Syrian Revolution Digest – Saturday 21 July 2012

Syrian Revolution Digest – Saturday 21 July 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

The Ramadan of Our Discontent!

 

Ramadan has begun on an inauspicious note for Assad and family, but rather than soften, their stances might harden even more, paving the way for more and deadlier massacres. Another Red Ramadan is upon us.   

 

Friday July 20, 2012

 

Today’s Death toll: 215. The Breakdown: 55 in Damascus Suburbs, 28 in Aleppo, 28 in Idlib, 26 in Damascus City, 25 in Homs, 23 in Deir Ezzor, 20 in Daraa, 7 in Hama, 2 in Lattakia and 1 Sweida.

 

Cities & Towns Under Shelling: Harasta, Arbeen, Moadamiyah, Haran Al-Awameed, Zabadani, Madaya, Eltal, Dmeir, Hameh, Yelda, Rankous (Damascus Suburbs), Sit Zeinab, Al-Qadam, Modan, Al-Hajar Al-Aswad, Yarmouk, Kafar Sousseh, Mazzeh, Qaboun, Barzeh (Damascus City), Daraa City, Khirbet Al-Ghazaleh, Tafas, Maarabah, Bostra Al-Sham (Daraa), Rastan, Talbisseh, Houla, Tal Kalakh, Al-Qusayr, Al-Hosn, Old Homs (Homs Province), Hreitan, Elbab, Eizaz, Marei, Bayanoun (Aleppo Province), Haffeh, Jabal Al-Akrad (Lattakia), Deir Ezzor City, Mouhassan, Albou Kamal (Deir Ezzor Province), Kafar Zeiteh, Hawash (Hama Province), Jabal Al-Zawiyeh, Maar’at Al-Nouman, Sraqib (Idlib)

 

News

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Op-Eds & Special Reports

 

The Syrian Army Strikes Back: Eyewitness to Assad’s Retaliation on a Rebel Town Saraqeb rejoiced when the heart of the regime was struck. Then the President’s soldiers hit back

 

Syria’s Next Act With the rebels moving deeper into Damascus, and the regime’s days appearing numbered, the CIA is racing to find Syria’s chemical and biological weapons before it’s too late.

 

Syria’s Alawite Refuge “It’s true that there aren’t the right ingredients for a state, but the Syrian coast is basically the center of gravity for the sect,” he says. “If the war continues in Syria, I’ll be among the supporters of separation. There is enough blood.”

 

Syria opposition has power struggles of its own As rebels risk their lives for a new government, some feel overshadowed by exiled dissidents, who the fighters say are out of touch with the real revolution.

 

The U.S. must help Syria Washington should work quickly in cooperation with our European allies to establish confidence and credibility in a national leader who is committed to democratic governance. We should put our shared diplomatic muscle behind credible parties with serious political and economic plans…

 

 

David Enders, special correspondent for McClatchy, based in Beirut, Lebanon, FDD fellows Ammar Abdulhamid, Syrian human rights and democracy activist and director of the Tharwa Foundation; John Hannah, former national security advisor to Vice President Cheney; and Reuel Marc Gerecht, former Iran analyst at the CIA’s Directorate of Operations.

 

General Highlights

 

Armed resistance groups in Northern Aleppo Province get unified under one command and one name, Al-Tawhid Brigade, then proceed to hold this impressive show of strength (July 18) http://youtu.be/v4F6dbRAO3k Northern Aleppo Province has now fallen almost completely under the control of the resistance. But the resistance cannot fend off against missiles and mortar rounds.

 

Local resistance groups in the town of Elbab, Aleppo Province, storm the local security headquarters: the slain we see here are pro-Assad militias (July 19)http://youtu.be/cNjWyjZsch8

 

While eyes are focused on Damascus City, many important developments have been taken place in Aleppo City, where larger rallies have taken place and the loyalties of many neighborhoods seem to have completely shifted to the protest movement. The showdown in Salaheddine Neighborhood on Friday underscores this. The story started with a rally as usualhttp://youtu.be/Lk1jvrQAI1A , http://youtu.be/sTJ7wcRPvPY ,http://youtu.be/60kFCqeoDhY , http://youtu.be/XHVG_mBc_XE and ended with clashes between local resistance units and pro-Assad militiashttp://youtu.be/D8XH5EVwX7c Culminating with the introduction in the neighborhoods for the first time http://youtu.be/pqQB5giTmdg And local Imams inviting their congregations to join the “Jihad” against Assad during their Friday sermons http://youtu.be/HUGUxGYYDuk Some of today’s martyrshttp://youtu.be/qyunV-aNG6g , http://youtu.be/4tPHlCwDV2U ,http://youtu.be/7jB_k_1qngo Protesters in Shaar Neighborhood also came under fire http://youtu.be/b1ZCn4ScNLE

