At present, much policy debate is focusing on whether the U.S. should retain troops in the areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern and eastern Syria, as President Trump has made clear his wishes for troops to be pulled out in the near or medium-term. If the U.S. is going to stay in that territory (much of which is conventionally known as Rojava) for the long-term, then there ought to be a clear, objective understanding of the political and governing system, not based on anti-SDF partisan polemics or unwanted romanticism.

The commune is the most basic unit of political organization and governance, primarily implemented in the core SDF areas of northeast Syria. The communes exist at the level of hamlets, villages and town neighbourhoods. The documents presented in this post (which, to my knowledge, have not otherwise been available online) outline the internal structure and functioning of the communes. The paper is from 2014 and was issued by TEV-DEM (Democratic Society Movement), a coalition of which the Democratic Union Party (PYD) is the main component. The paper, which appears to be 26 pages long and arranged in seven chapters, clearly post-dates the establishment of the Autonomous Administration, which was officially announced on 21 January 2014. There are occasional typos in the paper.

All people over the age of 16 and dwelling in the area of a commune are considered members of that commune. The basic structural outline of a commune is as follows:

- Joint presidency

- Administrative commission

- Committees

The committees will vary in number and type depending on the area. For example, a commune in an urban neighbourhood with no agricultural output will probably not have an agricultural committee. Some of the committees in a given commune can form their own sub-communes to participate in the general commune of their area.

Besides this basic structure, here are some observations of notable points:

- Although the documents repeatedly stress lack of discrimination against participation in the communes based on affiliations (even political ones), TEV-DEM is 'first among equals' in overseeing the system.

- Through its committees, the commune touches on most aspects of life in the area where it functions. It is therefore quite logical to expect (for example) that any new projects and enterprises in that area would have to be approved and regulated by the commune.

- Concepts of ideological education, training and 'enlightenment' are a key aspect of the functioning of the commune.

- There are some clear ideological tenets outlined in this document, such as the emphasis on equality between men and women as well as the need for women's participation in commune life. This idea has certainly been implemented in reality.

Below are the documents translated in full.

The internal system for the communes in Rojava

TEV-DEM Publications

2014

Preface

Man became civilized and used his mind and his thinking developed and he moved on to discover the first means of agriculture and develop it through woman. With the advance of the first agricultural society developing art and folklore, and that came with the formation of the first villages and composition of groups, man's life became more stable for natural society to be formed with it and communication to appear between members of the village. From here, man became a civilized and developed person, constituting the first roots for human civilizations- 'The civilization of natural society': the Neolithic civilization that arose from Mesopotamia in Kurdistan, and in this stage human contingents begin to live in the form of groups and they build the first villages, and that was in around 12000 BC.

And that was so with the discovery of agriculture and its implantation by woman, and with that begins the process of domesticating animals, and that was in Upper Mesopotamia and in a village there where the relations between members were free on the basis of joint production and work, with joint division and benefit. This stage represents the development of a very important societal mindset among people. In that stage is a natural communal relationship in which they divide work between themselves and work together. And all work and there was no need for the existence of deception and envy.

Those societies or that village were called a comme or commune or kilan: that is, the first family or first people, and the members of the commune or kilan were working together, and producing and living together: that is, seeing themselves as one united family, for there was no private property, as life relied on participation in everything.

And man in that stage dealt with everything in nature as having value and sanctity- just as man's soul has value and sanctity- and considered everything around him as being a partner for him and in a mutual and joint beneficial relationship relying on a mindset of communal societal relations in which he lived among his kilan (people), founded on the mindset of the mother woman. Man's relations in that stage with the kilan were powerful and sacrosanct, the reason being joint toil and work, as well as joint production and joint defence, for defending the kilan and its unity means defending everything present, every being and every member in the kilan's society.

