SNHR: Report About the Attacks on Foreign and Syrian Journalists & Media Activists by Some Armed Groups
[scribd id=162372267 key=key-2kybrpro8sh0c8ouunbv mode=scroll]
ICTJ World Report: Thursday, 22 August 2013
[scribd id=162363896 key=key-2hhpt7ao1tbmxu7cnxms mode=scroll]
SNHR: At Least 450 Persons Killed During the Eastern Al Ghouta Massacre due to Chemical Weaponry
At least 450 persons were killed in a massacre in Eastern AL Ghouta’s towns by chemical weapons – Wednesday, 21 August 2013
Introduction
GENEVA PROTOCOL
For the Prohibition of the Use of Asphyxiating, Poisoner Other Gases, and Bacteriological Methods of Warfare; 1925 agreement banning the use of chemical and biological weapons in war.
The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC)
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction
(Signed at London, Moscow and Washington on 10 April 1972.
Entered into force on 26 March 1975)
Chemical Weapons Convention
Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction
(Signed at Paris and New York on January 13, 1993, Effective, April 29,1997)
A preliminary report :
Up to this point, we have documented that at least 460 people were killed, including whole families with children and women who were asleep when the attack took place this morning.
At around 3:00 a.m. in the morning, regime’s forces fired rockets with chemical heads on Zamallaka and on Al Zainia area in Ein Turma. Then after around 2 more hours, the regime targeted Mua’dameyet Al Sham with rockets containing chemical warheads, leading to the fall of more casualties as the rockets hit civilian districts.
Jobar district was slightly affected as the gases were driven to it by the wind. A huge number of civilians were consequently subjected to the gases, leading to the martyrdom of tens of them. The numbers continue to increase rapidly as they suffocate to death due to the lack of needed medical supplies required to save them.
Do note that the death toll is very hard to report right now as there are many civilians in critical conditions in several medical points across the towns of Eastern Al Ghouta. At least 15 new victims have been taken to Al Mleha town (videos are show below in this report). Also note that after the victims were taken to other towns that include Arbin, Saqba, Jisreen, among others, for treatment, the regime’s forces began bombarding these towns using artillery and warplanes.
Symptoms of the patients include nausea, hallucinations, suffocation, hard coughing, high blood pressure, seizures, during affection and post-death gargle, etc. Still, no clue of the chemical weapon/toxic gas that was used by the regime’s forces to target the innocent civilians.
Families are fleeing the targeted areas other nearby areas as reported by activists there as they are utterly horrified.
Activists also report the lack of Atropine that is usually used to treat civilians during chemical attacks by the regime; oxygen tanks are not available too. Medics are only using vinegar to the mouth and nose and are washing the bodies of the victims with water.
Attachments:
Doctor speaking from a medical point in Eastern Al Ghouta, also receiving victims of chemical weaponry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZuYpsZZTlc&feature=youtu.be
——————
–Photos/videos of martyrs taken from Arbeen:
(21 martyred children and 8 martyred men in video solely)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fRTMheTT8A&feature=c4-overview&list=UUfMnrc-v5i_cieu14Gy5Mhw
(father carrying martyred daughter)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqVeCVovF58&feature=c4-overview&list=UUfMnrc-v5i_cieu14Gy5Mhw
(one of the martyred children)
(one of the martyred children)
(2 martyred children)
(martyred man)
(one martyred child)
(11 martyred children)
(a martyred child)
(2 martyred children)
(3 martyred children)
(photo of martyred toddler)
(martyred children and men on ground)
(martyred children and men on ground)
(3 martyred children; identification of martyrs beginning)
(martyred child)
–Victims of chemical weaponry:
(more than 50 martyrs in one medical point in Arbin)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6B8wq1VXN0&feature=youtu.be
(tens of martyrs on ground)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMATMUbDk0A&feature=youtu.be
(toddler aged months killed by chemical weapons)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsI4tWQbjps&feature=youtu.be
(child killed; elderly man crying)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evHgj4dnF9k&feature=youtu.be
(child suffocating)
(child affected; blue lips due to suffocation)
(civilians on ground)
VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqCDSq_BXKo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPZwlhsglIs (huge number of victims on ground)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXwS4_E3OQE&feature=c4-overview&list=UUr0XtWlKwpfpxYoLkHzKoxw(children affected)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfTKTlf4-Dg (children affected; lips blue due to suffocation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc5kqpYyT2c&feature=c4-overview&list=UUfMnrc-v5i_cieu14Gy5Mhw (attempts to resuscitate a child)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcHWSKMD96w&feature=youtu.be (failing attempts to save civilians)
http://youtu.be/dcHWSKMD96w (failing attempts to save civilians)
