in all political, social, administrative, and other fields. It considers it a main principle in equal representation of both genders. The co-presidency system contributes to organizing and establishing the democratic confederate system of women as a special entity.

Article /13/

Women’s freedom and rights and gender equality shall be guaranteed in society.

Article /14/

Women shall enjoy free will in the democratic family, which is based on mutual and equal life.

Article /15/

Youth are considered the leading and effective force in society and their participation shall be guaranteed in all fields of life.

Article /16/

Fair representation of all ethnic components in all the administrative institutions related to federalism shall be guaranteed according to demography of the region.

Rights and General Freedoms

Article /17/

“The Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” shall abide by the international declaration of human rights and all related charters of human rights.

Article /18/

The right to life is essential and guaranteed in this contract, which does not permit capital punishment.

Article /19/

Human dignity shall be preserved and it is not permissible to torture anyone psychologically or physically; the doer shall be punished.

Article /20/

Peoples, groups, and societal segments shall have the right to organize themselves freely. Cultural oppression and fusion, extermination, and occupation shall be considered a crime against humanity; resistance against these practices shall be considered legitimate.

Article /21/

Every canton or group shall have the right to decide its own affairs provided that it does not contradict this contract.

Article /22/

Freedom of faith, conscious, and thought and the right to self-organization and self-expression shall be guaranteed for all people.

Article /23/

Everyone shall have the right to participate in political life, run as a candidate, and elect according to the law.

Article /24/

No one shall be insulted or excluded on the basis of difference in colour, gender, race, religion, or belief.

Article /25/

Using violence, manipulation, and discrimination against women shall be considered a crime punished by law.

Article /26/

Women shall have the right to equal participation in all fields of life (political, social, cultural, economic, administrative, and others) and take decisions relevant to their affairs.

Article /27/

Youth shall have the right to organize themselves and occupy effective positions in all fields of life, taking their special characteristics into consideration.

Article /28/

Every defendant shall be presumed innocent until convicted by law.

Article /29/

Private places or houses may not be entered or inspected except by an order of judicial authority in cases of being caught in the act.

Article /30/

Individual freedom shall not be restricted without a legal basis.

Article /31/

The right to self-defence is sacred and shall not be restricted. The law shall guarantee to everyone the right to prosecution.

Article /32/

Everyone shall have the right to live in a sound ecological society.

Article /33/

Cultural, ethnic, and religious groups and components shall have the right to name its self-administrations, preserve their cultures, and form their democratic organizations. No one or component shall have the right to impose their own beliefs on others by force.

Article /34/

Education shall be free at all stages; the elementary and intermediate education is compulsory.

Article /35/

Every citizen shall have the right to work, health care, change residence, and get a house.

Article /36/

The rights of all workers, in work and social life, and support for their organizations shall be guaranteed and regulated by law.

Article /37/

Freedom of media, press, and publishing shall be guaranteed.

Article /38/

Every citizen shall have the right to get and access information.

Article /39/

All people shall have the right to develop and publicize their cultural and artistic activities.

Article /40/

Every human shall have the right to seek human and political asylum; the political refugee may not be returned to their country without their approval.

Article /41/

Wealth and natural resources are publicly owned; and their investment, management, and conditions of fair distribution shall be regulated by law.

Article /42/

Investment shall be in special projects, which take into account the ecological balance, provide necessary services for economic development, aim at meeting social needs, and contribute to activate and establish societal economic activities.

Article /43/

The right to private ownership shall be guaranteed unless it contradicts the common interest and shall be regulated by law.

Article /44/

The participation of all citizens in the legitimate defence of the Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria, or the Democratic Syria Federalism is a right and duty to deter any attack.

Article /45/

The rights of people with special needs shall be guaranteed, and a decent living for the disabled and old people shall be secured.

Article /46/

Child rights shall be preserved; labour and manipulation of child shall be prevented.

Societal System

Chapter one

Article /47/

Peoples and groups in “The Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” shall organize their free and democratic societal lives based on forming communes, societal institutions, unions, and assemblies. The democratic system of society shall be developed and established based on these institutions.