The kilan was considered a principal reason and guarantee for man's survival and development, for it was not possible for a person in isolation to obtain sufficient produce for himself, as it was also not possible for him to develop and protect himself or to produce anything without the kilan or comme, for the kilan and individual as a united, single entity made separation between the two difficult. All worked, all produced, and all participated in life, benefit, defence and production. And indeed the closeness to this in mindset was so as long as everything had a spirit that was creating the mutual balance and closing the path before sabotage and deception, and so natural society took the form of the communal system.

As for after the appearance of private property, its development and the stripping of woman of her rights and societal place with the establishment of the Sumerian society, individualism appeared and was developed and with the implantation of that individualist mindset, the special place of equality and freedom among man was destroyed. This led to the arrival of autocracy as we entered the liberal capitalist age, all the way towards its highest levels of risk in threatening the unity and existence of human society in its entirety, as man has become nearest to cannibalism and has been violating nature, for in this system the individual comes before society, so each person thinks of himself first and does not think of those around him and considers everything for himself and for his sake.

This is egoism that kills societal sentiment, therefore man must defend the values of the natural society in freedom and equality and in this stage so that we can build an ethical, political, ecological society that must return to the values of the natural society and the foundations of the communal system: in which all work for the sake of one an one works for the sake of all, and all work, produce, defend, protect and participate without discrimination.

We- the people of Rojava- believe that man possesses great innovative capabilities and these innovative capabilities have a rich and varied quality within the societal structure and so that these societal structures can preserve their existence in relying on the treasured truth and so that they can realize their development, they are in need of free and democratic examples. So the autonomous administration and the communal system is the best example to realize this need, as it realizes integration in what is between structures, units and societal organizations on the basis of realizing joint division and work with preservation of all the societal components in their diversity and specialties.

Chapter One

General Principles

Article One

Name of the institution: the commune or societal commune.

Article Two:

Its nature:

The commune is a societal, economic, political and services institution of the communal democratic system, established on the principle of direct democracy, woman's freedom and ecology between the people, and it organizes itself in a horizontal and pyramidal fashion, far removed from the authority or state, and it adopts the realization of democratic choices that are developed on the level of the foundation. And all have the right to participate at all levels and all components, individuals and organizations have the right to participate in them and the right to ratify, discuss, offer opinions and establish communes particular to them, and they possess power and autonomous decisions, aiming to build a free, democratic and ethical political society relying on itself in administering itself by itself and taking decisions and resolving problems concerned with it.

Article Two:

Defining the Commune:

The commune is the smallest societal unit in the society and its most effective, established on the basis of direct participation in the villages and neighbourhoods and concerned with organizing and resolving daily life matters for society, and undertaking to develop committees concerned with all societal issues and looking to put in place solutions for political, societal, economic, cultural and security issues, as well as self-defence. It is considered among the most important components of the democratic society system in order to revive direct democracy, and relies on the principle of collective, joint communal participation. And the communes of the neighbourhoods and villages are composed of the participation of all citizens living in them and from the representatives of the committees, political parties and democratic institutions without discrimination between ethnicity, religion and affiliation. And they adopt their decisions publicly and with the participation of all the citizens of the commune who are older than 16. And their legitimacy extends from the people directly through direct democracy.

The societal commune is the nucleus of organization and its fountain and is established according to societal circumstances and conditions in the villages, neighbourhoods and municipalities, and even at the level of streets and small residential centres and the commune represents a mini council for the neighbourhood or village.

And the number of members of the commune of any village or neighbourhood is 7-300 persons, and if this number is exceeded, the administration commission may divide it into two communes.

Article Four:

Membership:

Every individual and every citizen dwelling with the commune's geographic borders in the villages or neighbourhoods is considered a member of the commune regardless of his religion, ethnicity or affiliation.

Article Five:

Aims of the communes:

1. Develop democratic cultural consciousness and peaceful co-existence in society.

2. Building channels to deal with and cooperate with all components of society.

3. Develop jointly participative and cooperative economic consciousness among members of society.

4. Striving to realize mutual co-existence among all societal components and groups in the framework of the democratic autonomous administration in Rojava.