 

Volunteers pour in the scores to Midan District to join the local resistance (July 19) http://youtu.be/Y7c0hyDX1qE In this interview with the local commander of the resistance in Midan, he claims that he commands over 4,000 troopshttp://youtu.be/GIMQGlThRdY But tanks lay siege to the neighborhoodhttp://youtu.be/jmgbk3bONJo And they begin poundinghttp://youtu.be/Aw98Sd72sWM , http://youtu.be/JNZM1sNrDYg ,http://youtu.be/0WIkCK0_aTA Many fighters were forced to withdraw, but many remain trapped inside.

 

Resistance units from Daraa heads towards Damascus Cityhttp://youtu.be/IB6xJ5_uFNk

 

In Homs City, protesters in Al-Malaab sang a traditional Damascene song in honor and support of their Damascene colleagues currently under pounding by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/9dYbqxlCDQM

 

Damascus Highlights

 

Black Smoke rises over Damascus City http://youtu.be/7mFZZdWSA48 And over parts of the Mazzeh Neighborhood, one of the plushest Districts in Damascus where many embassies are located http://youtu.be/wPd-oZQ7LMI

 

But it was the neighborhood of Sit Zainab that seems to have received the bulk of pounding today http://youtu.be/Uu_sWobAz1E , http://youtu.be/5B5gjuRhleI ,http://youtu.be/fLnBo66_i5E , http://youtu.be/aJVve1MyDmY The pounding was done mostly by helicopter gunships http://youtu.be/1i3RkplngBI Pulling the wounded and the dead from under the rubble http://youtu.be/nDa5XyhAoaA ,http://youtu.be/rOasidZFCIg

 

Protesters in Khalid Bin Al-Walid Street hold a rally near the local police stationhttp://youtu.be/mFqxuscm07A  They soon come under heavy gunfirehttp://youtu.be/cD8n12q_bnw Many were killed and injured, here we see two bodies lying in the street http://youtu.be/qQ_XnEKnkcw This is another take of the rally and the shooting http://youtu.be/0st1oXDvw3A ,http://youtu.be/2Uo8dChRO64 Local activists report that the wounded who were taking to the nearby hospital of Al-Mojtahed were soon arrested by loyalist security officers and transported to an unknown location. The bodies of the martyrs were also taken. Many doctors were arrested for providing medical assistance to the injured. Some of the Martyrs http://youtu.be/w68W-HRC4XI ,http://youtu.be/yth9B2HVD50 , http://youtu.be/1GL4chxms6c A child among the dead http://youtu.be/2NvQW7Eo8hk

 

Treating the wounded in Barzeh http://youtu.be/l5GDYTBdDXM Taking over the local police station in Tadamon (July 19) http://youtu.be/cjXSODQivnU

 

 

Boyadah and other Damascene suburb were subjected to pounding by helicopter gunships http://youtu.be/gZfdJcNeNd4

 

The town of Dmeir, the pounding claimed many dead: a dead lies in amidst the rubble in the aftermath of an attack http://youtu.be/5z0Ji0vzD8E The martyrs of today’s pounding http://youtu.be/dZEueI6LDLs

 

In Harran Al-Awameed, Eastern Ghoutah, local inhabitants found bodies belonging to people who seem to have been tortured and burnt alive by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/TOJSyPVXN28 IN Arbeen many were killed in today’s pounding as well http://youtu.be/YVVL10U9tQU

 

Other Highlights

 

The pounding in Tafas, Daraa Province, leaves many children deadhttp://youtu.be/mLGvHqEmJQ0 , http://youtu.be/k4_uifq7UZM ,http://youtu.be/MhhAwYu91g8 The mass funeral http://youtu.be/xeWSpEr0dzM

 

The pounding in Rastan, Homs Province, leaves many dead and woundedhttp://youtu.be/P_lWvECCCl0 , http://youtu.be/M7in0FnTXxs

 

The pounding of Albou Kamal claims a heavy toll http://youtu.be/uk7udUZFvuo

 

The sounds of pounding of Jabal Al-Akrad, Lattakia Province http://youtu.be/pf-yif6FGwM

 

Protesters in Tabaqa City, Raqqah Province, came under fire http://youtu.be/-qBLqBhQNYI

 

Human Rights Watch Tells Malta to Stop Detaining Unaccompanied Children

By Pearl Rimon
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

VALLETA, Malta – Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling for the government of Malta to stop their practice of detaining unaccompanied migrant children.