Article /48/

Communes

The commune is the essential basic organizational form of direct democracy. It is a system to make decisions and management within its organizational and administrative boundary. It works as an independent council in all stages of decision making.

Article /49/

The councils

They are the societal units which represent the people, discuss and decide its affairs, and formulate policies beginning with villages, neighbourhoods, towns, and districts. They protect society, ensure its continuity, and secure the realization of its goals, in the political, social, cultural, and economic fields. They organize society by enabling direct democracy and set rules and principles related to democratic and free life.

Article /50/

All councils shall be formed according to the following principles:

The councils consist of a sufficient number of elected members according to population; 60% of the representatives are directly elected by people, and 40% are elected by the components, groups, and social segments. This shall be regulated by a special law according to consensual democracy.

1. No member of the councils and executive boards shall be a candidate for co- presidency for more than two terms.

2. The council of the village, neighbourhood, town, region, or district, is formed by representatives who are democratically elected, within their residence boundary, by ethnic, religious, cultural groups, social segments, or communes. The electoral term is decided by the councils’ rules of procedure.

3. The councils elect a sufficient number of coordinating board members in the neighbourhood and town and the executive board of the town and region. They elect their co-presidents and organize their activities through committees.

4. The councils approve members of the justice systems and the internal security administration, and oversee them.

Chapter two

District councils

Article /51/

The district in the societal system of “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” is the extension of the city with its surroundings.

1. The district council is the legislative system elected by free voting of the peoples and groups and is formed according to election laws. It consists of a sufficient number of members according to population and size of the district.

2. It shapes the policies for the entire district and takes necessary decisions.

3. It organizes activities and forms committees according to the democratic nation principles.

4. It elects its executive board.

5. It approves the members of the justice office and local security administration in the district.

6. It monitors justice, internal security, and administrative systems in the district.

Article /52/

The executive board of the district

1. It consists of a sufficient number of members and two co-presidents elected by the district council.

2. It implements the decisions and applies the policies decided by the district council. It is responsible to the district council and provides it with reports on its regular activities.

3. It organizes and practices its activities through committees, which consist of sufficient numbers of members. The co-spokespersons in each committee shall coordinate its activities. The co-spokespersons of the committees shall be from executive board members of the district.

Chapter three

The canton system

Article/53/

The canton in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” is the self- administration unit, which consists of a district, more than one district, or some regions that share the same historical, demographical, economic, and cultural characteristics and are geographically integrated and connected.

Article /54/

Rights, authorities, and responsibilities of the cantons

1. The cantons of the democratic self-administration in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” shall organize themselves and administer their affairs according to the principles of the democratic self-administration in political, economic, social, internal security, health, educational, defense, and cultural areas. They shall enjoy the rights and authorities stated in the laws enshrined by “The Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”.

2. Every canton shall organize itself according to the principles of self-sufficiency in the economic sector. It shall help in securing general social prosperity and richness in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” according to its strength and conditions; it shall take its share from the general budget of the federalism.

3. All cantons shall adopt a fair distribution of underground and over ground wealth in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” and “The Democratic Federal Syria” (petrol, water, mineral reserve, woods). The fair distribution of wealth is regulated by law.

4. Every canton shall have the right to build and develop its justice system provided that it does not contradict the social contract of the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” and the treaties and charters of the of international human rights.

5. Every canton shall be responsible for organizing and strengthening its internal security system.

6. Every canton shall have the right to legitimate defense against foreign attacks, and it shall also be responsible to defend the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” and “The Democratic Federal Syria”.

7. Every canton shall have the right to develop and establish diplomatic, economic, social, and cultural relations with the neighboring peoples and countries provided that they do not contradict the social contract of the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” and the “Democratic Federal Syria”.

8. The components of each canton shall have the right to practice and establish their political, social, and cultural lives using their mother tongues and cultures.

9. The principles of rules and mechanisms of every item of the cantons’ rights, authorities, and responsibilities, stated above, shall be decided by separate and detailed laws.