5. Striving for concordance between all components in Rojava on the basis of unity of diversity and respecting their particular desires.

6. Organizing all components of society culturally, socially, and economically to meet all their needs and their shared life on natural societal foundations.

7. Undertaking the strengthening of bonds of brotherhood, affection and series among the inhabitants of that neighbourhood, street or village without discrimination among sex, ethnicity or religion.

Article Six

Principles of the Communes:

1. Building the free and democratic member of the commune in society and fighting against all forms of autocracy.

2. Working to build associations and cooperatives particular to the communes that participate in the development of the economy of livelihood among members of the communes.

3. Striving to build societal democracy and mutual co-existence among all societal components and groups and cultures and religions.

4. Relying on the organization of society from the smallest residential groupings in the village and organization to organizing councils in neighbourhoods, municipalities and towns.

5. Striving to include all groups of society from ethnicities, schools of thought, cultural groups, workers, women and youth, and resolving all issues concerned with them.

6. Applying a ratio of 50% for both genders in all fields and all levels.

7. Striving to revive direct democracy that leads society to build democratic politics and participating in it.

8. The existence of discriminations and patronages in the communes is not to be accepted.

9. Equality between man and woman in all fields of life.

10. The commune is entrusted with taking decisions and suggesting laws in the borders of the geographic are affiliated with it.

11. The commune works according to the system of committees.

12. The commune can dissolve or change administrative commissions that they have appointed according to the principles when there is slacking in undertaking their obligations.

Article Seven:

The Commune Abode (Komingeh):

This represents the centre and official address of the commune and works as the link between the democratic, societal and official institutions to facilitate official and service matters for the citizens dwelling in the geographic borders of that commune, ad works to resolve all societal problems concerned with the commune. All communes in the villages and neighbourhoods must open their own commune abode (komingeh) or according to circumstances, it is possible for multiple small communes that are close to each other in a neighbourhood to open one komingeh, as it is also possible to open it on the level of lines in villages and neighbourhoods in towns and municipalities.

The komingehs are the fields of organization in which the democratic societal culture an moral values are produced on the principle of democracy and freedom and they are passed on to the society by free individuals and they [the komingehs] bear the quality of schools of democracy and centre of reinforcing the communal culture in society like academies of the neighbourhoods and villages.

And they strive to realize mutual co-existence among all the components, cultures, religions and societal groups in the framework of the democratic nation.

Chapter Two

Article Eight:

Mechanism of Forming the Commune:

On undertaking to form the commune in any village or neighbourhood, the following steps must be implemented:

1. The entrusted party must inform all citizens who live in that village or neighbourhood who are older than 16 to attend the meeting held to establish the commune.

2. All citizens who live in the village or neighbourhood specified by the entrusted party are to be considered members of the commune, with attempts remaining ongoing to include all the people of the village or neighbourhood in this communal system or commune.

3. All those who attend the meeting, from women and men, have the right to vote and candidacy at all levels in the commune and in secret ballot.

4. The citizen who does not take his place within the commune of his village or neighbourhood or another commune does not have the right to candidacy for any another position whatsoever in the democratic society councils and autonomous administration.

5. The commune in its foundational meeting and opening session is to elect the joint presidency and the administrative commission for it, which is to be considered responsible for and overseeing all works of the commune, with committees also to be formed according to need.

And thus the commune is composed of:

a) The joint presidency.

b) The administrative commission (composed of the joint presidency and representatives of the committees).

c) The committees.

d) The members.

6. All members of the commune have the right to participation and candidacy for the joint presidency and administrative commission, regardless of their political, religious, ethnic or gender affiliation.

7. The members of the commune's joint presidency are considered directly to be members in the council of neighbourhoods and lines.

8. The commune represents the will of the village or neighbourhood therefore all the citizens in it must participate to express their opinions on fundamental matters that concern them because the commune is the source of decision-making.