–Bombardment on Arbin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEA0nSMZIvo&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmFEsh3Tvqo&feature=youtu.be (MEG warplane hovering over Arbin)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=645001525525039&set=a.301421553216373.79204.301396186552243&type=1&theater (fires igniting)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq-lKKHbKnw&feature=youtu.be (shelling)
——————
——————
–Photos/videos taken from Hamoureyyeh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlYSmoa6BUs&list=UUQ57A4S-uWJrpi8j5AN9N5Q (tens of civilians on ground in a medical point, suffocating)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK1Nu8A1jEo&feature=c4-overview&list=UUQ57A4S-uWJrpi8j5AN9N5Q(attempts to resuscitate children)
——————
——————
–Photos/videos from Saqba:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBq0HJs_ggw&feature=c4-overview&list=UUPJ5c1m7advFxfWUfuVR2Vw(ambulance cars rushing to rescue victims)
(3 videos documenting martyrdom of 40 civilians in one medical point)
http://youtu.be/Qa0fWpKmFuY (part 1)
http://youtu.be/t8H_iuI56zY (part 2)
http://youtu.be/zUnehzxsUGs (part 3)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UU_uONafGE&feature=youtu.be (doctor speaking of symptoms)
http://youtu.be/nRDkuRGNFiE (children suffocating to death)
http://youtu.be/YVTZSLUtLOQ (child suffocating to death)
Videos of casualties due to chemical weaponry used; taken inside a medical point in Saqba:
http://youtu.be/lwGdDYnAoWU (part 1)
http://youtu.be/-SOSz4tjBnI (part 2)
http://youtu.be/87DT2eDqh1Y (part 3)
http://youtu.be/_warMtjAdlA (part 4)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GClAquN8dzg (part 5)
Photos showing civilians martyrs; others suffocating to death:
–One of rockets that targeted Saqba today; bombardment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-Z_1ZqWR8I (bombardment)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KXWboxzDTY (bombardment
——————
——————
–Photos/videos taken from a medical point in Mua’dameyet Al Sham:
(12 martyred men on ground)
(Martyred child)
(martyred child)
(child affected by chemical weapons)
(martyrs killed by chemical weaponry)
http://youtu.be/IdED26CH2SM (elderly man amongst martyrs)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Da_UizjNUz4 (primary footage of some of martyrs)
http://youtu.be/ImCUPr9VIOQ (martyrs lined on ground)
–Bombardment on Mua’dameyet Al Sham:
——————
——————
–Photos/videos taken from a medical point in Jesreen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkWdhXtP3kw&feature=youtu.be (civilians on ground; suffocating, with seizures)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpiqnS8OuIs&feature=youtu.be (one of the cases of suffocation)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybSqzn93vIg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNkPHUySCvI (attempts to save civilians suffocating)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPWfQ6wEa5U (victims, some martyred, on ground)
(tens of martyrs on ground)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCoN-FcrAqM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDr4lXnMvJI (some of martyrs of Jesreen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrk1siUUrdE (medic crying, carrying a martyred child)
–Bombardment on Jisreen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-ZOVDzHaz0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUd8cnX1y-U (moment a shell fell)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Axb3iLV4K0I
——————
——————
–Photos/videos taken from another medical point in Kufrbatnah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-IkS3HIm6U&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q (civilians terrified; tens of casualties on ground)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de278-eftBA&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q (civilians terrified; tens of casualties on ground)
(martyred children/men/women lined on ground)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfrRsOzXwaw&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO8_eZcZkNE&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q (whole family martyred)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkGa2jr9MBA&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q (martyrs lined on ground; most children)
(children mostly/men affected by chemical weaponry; failing attempts of resuscitation due to lack of medical supplies)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBDb0fI_pwE&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_cxvCeVcu8&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Vby7TdnL8&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzpLeXcfNJk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGOAmM1rN8s&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q (toddler suffocating to death)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dCRW9bfa7o&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q (makeshift hospital packed with civilians)
–Bombardment on Kufrbatnah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VVrsf3Mntk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1sKTImKtNI&feature=c4-overview&list=UUvZk_PlaBG7ctP-Zrrcf_5Q
——————
——————
–Photos of new mass of victims arriving to Al Mleha town: (no martyrs reported from there yet)
16 young men, 6 women, and 2 children
(victims of chemical weaponry)
http://youtu.be/9yf5nLplh8w (children)
http://youtu.be/d1dYBeQSiEc (children)
Legal conclusions:
Syrian government by using poisonous gases in different Syrian Territories violated both International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law, because of the Prohibition of the Use of poisonous weapons in all circumstances ever in armed conflicts.