Article /55/

Peoples’ assembly in the canton

1. It is a representative assembly for peoples and groups in each canton; it legislates, monitors, and shape general policies; its electoral term is four years; and its mechanism of work is regulated by law.

2. 40% of the canton’s assembly members are formed from directly and democratically elected representatives within the ethnic, religious, doctrinal, and cultural components; this shall be regulated by law. 60% of the people’s representatives are elected in general elections.

3. The first session is held sixteenth days after announcing final results in all regions by the high electoral commission. The co-presidents of the executive council shall call for holding the first session of the elected peoples’ assembly. If the first meeting was not held for inevitable reasons, the co-presidents of the executive council would decide another date within fifteen days. The quorum must be (50%+1) from the general attendance. The first meeting of the peoples’ assembly is headed by the oldest member; and the co- presidents and office are elected; the sessions shall be open unless there is a necessity according to its rules of procedure.

4. It is possible to extend for six months the term of the peoples’ assembly in extraordinary cases at request of quarter of the members or the assembly’s presidential office; the approval of two thirds of the assembly members is needed.

5. The assembly member shall enjoy immunity during his/her entire membership; he/she shall not be held accountable for their opinions; he/she shall not be prosecuted without the assembly’s permission unless being caught in the act; and the assembly’s office must be informed.

6. It shall shape policies and take decisions regarding social, economic, internal security, educational, health, and cultural fields in the canton.

7. It shall elect an office of six members including the co-presidents to organize and manage the assembly’s activities.

8. It monitors and supervises through its committees.

9. It elects the co-presidents of the executive council with two thirds majority and assigns them to form the executive council to approve it. It shall have the right to vote of no confidence in the executive council or any of its members.

10. It shall approve the members of the justice systems, internal security system, and media, publishing, and information council and monitors their activities.

11. It shall organize and conduct activities through committees. It shall hold regular meetings and meet when necessary.

12. It shall work according to its rules of procedure.

13. It shall enshrine and legislate on rules in the canton.

14. It shall approve the general budget of the canton.

15. It shall approve the general policy and the developmental plans of the canton.

16. It shall approve and give a general amnesty in the canton.

Article /56/

The executive council of the canton

1. It consists of the co-presidents, their deputies, and some boards; it shall adopt fair representation of peoples, groups, and social segments.

2. It is the executive system in the canton. It applies the decisions of the peoples’ assembly and justice institutions and provides it with regular reports on its activities.

3. It organizes itself through boards according to the principles of the democratic nation and forms its collective executive power accordingly. The council’s co-presidents assign tasks to boards.

4. The board is represented by two co-spokespersons chosen from executive council’s members. Each board consists of a sufficient number of members and representatives according to its activities.

5. The formation and organization of the executive council’s work and the relationship between the other administrations and institutions shall be regulated by law.

6. After the executive council is formed and given confidence, it releases a statement to decide its agenda for the next phase, and the council is committed to implement it during its term after approving it by the peoples’ assembly.

Chapter four

The democratic peoples’ conference

Article /57/

The democratic peoples’ conference represents all the peoples living in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”. It is a symbol of integration, fraternity, coexistence, and free democratic union of peoples in northern Syria. The conference includes Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmen, Circassians, and Chechens. From the doctrinal and cultural groups, it includes Muslims, Christians, and Yezidis. It takes into account the historical, demographic, geographic, religious, doctrinal, ethnic, and cultural structures and characteristics of all peoples and groups; and it is formed on the basis of their demands and will.

The democratic peoples’ conference shall ensure the right of the peoples and groups to establish democratic self-administrations. It ensures doctrinal, ethnic and cultural freedom by law. It shall adopt the democratic system in organizing the society and enabling it to live within economic and ecological balance.

The democratic peoples’ conference views the organization of democratic self-administration cantons, groups, and local units as the basis of the democratic federal system. It aims at unifying all groups under the northern Syria democratic federalism by their own free will.

Article /58/

Forming and organizing the democratic peoples’ conference

1. Members of the democratic peoples’ conference are elected once every four years by people according to electoral law and the population of each canton.