9. Every commune of a village or neighbourhood has its own particular nature that must be taken into account in forming the committees. It is not necessary to form all the committees for the commune like each other: that is, each one according to its need for them.

10. In forming and establishing the communes, a ratio of 50% for each gender is to be applied.

11. When any vacuum arises in the joint presidency or administrative commission, the commune can elect new members to fill the gap.

12. Committees of the communes are to be formed according to their particularities and needs and these committees are as follows:

1. Woman Committee.

2. Youth Committee.

3. Families of Martyrs Committee.

4. Parties Committee.

5. Conciliation Committee.

6. Language Committee.

7. Health Committee.

8. Protection Committee.

9. Services Committee.

10. Training Committee.

11. Agricultural Committee.

12. Economic Committee.

It is not necessary to form all these committees in all the communes but rather according to need. And the number of members of the committees is also according to need, and it is not necessary for all the members of the commune to take their place within the committees.

13. On forming the general commune for the village or neighbourhood, the women, youth, families of martyrs, political parties, language etc. can form their own communes particular to them and send their representatives to the general commune.

14. The administrative commission for the commune is to be elected from the representatives of the committees, parties and democratic institutions present in the commune.

15. All members of the commune of the village or neighbourhood must work to include new members for the commune.

16. Every member can take his place in more than one commune according to the nature and circumstances of his work.

17. Alongside the organization of the villages and neighbourhoods within the commune, all societal foundations must organization themselves according to the commune system.

Chapter Three

Article Nine:

Rights of the Commune:

1. All citizens of the commune are equal before the law.

2. Every individual in the commune has a right to participate in political and societal life.

3. No one is to be subject to degradation or discrimination because of his identity, religion or ethnicity.

4. Every individual in the commune has freedom of expression, opinion and organization.

5. Every individual in the commune has the right to participate in the elections and candidacy at all levels.

6. Every individual in the commune has the right to live in ecological balance inside the ecological society and every person has the right to benefit from the natural resources.

7. Every foundation or organization or societal component has the right to establish communes particular to them and participate through their representatives in the general commune in the village or neighbourhood.

8. Protecting individual rights for members of the commune and demanding them on the appearance of any violation against the individual by seeking recourse with the higher committees and relevant parties.

9. Every member has the right to participate and organize democratic activities and events.

10. All components have the right to form communes particular to them and to participate in the general communes.

11. Rights of the individual for the member in the commune are protected in all the institutions of the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM).

12. The right to be officially acknowledged by all the societal institutions and commissions of the Autonomous Administration.

13. All service, security and administrative establishments and all societal institutions are to establish their relations with the commune through the commune centre (komigeh) and to grant it official recognition.

14. The citizen who does not take his place within the commune of his village or neighbourhood or one of the other communes has no right to candidacy for any position within the councils of the democratic society and Autonomous Administration.

Chapter Four

Foundational Obligations

Article Ten:

Missions and Obligations of the Commune:

1. Every member in the commune must undertake obligations and missions of enlightenment and participate in the democratic life and elections.

2. Participating in building the ethnical, cooperative and communal society.

3. The commune must have special training programs and it is the responsibility of ever individual and member in the commune to take up ideological and thought training.

4. Every individual in the commune must deal with the people and society without discriminating between ethnicity, religion and affiliation.

5. Struggling against rejection of woman or using violence against her.

6. Every individual in the commune must pay his monthly subscriptions to the commune treasury.

7. Protecting the values and gains of the people of Rojava and defending them.

8. In cases of war, every individual must in the commune must effectively participate in mandated defence to protect his homeland.

9. Protecting all the public and private centres in the borders of one's commune.

10. Organizing matters of daily life, whether social, economic or services etc. as per the available autonomous capabilities.