Migrants being transferred from a Maltese rescue boat. (Photo courtesy of Ben Borg Cardona/AFP/Getty Images)

Malta has a policy of mandatory detention for migrants who arrive by sea, resulting in prolonged detention of unaccompanied children and other abuses of migrants’ rights.

“Malta’s automatic, indiscriminate, and blanket detention of migrants – including unaccompanied migrant children – is inhumane and unnecessary,” said Alice Farmer, researcher in the Children’s Rights Division at HRW. “It doesn’t deter migrants from coming to Malta and it violates international law.”

Asylum seekers can be detained for up to 12 months and migrants not seeking asylum can be detained for 18 months. Malta has a policy of mandatory detention for any “prohibited immigrant,” including anyone arriving without “right of entry.”

Malta routinely detains unaccompanied migrant children who are often fleeing violence in their home countries, like Somalia and Eritrea. The children undergo an age determination process, a lengthy procedure that often takes months. They are detained as long as they look older than 12 or 14, and are held until they determine their age.

The children are assessed and if they are deemed to be under 18 they are released into group homes. While children who arrive with their families are automatically moved to group homes.

HRW interviewed 88 migrant and asylum seekers between February and May of this year. The average detention time for age determination was 3.4 months. The Maltese government has detained children as young as 12 in adult facilities, according to the HRW report.

“Malta should treat migrants who claim to be under age 18 as children until proven otherwise, and never detain them,” said Alice Farmer. “The fact that unaccompanied children, who have made long and dangerous trips without their parents or other caregivers, are locked up until they can prove they are children, demonstrates the brutality of the detention policy.”

HRW urges the Maltese government to treat those who claim to be children as such pending the outcome of age determination proceedings, and not detain them while their ages are assessed, bring their detention policies in line with the standards of the Council of Europe, and to limit detention of migrants to exceptional circumstances.

The Maltese government maintains that detention protects migrants from abuse, exploitation and getting lost in the country.

For further information, please see:

DI-VE — Beyond Burden Sharing on Irregular Migrants – 19 July 2012

The Epoch Times — Malta: An Accidental Destination For Many Migrants – 19 July 2012

The Malta Independent– Human Rights Watch – ‘Stop detaining children’ –19 July 2012

Syrian Revolution Digest – Thursday 19 July 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

The End?

Something is definitely looming in Syria, but it’s not end-game. It’s more like the end of Round One. 

Thursday July 19, 2012

Today’s Death toll:  217. The Breakdown: 70 in Deir Ezzor (Albou Kamal, Jbeileh, Deir Ezor City), 40 in Damascus Suburbs (Sit Zeinab, Eltal, Harasta, Arbeen, Zabadani, Madaya, Diyabiyeh), 15 in Damascus City, 33 in Idlib (most in Saraqib), 21 in Homs, 16 in Hama, 14 in Daraa, 7 in Aleppo and 1 in Hassakeh.

Local activists report that “intense clashes” between the Jordanian and Syrian armies have taken place at the border checkpoint of Nasseeb. No independent confirmation can be provided at this stage.

Several Damascene suburbs and neighborhoods have reportedly come under the complete control of FSA units and local political resistance.

Kurdish activists from across the country are reporting that all Kurdish-majority towns have been liberated or are in the process of liberation. The move was not as violent, as regime’s presence has been kept at a minimal level over the last few months in order to avoid antagonizing the local population opening another front in its showdown with the people.

News

Syrian tyrant’s Brit-born wife Asma al-Assad ‘flees to Russia’ According toRia Novosti “Russia’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the rumors when contacted by RIA Novosti.”

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Is Syria Facing a Yugoslavia-Style Breakup? Even if the regime loses its grip on growing swaths of territory, the civil war’s sectarian dimension could see it opt to retreat into enclaves controlled by its base of Alawite, Christian and non-Sunni support

Fouad Ajami: Syria’s War Hits the House Of Assad Bashar al-Assad has been sly: He made sure that the Alawites, as a community, were implicated in the recent massacres that have poisoned the well between these two communities. Alawite villagers were unleashed on their neighbors. They killed at close range. The survivors knew the killers, they had gone to school with them. The fiction that this was regime violence was shredded in the recent horrific massacres. There was method in the cruelty, and this will make itself felt in the phase to come: The Alawite-based regime was rounding out the borders of an Alawite homeland.