2. The democratic peoples’ conference makes legislations and generally represents the peoples and groups in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”.

3. Members of the democratic peoples’ conference are elected as follows: 40% of them are democratically and directly elected from ethnic, religious, doctrinal, and cultural components, depending on population, and from social segments, depending on their organizational level in society, according to electoral law. 60% from the peoples’ representatives are directly elected by people in general elections.

4. The democratic peoples’ conference shall be administered by the “presidency office”, which consists of two co-presidents and four deputies. The two candidates for the presidency office and the co-presidents are suggested for the conference by consent of representatives of groups and social segments in the general conference.  The co-presidents are elected by absolute majority while members of the presidency office are elected by half plus one vote in the general conference session.

5. The democratic peoples’ conference works through committees. It gives the final draft of the resolutions and projects which are proposed to the general conference meeting. It can form the necessary committees when needed. Its activities are done in light of the rules of procedure.

Article /59/

Tasks of the democratic peoples’ conference

1. It elects the co-presidents and the conference presidency office.

2. It elects the co-presidents of the executive council with two thirds majority and assigns it to form the executive council in a month to approve it. It shall have the right to vote of no confidence in the executive council or any of its members.

3. It shapes the general policy and decides the strategic goals in all areas of society life.

4. It prepares or amends the social contract at request of a quarter of conference members and on approval of two thirds of its members.

5. It declares the state of peace and war in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”.

6. It legislates on all laws related to the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”.

7. It monitors the boards through committees.

8. The conference holds regular and extraordinary meetings, evaluates its activities, plans future activities, and discusses proposed projects and approves them.

9. It approves the members of justice council, internal security system, media, publishing and information council, and the high commission for elections and supervises their activities.

10. It approves the appointment and promotion of the general leadership of the military council and monitors its activities.

11. It discusses and approves the charters and treaties concluded with cross- national institutions, States, or different groups in the name of the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”.

12. It is possible to extend the electoral term of the democratic peoples’ conference for six months in extraordinary cases at request of a quarter of the members or the conference presidency office and on approval of two thirds of its members.

13. It approves the accession of a region or canton to the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” after accepting the social contract.

14. It approves the general budget of the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”.

15. It approves and provides a general amnesty in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”.

Article /60/

Tasks of the conference presidency office

1. It represents “the democratic peoples’ conference in the democratic federalism of northern Syria”, and it is responsible for arranging, coordinating, implementing and supervising all conference activities.

2. It organizes and supervises the meetings of the general conference.

3. It activates, monitors, and supervises the committees.

Article /61/

The executive council of federalism

1. It is formed by a sufficient number, and both genders are equally represented. Fair representation of peoples, groups, and social segments in the canton is adopted. Membership of the executive council can be given to 20% of those who are not members in the conference.

2. Members of the executive council are elected from among the candidates suggested by cantons’ councils from conference members. Other members are suggested to replace those who are not approved by the conference taking into consideration fair representation of the cantons.

3. Co-presidents of the cantons’ executive councils shall have the right to attend the meetings of the executive council of federalism when necessary.

4. Co-presidents of the cantons’ executive councils shall not have the right to be candidates for the co-presidency of the federalism executive council.

5. The co-presidents represent the executive council and lead its activity.

Article /62/

Tasks of the executive council of federalism

1. It implements decisions and applies policies shaped and decided by the democratic peoples’ conference in the Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria.

2. It conducts diplomatic activities in the name of the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”.

3. It ensures coordination and cooperation between cantons in political, economic, social, and cultural areas.

4. It supervises and monitors the boards’ work.

5. It provides reports to the democratic peoples’ conference in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”.

6. The executive council in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” organizes itself through boards and forms its executive collective strength according to the dimensions of the democratic nation.

7. Every board consists of at least six members including the co-presidents who monitor and coordinate its work; they shall be from the executive council’s members.

8. The boards in the executive council of the democratic federalism of northern Syria monitor, support, and coordinate the work of the cantons’ boards.