Chapter Five

Organizational Framework of the Commune

Article Eleven:

a) The joint presidency

The joint presidency for the commune is elected directly through the ballot boxes in the first session for the general council of the commune, and the joint presidency is re-elected on the holding of every electoral term every two years. The joint presidency does not have the right to candidacy for more than two consecutive terms for the position of the joint presidency of the commune.

The joint presidency is responsible for undertaking the procedures to hold all meetings of the commune, administer its works, and coordinate between all its committees that work within the borders of the commune through their representatives. And it is responsible for all the works of the commune and undertaking the holding of meetings for the administrative commission of the commune in a regular form on a monthly basis and assessing the works and activities of the committees and documenting them in a report in the name of the commune, submitting its report to the council of the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM) in the neighbourhood or line.

Article Twelve

b) The Administrative Commission

The administrative commission of the commune is composed of the joint presidency, representatives of the committees, parties and democratic organizations, and representatives of the special communes formed from that neighbourhood or village like the communes of women, youth, parties, language, families of martyrs etc. And the administrative commission for the commune is elected through holding general elections for the commune once every electoral term by the commune. The administrative commission submits its report to the joint presidency for the commune, and the administrative commission and joint presidency meet regularly every 15 days.

Article Thirteen:

c) Committees

The commune organizes itself and makes its work proceed through 12 committees in all fields of work and every committee is administered through its representative and every committee submits its monthly report about its projects and activities to the administrative commission and joint presidency for the commune and these committees implement the decisions of the commune and statements for distribution of the administrative commission according to the administrative programs and laws.

The commune is composed of a number of committees according to the particular nature of every commune in the villages and neighbourhoods and residential centres, and it is not necessary to form all of these committees in all the communes. The committees are to be formed according to the need, and the committees are:

1. Woman's committee:

This committee is composed of female personnel and organizes and raises the consciousness of the woman in that neighbourhood or village. It is concerned with the affairs of the woman, securing her necessities, resolving all disagreements and repudiating them among all the women present in the commune, without discriminating or partiality. This committee can for its own independent commune and participate through its representatives in the general commune for that village or neighbourhood.

2. Youth committee:

Formed from the male youth and female youth dwelling in the borders of the commune of the village or neighbourhood and it organizes, enlightens and makes active the youth in the commne because they are the most important dynamic force in society. The committee also oversees all the youth events in that commune and aid in organizing the male and female youth present within the commune, resolving their disagreements and problems, and undertaking the vanguard role among the sons of the commune in coordination with the youth movement I the town, municipality or neighbourhood. It can also form its own commune and participate with its representatives in the general commune for that village or neighbourhood.

3. Committee of the families of the martyrs:

All the members of families of the martyrs are considered members in this committee, embracing the moral and ethical values of martyrs. The committee organizes the families of martyrs in that village or neighbourhood and makes active their role in all the fields of life within the society. It also develops the consciousness and democratic culture and peaceful co-existence in society, organizes the families of martyrs, and secures the necessities of the families of the martyrs in that commune in coordination with the foundation of the families of the martyrs in that area. It also suggests charitable and productive projects to put them to use in the service of the relatives of the martyrs. And it organizes the archive of martyrs in that village or neighbourhood and the undertaking of obligations of the martyrs with all trust and sincerity. The committee can form a special and independent commune for itself and participate through its representatives in the general commune for that village or neighbourhood.

4. Committee of Political Parties and Organizations:

Composed of the members of political parties and organizations and it undertakes supervision of political issues in the commune of that village or neighborhood. This committee also organizes the political element for the democratic people and develops political activities in all fields in that village or neighbourhood in order to build the politically ethical and ecological democratic society. Every political party or organization can for its own commune and form a joint committee from the representatives of the political parties and organizations present in that village or neighbourhood and participate through its representatives in the general commune of the village or neighbourhood.

5. Committee of Societal Conciliation:

A civil societal committee elected by members of the commune in the neighbourhoods or villages from those of legal and societal expertise and knowledge. The number of its members is defined according to need with compliance with the ratio of representation of woman in it.