On the Chemical Front

Fears grow Syria will use chemical weapons stockpile “Bashar al-Assad is highly likely to deploy chemical weapons as he faces an unprecedented threat to his rule, security sources warned on Thursday night.”

At this stage, and considering the recent leaks from the State Department that Assad has indeed moved some of his WMDs stockpiles from Damascus to central Syria, and considering the situation in central Syria and the emerging pattern of ethnic cleansing there orchestrated by Assad and his militias, we need to change the nature of the conversation in policymaking circles in Washington from what can or should be done in case Assad used WMDs, to what can and should be done to preempt this very possibility. Use of chemical weapons by Assad will not come as a surprise. This will not be another Halabja in this sense. We can already see the chain of events paving the way to this eventuality. For this, doing nothing is tantamount to becoming a culprit.

The Assassinations

This video claims to show the building where the National Security Office is headquartered after the explosion that claimed the lives of Shawkat, Turkmani and Rajhah took place. We only see white smoke coming out from the building, and we hear the voice of a spokesman reading a prepared statement explaining that the attack took place in revenge for the massacres perpetrated by the regime, encouraging more defections and telling members of the international community that they are unreliable and that the revolutionaries no longer expect anything from them. http://youtu.be/qZhTPQB2cmM

The Ominous Message

By way of preemption, and considering that pro-Assad militias will now be unleashed on the public, Syrian TV issued this dire warning:

(Reuters) – Syrian state television warned citizens on Thursday that gunmen were planning to attack people in the capital using military uniforms as disguises.

Several neighborhoods in Damascus have been rocked over the past five days by fierce clashes between security forces and rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria TV said uniformed men in those districts may not actually be from the armed forces.

“Armed men in Tadamon, Midan, Qaa and Nahr Aisha (neighborhoods) are wearing military uniforms with the insignia of the Republican Guard. This confirms they are planning to commit crimes and attack people, exploiting the trust of citizens in our courageous armed forces,” Syria’s official channel said in a message flashed across the screen.

The Hidden Message: massacres will be committed in Damascus and all are fair targets.

Moving Towards An Alawistan?

University of Oklahoma Syria specialist Joshua Landis finds the Alawite-state scenario unconvincing. “Once the regime loses Damascus, it’s finished,” he says. “The Alawite mountains are not a sufficient basis for a nation-state. It has no separate economy of its own, and the regime hasn’t planned for this. Such an entity wouldn’t have an external backer — Iran wouldn’t be in any position to provide the necessary support. Once the Sunnis own the capital and the income from the oil fields, they’d make short work of any remaining Alawite resistance.” (The Time)

There are three major problems with this analysis: first, it fails to provide an adequate explanation of existing patterns of ethnic cleansing; second, it fails to see a potential role for Russia in this matter, even though Russia has prepped up such enclaves before and has made it clear so far that they don’t have any plans for giving up on Assad.

But, more importantly, the above analysis insists on examining things from the rational perspective of what is or is not viable. Assad and his clique never looked at things from this perspective, a perspective  that is bound to remain alien to them until they are 6 feet under. Simple spite and a nihilistic sense of machismo are often the sole motivations involved.

Joshua Landis, and other former advocates of engagement with Assad seem, to date, incapable of reconsidering their analytical methodology when it comes to the behavior of Assad & Co., where motivations are consistently more personal and guttural than rational.

Moreover, and as the GlobalPost reported recently: “Rumors had begun circulating among Allawites of oil and gas wealth along the coastline.” In other words, in addition to the ongoing military campaign, there is an parallel propaganda campaign taking place as well meant to make the prospect of an Alwite State more alluring to member of the Alawite community and other minority communities in Syria.

However, Joshua is right in noting that:

Once the regime departs the capital, it essentially vacates the structure of power it had established, Landis argues. And that raises the danger of even more vicious fighting ahead, spearheaded by the Shabiha units of pro-regime thugs often led by men no older than 21.

