Syria Deeply: Homs Is a “Theater of Death,” as Syria Slips on Chemical Weapons Delivery

Dear Deeply Readers,

If you’ve seen the documentary Return to Homs, a chronicle of life and battle in the Syrian city, you’ll have an easy time visualizing the violent showdown that’s taking place as you read this article. Fighters holding out in rebel-held areas of Homs, mixed with desperate civilians who’ve stayed behind in their homes, have been under heavy bombardment as Syrian government troops moved in to take back the area. U.N. Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Homs has become “a theater of death and destruction,” while the opposition Syrian National Council warned of “a massacre in the making.” Syrian state television said government forces “have achieved key successes” in the battle.

“The tunnels which allowed in supplies have been destroyed by the regime with vacuum bombs and aerial bombardments,” said one rebel fighter, quoted in an opposition statement. He also described the grim success of an apparent regime strategy of blockading food, starving people in the rebel-held area. “We don’t have any leaves left on the trees. We’ve eaten them all,” he said.

Outside of Homs, conditions are just as desperate. In another city under siege, a teenage Syrian girl wrote us this diary entry, the first in a series of memoirs of her life in a war.

“Every day, we open our eyes to our bleak reality: to the mortar shells that bring fear, death, disease and destruction. It has robbed us of our loved ones, destroyed our special places, hurt our close friends. Take my neighbor’s daughter. At just seven years old, she has lost the ability to speak after a rocket landed close to our street,” she wrote.

“One can never get used to sleeping on an empty stomach. We try to entertain ourselves to forget our hunger, but there is no power and it is difficult to be without electricity after our lives once depended on it. I feel as if I’m living in the Stone Age.”

On Wednesday reports surfaced of yet another chemical attack in the suburbs of Damascus; the opposition accused the regime of responsibility. State media, in return, have pinned a string of small-scale chemical attacks on rebel fighters, framing them as efforts to evoke sympathy and international action.

Amid the claims and counter-claims, the Syrian government’s commitment to destroy its chemical weapons stash is faltering. President Bashar al-Assad is at risk of missing an April 27 deadline to transfer chemicals to international custody, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Both the frequency and volumes of deliveries have to increase significantly,” said Ahmet Uzumcu, the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The chemical weapons are being delivered to the port of Latakia, where they’ll be shipped out for destruction.

If all goes as planned, by the time the last of Assad’s declared stockpile is removed from the country, he’ll be fully immersed in Syria’s presidential election – running for another seven-year term in office. Candidates for president can register as of Monday, the AFP reports; it is the first time there will be challengers to Assad, though new election rules bar prominent opposition leaders living abroad from running. The Christian Science Monitor gave a vivid image of Syria’s campaign cycle, palpably under way.

“Everywhere you look in central Damascus, you see President Bashar al-Assad’s face: thoughtful on the T-shirt of a soldier, smiling on a wall, hidden behind sunglasses in a traffic circle,” writes Kristin Solberg in Damascus. “A casual observer might think he is the only candidate in the upcoming presidential election, as he has always been – until this year.”

Of course, he is the candidate with the biggest public platform – one that will be formidable for other candidates to counter. Assad spoke at Damascus University this week, saying the conflict had reached a “turning point,” framing it as “a war on terror.”

Highlights from Syria Deeply:
On Tracking Syria’s Western Jihadis
Conversations: As Barrel Bombs Fall, Moving a Wedding from Aleppo
Conversations: A Doctor in Jayroud
U.N. Security Council Looks at Torture and Abuse
My Syrian Diary: Part 1
Photo Essay: Coping Skills and Trauma Therapy in Jordan
Malnutrition, Desperation Still Plague Yarmouk

Headlines from the Week:
AP: U.N. Rights Chief Condemns Rampant Torture in Syria
Guardian: Which Spiritual Leaders Have the Biggest Following Among Foreign Fighters in Syria
AFP: Hezbollah Shifts Tactics, Narrative for Syria Fight
New York Times: Syrian War Takes Heavy Toll at the Crossroads of Culture
New York Times/Opinion Cartoons: Assad Campaigns for Re-election in Syria
Reuters: Saudi Spy Chief, Architect of Syria Policy, Replaced
U.N. News Centre: U.N. Agency Warns No Food Left in Besieged Palestinian Refugee Camp
New York Times: Battle Rages in Homs, Hub of Revolt Against Assad Government

Gunmen Kill 14 Algerian Soldiers

By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

ALGIERS, Algeria – Islamist militants have killed fourteen Algerian soldiers in an ambush on a convoy in the mountains east of the capital, security officials say.