The conciliation committees look into all disagreements and complaints coming to it and relies in its work on the principle that conciliation is the master of rulings, dialogue and persuasion to resolve disagreements between the quarrelling sides through compromise and in the event of being unable to reach a mutually agreeable solution for the disagreement or the refusal of one of the sides to attend, the conciliation committee organizes a document including the subject of the disagreement and its causes in addition to the opinion of the committee, and then refers it to the specialist court in the area.

6. Language Committee:

This committee supervises the educational programs concerned with mother tongue and teaching the children of the commune in the village or neighbourhood in the mother tongue and opening educational and qualification courses for the pupils and students of the commune. This is done in coordination with the language centres in that area with the aim of elevating the educational process and developing it in a democratic form in a comprehensive educational framework and the teaching of the Kurdish language as a main language in the Kurdish areas and teaching the other local languages.

The committee can for its own independent commune and participate through its representatives in the general commune for that village or neighbourhood.

7. Health Committee:

Its mission is to serve society in health matters and caring for public health through programs and plans for raising consciousness and protecting against communicable and infectious diseases and illnesses. The committee supervises health matters in the commune and registers the names of patients in that commune and secures the health and medical necessities and medicines for them from the health centres, the Kurdish Red Crescent and from the organization Doctors Without Borders. It also gives lectures about health, environment, and communicable illnesses. And the committee gives courses about nursing for the sons of that commune, and this is done in coordination with the health council in the area.

8. Committee of Self-Defence:

This committee protects the villages, neighbourhoods and basic societal freedoms for the peoples of Rojava, and is responsible for protecting the gains of the Rojava revolution, and developing organization and consciousness, while protecting all public and private properties without discrimination, and undertaking night time protection in the form of patrols in coordination with the general administration for self-defence and the Asayish in the area.

9. Services Committee:

This committee is a services body that offers the foundational and service needs to the citizens of the commune and tracks services matters of electricity, water, bread and sewage in coordination with the centres of the municipal offices and electricity and water in the neighbourhoods and towns.

10. Training Committee:

This committee is responsible for training members of the commune, raising their consciousness and educating them, in thought and ideology. It also gives cultural, societal and historical lectures to members of the commune in a regular form.

11. Agricultural Committee:

This committee is mainly formed in the agricultural villages and the mission of this committee is to be concerned with agricultural matters and securing their necessities- from seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, agricultural machines and the harvester- in addition to supervising them in coordination with the agricultural institution in the area.

12. The Social Economic Committee:

This committee develops the economic regime and a democratic, communal economic mindset. It also establishes business, agricultural, consumer and production associations and cooperatives in the villages or neighbourhoods according to need on the principle of collective participation to meet the needs of society. The committee also applies and develops production projects that aim to raise the living standard and improve the material situations of members of the commune through coordination with the economic development centre in that area through increasing the production and capability of economic activity and developing the cooperative, joint participation economy.

Many of the other committees can be formed like the art and culture committee, work and workers committee, professionals committee etc., according to need.

Chapter Six

System of meetings and work

Article Fourteen

Means of Work in the Commune:

1. The members of the commune meet by majority once a month.

2. The electoral term for the commune is 2 years, and the joint presidency, the administrative commission and committees in every electoral term.

3. The joint presidency for the commune is to be elected for two consecutive terms only.

4. The commune can change any of the members of the joint presidency, administrative commission or committees in the following cases:

a) Slacking and lack of undertaking one's obligations.

b) Exploiting the administrative position for personal or familial matters.

c) Violating the internal system of the commune.

5. The joint presidency is the body that manages the works of the commune and preparation for them, just as it oversees the progress of the works of the commune according to the plans put in place and oversees the progress of the work of coordination.