Chapter five

Media, publishing, and information institution

Article /63/

1. Media, publishing, and information institution shall organize itself independently according to the principle of free and democratic publishing and media. It shall help develop and support media and publishing institutions and ensure free media activities within legal frameworks. It shall not allow monopoly in the field of media and publishing; it shall monitor and supervise the realization of freedom of media in accordance with the freedom of society to receive news and necessary information. It shall also be assigned to ensure fair and equal financial support for all media and publishing systems according to legal frameworks.

2. The institution consists of a sufficient number of members, half of them are elected by the conference or cantons’ councils and they include representatives of components and social segments; and the other half are elected by national media institutions.

3. It conducts activities according to the principles of media and publishing law. It organizes itself according to fields of work and it forms committees and conduct activities according to the principles of its rules of procedure.

4. The peoples’ assembly in the cantons and the democratic peoples’ conference monitor its activities.

Chapter six

The legitimate defense force

Article /64/

The “Syrian Democratic Forces” are the armed defense forces in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”. It depends on voluntary recruits of the people on one hand, and self-defense duty on the other. It is assigned to defend and protect the Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria and the Democratic Federal Syria from any attack or possible foreign threat. It ensures protecting citizens’ lives and properties. It organizes itself in a semi-independent way according to the recruitment system law. Its activities are supervised by the democratic peoples’ conference and defense board.

Chapter seven

The social contract council

Article/65/

The social contract council consists of a number of judges, lawyers, and law figures; their number, selection method, and the council’s work is decided by law and approved with two thirds of members of the democratic peoples’ conference. When choosing the members of the social contract council, the peoples’ conference shall take into consideration representing all components.

Article /66/

Tasks of social contract council

1. It interprets the social contract items.

2. It ensures that the laws issued by the peoples’ conference, decisions issued by the executive council, and the laws and decisions issued by the cantons’ councils are not contradicted.

3. It settles any differences related to the application of this contract between the democratic peoples’ conference, the executive council, and justice council.

4. It settles any differences between the federalism and the cantons or between cantons.

5. If any party gave evidence to challenge the constitutionality of a legal item applied by a court and the court which is considering the challenge found that the evidence is reliable and should be ruled on, it shall stop the case and refer the evidence to the social contract council.

6. It approves the results of the elections and general referendums.

Chapter eight

Justice system

Article /67/

The democratic justice system solves the problems related to justice and social rights through peoples’ participation and self-organization. Justice vision is based on the moral principles of the democratic society. It aims at building a society which adopts a democratic approach and vision and ecology that believes in freedom of women and societal life and organizes itself on the basis of democratic society. Services of justice are conducted through social participation and the organization of democratically formed local units.

Article /68/

Justice principles

1. Social justice is considered a basis to organize and self- protect society. It depends on solving social problems related to justice in the villages, neighborhood, and district communes. It solves problems by means of dialogue, negotiation, and mutual consent.

2. Actions which harm social life and environment are considered a crime. When a crime is committed, victims have the opportunity to defend their rights. Society shall have the right to assess the damage, criticize and give suggestions, and participate in decision making.

3. Punishments shall aim at rehabilitating guilty people, force them to substitute for damage, develop awareness, and correctly include them in social life.

4. Regarding the problems related to peoples, groups, and social segments, they shall have the right to form justice mechanisms and develop special solution methods provided that they do not contradict the social contract or basic human rights.

5. Regarding issues related to general interests and security of all peoples and groups, they are settled in justice systems which represent the whole society.

6. Special feminine organizations and equal representation of women are the basis in the field of justice and its institutional activities. Women-related decisions are dealt with by feminine justice systems.

Article /69/

Ways of organization and basics of work

Justice systems consist of reconciliation committees, justice offices, investigation committees, justice council, and feminine justice council. They are the main institutions which are active to achieve and establish social justice; and their members are elected by popular councils.

1. Reconciliation committees solve conflicts and disputes and achieve peace and social concord. They organize themselves everywhere and at all levels as needed from commune to canton; their members are from volunteers and socially respected people.