Algerian Security Forces standing guard (photo courtesy of AFP)

 

The attack near the village began Saturday night as an army detachment returned to its base near the mountainous region in Algeria.

There was no immediate claim to the attack. Suspicion, however, falls on al-Qaeda, whose fighters are holed up in the mountainous region in Algeria, some 60 miles away from the capital.

A local official said a large group of insurgents hid on both sides of the road and opened fire with automatic weapons as the military bus drove by.

The troops killed were from a unit that had been deployed as part of a security operation during Thursday’s vote and were heading back to barracks when they were ambushed.

President Bouteflika, 77, was re-elected for a fourth term following a campaign that stressed security as a key policy.

“Such criminal action only serves to reinforce the army’s determination to eliminate diehard terrorist groups,” the ministry said.

It also said a search operation for the assailants were underway in a cluster of about ten villages and that “so far three terrorists were eliminated and two . . . assault rifles seized.”

This has been one of the deadliest attacks on the Algerian military in many years.

Since the end of the 1990 war, attacks in Algeria have been rare. But Algerian officials are concerns with spillover from the turmoil in neighboring Libya, where fighters linked to al-Qaeda take refuge in the southern deserts.

“On their way back from securing the presidential election, the unit came under attack,” the defense ministry said in a statement posted by APS. Three militants were also killed.

For more information, please visit:
BBC News – Algeria: AQIM militants kill 14 soldiers in mountains – 20 April 2014
Miami Herald – Insurgents kill at least 11 Algerian soldiers – 20 April 2014
Yahoo! News – Gunmen kill 11 Algerian soldiers in ambush – 20 April 2014
The Guardian – Algeria: AQIM militants ‘kill 11 soldiers’ in mountains – 20 April 2014
Reuters – UPDATE 3-Al Qaeda kills 14 Algerian soldiers in ambush – 20 April 2014

NYPD Disbands Unit Devoted to Spying on Muslim Community

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

NEW YORK CITY, United States – The New York City Police Department said Tuesday that it has disbanded a special unit of plainclothes detectives tasked with mingling with Muslim communities to discover terror plots. The Zone Assessment Unit, developed with the aid of the CIA in the wake of 9/11, acknowledged that it monitored Muslim owned businesses and places of worship.

The monitoring program drew protests and legal actions from the Muslim community. (photo courtesy of The Guardian)

NYPD spokesman Stephen Davis confirmed that detectives from the Zone Assessment Unit were reassigned to other operations in the department’s intelligence division.  New York Mayor Bill de Blasio considered disbanding the unit a “critical step forward in easing tensions between the police and the communities they serve, so that our cops and our citizens can help one another go after the real bad guys.”

Disbanding the Zone Assessment Unit is just one of many anticipated rollbacks in post-9/11 intelligence gathering within the NYPD under new Police Commissioner William Bratton.  The new Commissioner will also consider scaling back overseas operations that deploys NYPD officers to stations in London, Paris, Tel Aviv and Amman.

NYPD officials stated that disbanding the controversial unit was part of a conclusion that information could be more easily gathered through direct interaction with the Muslim community.  One high-ranking NYPD official stated in a 2012 deposition that the unit never generated a single piece of actionable information during its six years of operation.

News of the Zone Assessment Unit’s work drew negative reactions in Washington.  34 members of Congress expressed the need for a federal investigation of the NYPD while Attorney General Eric Holder said he was disturbed by the news.  The Department of Justice is reviewing complaints received from the Muslim community.