Indeed, where so many focus in their discussion solely on possible retributions against the Alawites once regime falls, it’s the behavior of the pro-Assad militias that might prove more problematic, not only in Damascus, but also in coastal towns where Sunnis still make up 40% of the population and living currently under siege in various villages and neighborhoods besieged by Alawites checkpoints. If Assad truly wants to create his majority Alawite enclave, the ethnic cleansing of the coast should begin soon.

What the US should do?

I second this advice by Andrew Tabler, but, after today’s double veto, it should be clear to all that the U.S. has to move outside the purview of the UN to get anything done in regard to Syria, that is, if the U.S. wants to do anything at this stage.

The time to act is now, before disaster strikes. By leading an effort at the U.N. Security Council to warn the Syrian regime about the dire consequences of using its chemical weapons stockpile, and raising the possibility of a military response in the event that effort fails, Washington will be communicating to Assad that he would be sealing his fate if he crosses this last remaining red line.

Video Highlights

Rallies continue to take place across the country despite the inherent dangers, while towns and suburbs across the country continue to be pounded and shelled by tanks, heavy artillery and helicopter gunships. Below are just a few highlights of what has become a very complex and chaotic scene.

A unit of the FSA takes control of Bab Al-Hawa, one of the official checkpoints on the Turkish-Syrian border http://youtu.be/B-KaCX9VGGE Fighters remove posters of Assad http://youtu.be/9EFjmUmGZ6o The rejoicinghttp://youtu.be/RFE8-QBElCY , http://youtu.be/0ScgRhRPrwU ,http://youtu.be/2HLmvPUJLMU Removing Assad’s postershttp://youtu.be/YXIA2p9LDFE , http://youtu.be/AKtDKpFFtKI ,http://youtu.be/JiMwxtT6Ic8

These families are leaving Damascus City to Idlib http://youtu.be/awFhBrx9u6E

Damascus City

Yarmouk: FSA fighters take control of the local police stationhttp://youtu.be/ULO_nKJ31qw , http://youtu.be/TgiRb82aub4 ,http://youtu.be/ZS1IFyIozDg Victim of a sniper attackhttp://youtu.be/0FX4lNsL5cM Clashes take place at nighthttp://youtu.be/kIuWIVy-yYw Impact of impounding http://youtu.be/TXdyU0lreZc

A hasta burial for some of yesterday’s victims in Sit Zainabhttp://youtu.be/sndbua4CnUw

Thick black smoke rises over Qaboun http://youtu.be/_p5CqkLREgo As pounding by helicopter gunships continues http://youtu.be/ESnb8bqEq_I More smoke rises over Tadamon and Kafar Sousseh http://youtu.be/hTQhvhD4VNQ

Shop-owners in the Old Hamidiyeh market observe a strikehttp://youtu.be/82wym59EZFo

Tanks patrol the neighborhood of Al-Qadam http://youtu.be/oLHFsID2raA

Huge fire on top of mount Qasayoun which activists say is the result of destroying a missile base there by local resistance http://youtu.be/viIJ_CeknBA ,http://youtu.be/xLE7r7cWfoY

Clashes take place in Mazzeh http://youtu.be/5bxZ3dzujE8 In nearby Kafar Sousseh, Assad’s snipers take up positions http://youtu.be/W7BkilbODxI

Damascus Suburbs

Activists document the use of cluster bombs in the pounding of the towns ofMadaya and Zabadani in Damascus Suburbs http://youtu.be/A28Air3nhMI

The pounding of Zabadani was quite intense todayhttp://youtu.be/cI1HMHfRYQQ , http://youtu.be/jtaN6VEfid4 ,http://youtu.be/QBWGHp6owPw , http://youtu.be/16Rpo0HZG6I ,http://youtu.be/ffRYcBU_4ME But nearer to the town, local resistance destroy a checkpoint manned by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/_eZOY4qhi-U

Local resistance in the suburb of Eltal mange to take control of the local political security branch hoisting the independence flagon tophttp://youtu.be/8helc5YMS0o Locals celebrate the developmenthttp://youtu.be/qo89kX1OdaI Elsewhere in town, the resistance destroys a tankhttp://youtu.be/-TQSHG99S7Y But the suburb soon came under shelling from helicopter gunships http://youtu.be/ADW8HyFsL4g , http://youtu.be/fVK27iuUlFI ,http://youtu.be/FErUkzO2Cno