6. In the event of lack of attendance of the joint presidency, their assistants can direct the meeting.

7. According to its work and needs, the commune forms the necessary committees for itself: 5-12 committees.

8. Number of members of the committees is 3-7 members and above.

9. The commune administration is composed of the joint presidency and representatives (the coordination).

10. All members of the commune and according to their conditions must be subjected to training courses, whether closed or open.

11. The joint presidency for the commune submits its monthly report to the neighbourhood or line council.

Article Fifteen

System of Meetings:

1. The commune administration- composed of the joint presidency and administrative commission (representatives of the committees)- holds its meetings twice a month regularly.

2. Each of the commune's committees holds its meetings separately and twice regularly each month.

3. The commune administration (the joint presidency and coordination) holds its meeting regularly with the committees once a month.

4. The joint presidency holds a meeting of the communes formed in one of the neighbourhoods or in one of the lines of the villages once a month regularly, and then it writes its monthly report to the neighbourhood or line council.

5. Every fifteen days, the meeting of the committees of the commune is held and once a month they submit their report to the meeting of the commune administration.

6. All the communes are to receive ideological and thought training at least once a week.

7. In times of emergency, and according to the dead of the joint presidency or administrative commission or a number of the members of the commune, an emergency meeting for the commune can be held.

8. The commune holds its annual meeting with the attendance of most of its members once a year to assess its events and activities during that past year.

Article Sixteen

Means of Adopting Decisions:

1. Matters of action of the meeting of the commune are defined by the commune itself according to needs and necessities.

2. The joint presidency of the commune can define matters of action of the meeting among itself and submit them in the form of a suggestion to the commune meeting, and if agreed on by the majority, they can be accepted.

3. Every member is free to submit his idea to the meeting and this is according to democratic values and submitting opinions and suggestions.

4. The means of taking decisions will be done by the majority present in the meeting and they will be adopted by discussions and persuasion.

5. All members are obliged to implement the decisions adopted in the commune.

6. All actions concerned with the commune are to be discussed by it with the decision that it considers appropriate for their resolution to be taken, because it possesses the final power and decision to apply and implement them.

7. The commune in one of the villages and neighbourhoods does not have the right to take fateful decisions regarding other communes.

8. Concerning actions and matters connected with institutions outside the commune's extent, they will be in the form of suggestions and consultation and coordination with them.

9. Every commune must have an official centre in the name of a komingeh.

10. Every commune must have its own stamp and name.

Chapter Seven

Making the Commune Active

Article Eighteen

Means of Making the Commune Active

So that the commune may be active in society, the following steps must be taken:

1. Every commune must have a clear name, preferably naming the communes after the names of martyrs, with a defined address like the centre of address of the komingeh, so that all institutions and members can deal with it officially.

2. In order for the commune to active and officially recognized by all the institutions of TEV-DEM and the centres of the Autonomous Administration, the rights of its members must be protected by those institutions and centres.

3. Every commune must have its own training program. If there is no training system, the democratic societal mindset and freedom cannot be understood and implemented.

4. The communes should have official relations with the municipal offices, the Asayish and councils of the villages and neighborhoods, and likewise those institutions and centres must recognize the official nature of those communes.

5. Every social commune must have special cooperative association and it is in itself, so that there can be organization of the social economy for society and the economic and living situations for members of the commune can be improved.

6. All commissions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration and its institutions must officially recognize the communes and deal with them like other institutions.

7. Every commune must have its own stamps, identity papers, system registers and official statements for referral to all the institutions and centres like the Dawr al-Sha'ab, the municipal offices, military recruitment and the Agriculture and Livestock Institution and the fuels institution etc.

8. Every commune must have its own archive in which it documents all referrals and matters coming to it from institutions, members and issues that it undertakes and documents in special registers.

9. All committees, the joint presidency and the administrative commissions for the communes must comply with official hours on the opening of the komingeh centres in the neighbourhoods and villages in rotation.

10. The administrative commissions for the communes, on the holding of meetings of the general councils in the villages or neighourhoods, must declare their activities and events to the people during the past period.