Armed Rebels
We didn’t document any case of using chemical weapons or poisonous gases by armed rebels
Recommendations:
Human right council
1- Serious attention of the case of using poisonous gases.
2- Call upon security council and relevant organizations to take upon their responsibility towards this extremely serious matter.
3- Exert pressure on the Syrian government to stop using such type of internationally prohibited weapons.
4- Hold the allies and supporter of the Syrian government: Russia, Iran, China, moral and physical responsibility towards excesses of Syrian Regime in this regard.
5- Demands international weapons and institutions concerning mass destruction weapons to monitor closely developments in Syria and alert any potential breaches by Syrian Government.
Security Council:
1- Decision to refer all the criminals and the involved to ICC.
2- Warn the Syrian Government Troops of there percussions of using chemical gases on life’s future in Syrian and its impact on the stability of civil peace and coexistence of people in the same society.
3- Serious attention to the case and put it under continuously control and research.
4- Decision to enable investigation team to move freely in Syria to make sure of the allegation of the use of this weapons.
5- Demand form country technically capable to apply satellite monitoring on chemical weapons and its warehouse in Syria , and to warn if the Syrian Government start any procedure to use it.
Arab League:
1- Demand Human Right Council and United Nations to give this serious issue the right attention and follow up.
2- Serious attention of this case and give it high priority, and try to take care of family of poisonous gas victims.
3- Political and diplomatic pressure on the Syrian Government Troops’ main allies-Russia, Iran and China -to prevent Syrian Government to use poisonous gases , and prevent them from continuous providing cover, and international and political protection for all the crimes committed against the Syrian people and hold them moral and physical responsibility for all the excesses of the Syrian Government Troops.
4- Serious attention to the case and put it under continuously control and research.
5- Support local councils and families with protective equipment and precautionary means and medical materials to deal with such disaster if it occurs again.
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Statement on Today’s Reported Chemicals Weapons Attack in Syria
[scribd id=162095342 key=key-dfg9460l7u84ltpc2ox mode=scroll]
Former Egyptian Vice President of Foreign Affairs Charged with Breaching the Nation’s Trust
By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
CAIRO, Egypt-Mohamed ElBaradei, recently-resigned interim vice president of Egypt’s foreign affairs, is being sued for a “betrayal of trust” due to his decision to resign. A Cairo court has set the trial for the 19th of September.
Mr. ElBaradei faces charges of “breaching national trust” that were brought forth by a law professor, Sayyed Ateeq, at Cairo’s Helwan University. Mr. Ateeq stated that ElBaradei could face up to three years in prison with the finding of a guilty verdict. However, judicial sources say that the maximum sentence is a fine and suspend jail time.
A co-leader of the National Salvation Front (NSF), an organization aimed at deposing ex-President Morsi, Mr. ElBaradei gained ample political support. The former head of the UN nuclear agency, he originally supported the overthrowing of Morsi from power on July 3rd.
However, on August 14th, Mr. ElBaradei resigned from his post as Vice President of Foreign Affairs. His resignation followed yet another massacre of several hundred Morsi supporters by police forces at the dispersal of a protest in eastern Cairo.
“He was appointed in his capacity as a representative of the NSF and the majority of the people who signed the Tamarod declaration,” stated Ateeq. “Dr. ElBaradei was entrusted with this position and he had a duty to go back to those who entrusted him and ask to resign instead of stepping down on his own,” Ateeq further stated.
In the aftermath of ex-President Morsi’s ousting, politically driven lawsuits have flooded the Egyptian court system on both sides of the table. Morsi supporters earlier brought numerous cases against opposition figures during Morsi’s time in power while anti-government activists have called the suits “a form of political intimidation.”
Further arrests of Muslim Brotherhood leaders along with the public prosecutor’s decision to charge Morsi have preceded the filing of the case. Mr. ElBaradei, who recently left Egypt for Europe, is unlikely to attend any part of the trial.
Khaled Dawoud, an aide to ElBaradei and former NSF spokesman reported, “If this case against ElBaradei is true then it is a major escalation showing that things are getting very polarized. You’re either on this side or on that side.”
Dawoud further expressed disapproval of the decision to file the case by saying, “Set a precedent that harms Egypt’s reputation abroad, when a politician is prosecuted just for resigning from his post, something that has never happened before in any country in the world.”
For more information, please see the following:
Aljazeera-Cairo court sets trial date for ElBaradei-21 August 2013
First Post-Egypt: Mohamed ElBaradei to be tried for ‘betrayal of trust-21 August 2013
Independent-Egypt crisis: Now Mohamed ElBaradei faces wrath of army after resigning from cabinet-20 August 2013
Reuters-Egypt’s ElBaradei to face court for ‘betrayal of trust’-20 August 2013