The various towns making up Eastern Ghoutah came under heavy pounding from helicopter gunships: Arbeen http://youtu.be/5x7xaSKFq6I Some of the martyrs http://youtu.be/iW15l2p8qUM Smoke rises over Madeerahttp://youtu.be/dY-iCvWrLzY and over Zamalka http://youtu.be/PAs3HDCC7Zw ,http://youtu.be/IfRNnXqjKIU and over Hamouriyeh http://youtu.be/3q5NVTd-k9YAfter pounding from this helicopter http://youtu.be/5Z1rVYDBI1Y and this onehttp://youtu.be/7evJZUDVqpQ

Clashes in Kafar Batna http://youtu.be/M5F8VBYUjug

The massacre of Madeera http://youtu.be/ts3JgoZhoOo ,http://youtu.be/42jO2rUSAWE The massacre of Sbeinehhttp://youtu.be/aTbiU9GnMck

To the south, the suburb of Kisweh comes under heavy automatic gunfirehttp://youtu.be/DLPEuZIojMM

Idlib

In Kafar Takhreem, a pro-Assad soldier comes under firehttp://youtu.be/H1ZoYl47uao

Homs

Aleppo

The pounding of Kafar Nouran http://youtu.be/Ni2Cb1cRu2U the pounding ofAtareb http://youtu.be/y37YnsBRveM

Inhabitants of the Kurdish-Majority town of Kobani take control of a local security station and burn Assad’s posters http://youtu.be/iQuUGbKjG28 Soon afterwards, all of Kobani’s official buildings fell to the local activists. Other Kurdish-majority towns throughout Syria soon followed suit.

Local resistance “liberate” the town Eizaz http://youtu.be/USw6VC3baVQ ,http://youtu.be/RgIBwB55jZQ , http://youtu.be/1BNDpoqVuKo Forcing Assad forces to retreat http://youtu.be/dAYjtN6RBsg

Daraa

Tafas: local resistance take out a tank http://youtu.be/TIN1a0as8jo

The pounding of Daraa City continues http://youtu.be/9s11hAayvVA

The pounding of Maarba http://youtu.be/s-TCbQ0CS6Y

Lattakia

More fires in Jabal Al-Akrad http://youtu.be/A-JI-QMnkXI

Anti-Slavery Activists in Mauritania Undeterred by Recent Arrests

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania – Protesters gathered in the Mauritanian capital on Sunday demanding the release of seven anti-slavery activists who have been detained, the end of ‘arbitrary imprisonment’, and the end of slavery in Saharan nation.

Anti-Slavery Protesters Gather at the Mauritanian Capital. (Photo Courtesy of Reuters)

Sources say the seven detained activists were arrested on April 29 after burning Islamic books purportedly providing a religious justification for the practice of slavery.  The books were Sunni Maliki books. The Movement for Justice and Equality in Mauritania (EJEM) said the activists burned Islamic books but not copies of the Holy Quran.

The recent protests have been largely peaceful. However, the protesters were met with violent crackdowns by security forces, said Saidou Wane, an activist with the MJEM.

Wane told reporters that “the Arab Spring inspired a lot of activists in Mauritania and showed us everything is possible.”

The west African country is a conservative society historically ruled by the Moors. During their rule, the Moors enslaved the black African ethnic group known as the Haratine.

Today, an estimated 10% to 20% of Mauritania’s 3.4 million people are enslaved — in “real slavery,” according to the United Nations’ special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Gulnara Shahinian.

Officially, Mauritania abolished slavery in 1981, making it punishable by six years of imprisonment. But the practice still exists. It wasn’t until five years ago, in 2007, that Mauritania passed a law that criminalized the act of owning another person. So far, only one case has been successfully prosecuted.

Slave masters in Mauritania exercise full ownership over their slaves. They can send them away at will, and it is common for a master to give away a young slave as a wedding present.

Most slave families in Mauritania consist of dark-skinned people whose ancestors were captured by lighter-skinned Arab Berbers centuries ago. Slaves typically are not bought and sold — only given as gifts, and bound for life. Their children automatically become slaves as well.

Some slave owners who no longer need a slave’s help send the servants away to slave-only villages in the countryside. They check on them only occasionally or employ informants who make sure the slaves tend to the land and don’t leave it.

Despite the recent arrests, other anti-slavery activists remain undeterred. They continue to rally to end the practice and to bring the issue to the attention of the international community. At the 2012 Global Media Forum held in Bonn, Germany, Brahim Bilal Ebeid, the vice-president of the anti-slavery group, Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement told the forum that Mauritania needs all the help it can get and that there are times when even the media is no safe recourse for Mauritania’s slaves.

