Lawsuit of child seriously injured by Turkey’s use of banned weapons still pending

A child, Muhammad Hamid, was severely injured when the Turkish state used white phosphorus during the invasion attack on Serekaniye in 2019. A year ago, Muhammad Hamid’s family filed a lawsuit against the Turkish state at the UN, which has still not been answered.

In an interview with Muhammad Hamid and his father, the ANHA news agency reports that the family is still living in the Serekaniye refugee camp in Heseke, although four years have passed. The report states that the Turkish state has not yet been held accountable at international level and stresses that the tragedy and suffering of Muhammad Hamid is still alive. Muhammad Hamid, 15, told ANHA that all he wants is for the Turkish state to be held accountable. “We are asking the UN to respond to the lawsuit we have filed against the Turkish state,” he said, noting that there has still been no response.

Muhammad’s father, Hamid Muhammad, said that after his son was injured they went to France for treatment, where they discovered that white phosphorus had been used by the Turkish state. He continued: “We have been displaced for four years. But the attacks on our areas are still going on. We call on the UN to stop these attacks so that we can return to our homes. We also want the Turkish occupying state and its gangs to be held accountable.”

In April 202, the Swiss-based Wessling Research Center documented the use of white phosphorus by the Turkish state in northern and eastern Syria. It analyzed the body samples of a wounded Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighter and published a report confirming the conclusion. The UN banned the use of white phosphorus and napalm against civilian areas in 1983, classifying such attacks to be war crimes.