2. Justice offices are the systems which organize themselves in towns, districts, and where necessary to eliminate injustice against communities and individuals and achieve justice. Members are suggested by justice councils in the canton and voted for by peoples’ assemblies in districts. Justice offices are formed in towns and regions as necessary.

3. Investigation committees are specialized justice systems which investigate and reveal crimes to achieve justice. They carry out their tasks after being voted for and approved by the council in their residence area.

4. Justice councils in the cantons organize and supervise justice institutions in the cantons. Members are chosen by peoples’ assembly in the canton through voting. They ensure fair and democratic representation of peoples, groups, and social segments based on quota for justice institutions.

5. The justice council in the Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria is responsible for supervising and monitoring the justice system. It provides reports, projects, and draft of resolutions regarding justice activities to the democratic peoples’ conference. It ensures reciprocal coordination between cantons. Members are suggested by cantons’ justice councils and voted for by democratic peoples’ conference.

6. Women’s justice council in the democratic federalism of Northern Syria deals with all issues and affairs related to women and family. It has the right to monitor and coordinate with the cantons’ judicial councils.

Chapter nine

The high commission for elections

Article /70/

1. One third of its members are suggested by the justice council in the Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria; the other two thirds are suggested by representatives of components and social segments; all of them are approved by the democratic peoples’ conference.

2. It consists of sufficient specialized number. It is responsible for planning, organizing, and conducting popular referendums regulated by law, electing general assembly members of the democratic peoples’ conference, electing peoples’ councils members in the cantons, and all legal and democratic elections according to law.

3. The high commission for elections settles the cases of objection to elections, and its resolutions cannot be appealed against; it works according to its rules of procedure.

4. It organizes and forms the elections commission in the cantons. One third of its members are suggested by the justice council in the canton, and the other two thirds are suggested by representatives of components and social segments; and it is approved by the peoples’ council in the cantons.

5. The elections commission in the cantons organizes and forms their committees in districts according to its rules of procedure.

6. It can send its members as observers in the elections of the political parties and official institutions in the federalism and cantons.

Title four

General principles

Article /71/

The relationship between the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria” and the “Democratic Federalism of Syria” shall be identified at all levels according to a consensual democratic constitution.

Article /72/

All elected administrations shall be subject to supervision from the bodies that elected them. Electoral systems shall have the right to vote of no confidence in their representatives when necessary; this shall be regulated by law.

Article /73/

Referendum shall be held in all decisive issues related to public interest, like the formulation of the social contract, concluding or revoking international treaties, or amending the system’s form.

Article /74/

Local components shall have the right to object the decisions of the general systems, which contradict their interests and do not agree with their will and aims, if the objection is not settled by general consensus through presenting the decisions to the intended people to approve it.

Article /75/

In case the decisions of the cantons or local components are contradicted with the general interests or the social contract, these decisions can be refuted by the social contract council.

Article /76/

Ecological life and balance shall be maintained.

Article /77/

Natural resources are society’s wealth and they shall be invested and used according to the needs of the cantons; this shall be regulated by law.

Article /78/

Investing foreign capital shall be allowed within legal frameworks and approval of the democratic peoples’ conference and the peoples’ assembly in the canton.

Article /79/

Political parties and movements may be established, and may freely organize themselves and practice their activities within a legal framework.

Article /80/

Social institutions and organizations, like collectives, associations, syndicates, unions, chambers, and other, may organize themselves freely within the framework of laws in the “Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria”. Democratic organizations of social segments may be developed and supported in all areas.

Article /81/

No member in the democratic peoples’ conference and the peoples’ council in the cantons may have the right to be a candidate for more than two consecutive terms.

Article /82/

Electors and candidates’ age shall not be less than eighteen for all institutions and councils in the federal system. Conditions for candidacy and election are regulated by a special law.

Article /83/

The amendment of the general principles of this contract requires agreement with the peoples’ assemblies in the cantons and approval of 75% of the members of democratic peoples’ conference.

The Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Federalism of Northern Syria

29.12.2016