 

For further information, please see:

AfriqueJet – Mauritanian Opposition Accuses Pro-Government Radio of Encouraging Slavery – 19 July 2012

New Internationalist – Slavery Still Widespread in Mauritania – 16 July 2012

Daily News Egypt – Mauritanians Demand Abolition of Slavery – 10 July 2012

BBC News Africa – Mauritania Slave Activist Biram Ould Obeidi Charged – 31 May 2012

CNN – Slavery’s Last Stronghold – 11 March 2012

When Murderers Attempt to Hide the Truth: A Detailed Report on the At-Treimseh Massacre

At-Treimh is a very small village whose population is less than eleven thousand people.  It is 11km to the west of Mhardeh city, in the Hama governorate.

**WARNING: VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES**

Victims of the At-Treimseh massacre.

Statements provided by At-Treimseh residents state that at dawn, on Thursday 12 July 2012 around 4:00 am, At-Treimseh village was fully besieged by military forces that came from the neighboring city of Mhardeh.  These forces were followed by huge reinforcements that came from Hama’s military airport.  Residents estimated this force to be roughly 200 military vehicles.  It included tanks, armored vehicles, Shilka tanks, Zil cars, transport buses, 4x4s, and pick-ups.  They were accompanied by army infantry troops transported in roughly 25 Zil cars.  Additionally, militants traveling in white buses and pick-ups were present.  They were armed with assault rifles and wearing civilian clothes.

This military force fully besieged the village.  Eyewitnesses stated that shelling from all directions started between 4 and 5 a.m.; shelling from the tanks and aerial bombardment by 3 helicopters continuously occurred for roughly 4 hours.  Eyewitnesses affirmed that they saw a fourth warplane that did not shell the village; they say that most likely it was a drone conducting monitoring and scouting.

Local residents stated that at the start of the shelling, locals tried to flee the village and sought refuge in the neighboring villages.  However, shelling and sieges on the neighboring villages hindered attempts to flee.  Residents also stated that some locals were killed by army troops when they fled the shelling.  Abou Assa’ad, an eyewitness, stated that Yusuf Al-Ubaid, a roughly 68 year old man, fled the shelling but was killed by gunfire at the northern outskirts of the village in Al-Smaira.

The same source stated that two citizens from Kafr Houd village: 40 year-old Waheed Adul Salam Qattash, Imam and Sheikh of a mosque in At-Treimseh, and his 17 years old son, Taha Qattash, were killed as they tried to flee At-Treimseh and find safety in a village nearby.  Army troops deployed at the road to Kafr Houd, east of the village, stopped them and killed them with gunfire.  The checkpoint troops then tied the father’s body to a military vehicle and dragged it in the road before throwing it in Abou Musaab Al-Hasnou’s home and burning the structure down.

Eyewitnesses say residents sought refuge at schools and mosques of the village even though it was well known that the most likely scenario was that no safe zone existed in the entire village.  Instead, they gathered in these buildings seeking the stronger protection that they offered from the shelling.  Army troops targeted those schools and mosques, killing and wounding large numbers of people.

Residents remember that shelling was concentrated on schools and mosques and their surrounding areas for more than an hour. Then it moved to the outskirts of the village.

Assad’s forces shelled the village, and its outskirts, for 3 to 4 hours.  Then armed vehicles and tanks stormed into the village.  They battled with members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), made up of army defectors in the village, some who were officers.  Some civilians also battled with Assad’s forces in defense of their village, life, women, and children.  Many did so with the knowledge that the regime’s army in previous massacres had eliminated all opposition, both FSA and civilian.

Assad’s regime army forced men and children out of homes, using them as human shileds as they searched for opposition.  Abou Assa’ad stated that army troops forced the young men of the village to walk in front of the regime’s army, and that a soldier killed two of them with an assault rifle; the two victims were Mukhlis Al-Faris, he was only 26 years old, and Mousaab Boulad.

Abou Assa’ad said that the deaths occurred because two soldiers argued, one was angry over the use of unarmed civilians as human shields, the other then killed the two.  Next orders to stop arguing, from an older soldier, came from behind and they abided by the orders.

Ibrahim Al-Hamdwi said that two civilian who defended the village with weapons were killed when they surrendered as they ran out of ammunition.  Army troops arrested, beat, tortured, and ultimately killed them with gunfire.  The two victims were Salih Hussein Al-Saba’awi, 36 years old, and Yahya Sail Al-Hwayan, 25 years old.