Reporting on the unit also triggered an investigation by the Inspector General for the CIA, who was concerned about the involvement of a CIA operative in setting up this program.  The investigation ultimately concluded that the CIA did not violate its own policies prohibiting domestic spying.

Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, who helped set up the Zone Assessment Unit, has defended its use, saying his officer observed legal guidelines.

For more information, please see:

ABC News – NYC Police Rolling Back Some Counterterror Efforts – 16 April 2014

CNN – New York Police Department disbands unit that spied on Muslims – 16 April 2014

Fox News – NYPD ends Muslim surveillance program – 15 April 2014

The Guardian – NYPD disbands controversial Muslim surveillance unit – 15 April 2014

The New York Times – New York Drops Unit That Spied on Muslims – 15 April 2014

Unknown Group in Ukraine Distributes Anti-Semitic Leaflets, Denounced and Dismissed as Provocation

By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KYIV, Ukraine – Amidst political tensions in Ukraine, distributed fliers by an unknown group in Donetsk called for the registration of Jewish citizens. Donetsk’s Jewish community largely dismissed the move as “provocation.”

Leaflet distributed in Donetsk by masked men told the Jewish community to register their property or face deportation. (Photo courtesy of USA Today)

In February 2014, a popular revolt in Kyiv ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

On 15 April 2014, masked men handed out leaflets in front of the main Donetsk synagogue, during the Jewish holiday of Passover. The fliers demanded that Jewish citizens register and document their property or face deportation because Jewish leaders had supported the “nationalists and bandits” in Kiev. Jewish leaders in Donetsk have said that Russian protesters have declared the synagogue a “People’s Republic.”

CNN translated a photographed copy of the leaflet: “All citizens of Jewish nationality over age of 16, living on territories of Donetsk People’s Republic, have to register with DPR commissioner of nationality before May 3rd, 2014 at the Donetsk Regional Administration, room 514, registration fee is $50. Must have in person $50 cash, passport, all available IDs, and documentation of ownership of real estate and transportation.”

Denis Pushilin, self-proclaimed head of “People’s Republic,” denied any connection with the fliers. Pushilin stated that his handwriting was not the same as that found on the leaflet, and the title attached to his name was not one he has used.

On 17 April 2014, United States officials denounced what U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the “grotesque” and “beyond unacceptable” leaflet.

The Jewish community in Donetsk dismissed the leaflet as a “provocation,” and stated that relations between the Jewish community and their neighbors in Donetsk were amicable. Also, it remains unclear who distributed the fliers. “Who is behind this is an open question,” Rabbi Pinkhas Vishedski said in the statement. He also said that the act was a provocation “and should be treated accordingly … full stop and end of topic.”

Still, the chief rabbi of nearby Dnipropetrovsk said, “Everything must be done to catch them.”

“It’s important for everyone to know it’s not true,” the rabbi, Shmuel Kaminezki said. “The Jews of Donetsk will not do what the letter says.”

U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt stated that radical groups could be trying to stir up historic fears or create provocation to justify continued violence. The fliers came amidst Ukraine’s struggle to contain uprisings by pro-Russian political movements in several eastern cities. Both the pro-West and pro-Russian sides have invoked the historical horror of Nazism in disputes. Pyatt said that in Kiev, where the Jewish community is a vital part of political life, there is “no sympathy for this approach. It’s almost inconceivable that this kind of thing could be happening in the 21st century.”

“It’s chilling. I was disgusted by these leaflets,” Pyatt said. “Especially in Ukraine, a country that suffered so terribly under the Nazis, that was one of the sites of the worst violence of the Holocaust. To drag up this kind of rhetoric is almost beyond belief.”

For further information, please see:

Reuters India – Kerry Condemns Anti-Semitic Leaflet in Eastern Ukraine – April 18, 2014

BBC News – Tension Remains in Eastern Ukraine after Geneva Talks – April 17, 2014

CNN International – Anti-Semitic Fliers in Eastern Ukraine Denounced – April 17, 2014

USA Today – Leaflet Tells Jews to Register in East Ukraine – April 17, 2014