Military operation on the village went on till about 7:00 in the evening.  Once the regime army left residents went to check the village.  They were shocked by the mass destruction inflicted on the homes and buildings as well as the number of the casualties and wounded they found.  Abou Ahmad stated that he found a lot of bodies and that he knows at least 70 bodies were buried.  This included 40 women who were placed in a mass grave.  He said that this was only during the day, that night even more bodies were found and buried.  By Friday, fifteen other bodies were found in Orontes River and different irrigation canals throughout the area.  Abou Ahmad adds that many bodies were buried in the first two days without any identifications made because they were so far burned it was impossible to identify them.

Abou Assa’ad affirmed the statement made by Abou Ahmad and added that four other bodies were found in farms and orchards surrounding the village on Saturday, 14 July 2012.

Abou Assa’ad said that 15 bodies were found in Ghazi Al-Shammouti’s house on the first day; those bodies have not been identified as most are completely burned out.  He stated that he has saw a body belonging to a woman, hugging two other bodies of completely burned children.  Residents were not able to identify the bodies due the fact that many separate families all gathered together in one home as the attack began.

However, Abou Assa’ad was able to identify one body, among many that were completely burned.  The body was that of his relative, who was transporting the wounded to a home being used as a makeshift hospital.  The home was besieged by regime army troops who opened fire at all the people inside.  They then burned the bodies.

The burial of some of the bodies.

Residents and witnesses assert that more than 100 unidentified bodies, including 40 completely burned corpses, have been buried so far.  Residents reported that they have not been able to identify the exact number of victims because army forces abducted some of the bodies.  Abu Ahmad, an eyewitness, confirmed seeing ambulances and civilian cars collecting the bodies and taking them away.  This same story was told by Abu Assa’ad, who added that he saw two small white Toyota trucks assisting with this.  In the rear trunk of one of the trucks, he saw around 35 bodies and in the other roughly 40.  Abu Assa’ad saw the trucks leave with the army when it pulled out.

Eyewitnesses also confirmed that a large number of people have gone missing and they do not know whether they have been killed or arrested.  The residents estimated the number of those missing at more than 200 people.  The huge exodus from the village after the assault, combined with the communications cut-off in the following days, made it hard to accurately identify the number of missing.  Residents estimated the number of those injured due to the shelling between 300 and 400 people.

Residents and eyewitnesses were surprised to see Dr. Mohammad Satouf on Syrian TV on 15 July 2012 as he disappeared during the army raid on the village. When he appeared on Syrian TV, he acknowledged cooperation with terrorist gangs in the village.  Abu Ahmad, Abu Assa’ad, and Ibrahim al-Hamwi all said that there were no such gangs in the village.  The only armed people, according to them, were the defectors from the army and some of the village’s young men who joined the ranks of the Free Syrian Army as volunteers.  The eye witnesses confirmed that Dr. Satouf enjoyed a good reputation and was known for his good manners.  His contribution to the popular uprising in Syria, in which his village At-Tremseh took part, was early on and he was restricted to providing medical care for those wounded in the protests.

Witnesses say that the number of armed people killed during the army raid and who could be identified was no more than ten.  The fate of the rest of the group remains unknown, it is unclear whether they were killed and their bodies abducted, or arrested, or were able to flee the village.

It is noted that security and army forces prevented international observers from entering the village on Thursday to investigate the facts on the ground.  The investigators were only able to gain access to the village 13 hours after the army fully pulled out of the town.

Walking through the town, documenting the aftermath of the destruction.

Media reports and stories related to the massacre stated more than 250 victims were killed, however, SNHR & DCHRS have not been able to document and verify the names and identities of all the victims for the following reasons:

1.) About one hundred and twenty victims have been buried, residents were not able to identify forty of these because they were completely burned.

2.) Security forces and army troops abducted a large number of the bodies.  They have not returned the bodies to victims’ families.

3.) Large numbers of citizens have gone missing and the Syrian regime authorities have not confirmed the death or detention of them to their families.

4.) The Syrian regime’s refusal to conduct a credible, objective and transparent investigation into the crimes perpetrated on Thursday in Ar-Treimseh, the regime’s refusal to allow access for any other party to conduct an investigation, and the denial of access to the village to independent media outlets means that no objective reality has emerged.

 

All information and videos in this report provide by:

Syrian Network for Human Rights

Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies in Syria