This Week in Syria, Deeply: Monday, 17 March 2014
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Syrian Forces Seize Control of Rebel Stronghold
By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
DAMASCUS, Syria – Syrian regime forces claim to have taken full control of the city of Yabroud along the border with Lebanon. Yabroud was a critical stronghold for opposition forces, used as a strategic supply chain for bringing weapons and other supplies into Syria from Lebanon. Regime forces claim to have taken control of the city with the support of Lebanese Hezbollah fighters who are supporters of the Assad regime.
The fall of Yabroud came on the eve of Third anniversary of the start of the Syrian Civil War. The Battle for Yabroud is part of a large offensive led by the Syrian regime and Hezbollah to secure the Qalamoun region along the Lebanese’s border with Syria. The offensive has been launched in order to cut rebel supply lines into Syria.
Government forces entered the town of Yabroud on Friday evening. On Saturday the regimes news agency said that “terrorist groups” in the town had been “devastated” by the regime’s fighters and that the area had been combed through for explosives. SANA reported on Sunday that “the Syrian army is now in full control of the town of Yabroud in Damascus [province] and are now combing through the city and dismantling the roadside bombs planted by terrorists.”
The Syrian regime launched its offensive in in mid-November of last year in order to force rebel fighters out of the Qalamoun region near the Lebanese border. As part of the offensive they have recaptured several towns formally held by rebel fighters including Qara, Deir Attiya and Nabak, to the north-east of Yabroud along the motorway that connects Damascus with the city of Homs, two of the country’s largest cities.
A fighter in Yabroud from Jabhat al-Nusra said that many of the rebels who fled the town were headed to nearby rebel controlled villages including Hosh Arab, Rankous and Flita. A Lebanese military source said that more than 1,000 fighters fled to the mountainous border area near the Lebanese town of Arsal, an area that has been a target of regime airstrikes in recent weeks. According to Ahmad Fliti, the vice mayor of Arsal, the Syrian Air Force launched two strikes on the outskirts of Arsal on Sunday.
More than 140,000 people have been during the three year fight for Syria’s future, a fight that began with peaceful street protests against the Assad regime, calling for democratic reforms, which turned violent after the regime began a violent crackdown on demonstrators and opponents of the regime.
For more information please see:
Al Jazeera – Syrian Army Captures Strategic Border Town – 16 March 2014
BBC News – Syria ‘Recaptures Rebel Border Town Yabroud’ – 16 March 2014
The Guardian – Syria Claims to Have Captured Rebel Stronghold on Lebanese Border – 16 March 2014
The Washington Post – Syria Says Army and Hezbollah Have Seized Border Town – 16 March 2014
Voting in Referendum on Crimea Secession From Ukraine Held
by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine – Voting in a referendum to decide whether Ukraine’s southern region of Crimea will secede from the Ukraine and become a territory of Russia, ended a short while ago.
Approximately 1.5 million voters were expected to show up to polls, and it is widely believed that the outcome will be that Crimea will split from the Ukraine and join Russia. Polls were open for twelve hours beginning at 6:00 GMT on Sunday.
Voters had the choice of two options on the referendum ballot: either, “are you in favor of the reunification of Crimea with Russia as a part of the Russian Federation?” or “are you in favor of restoring the 1992 Constitution and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?”
If Crimea citizens choose to restore the 1992 constitution, the Crimea government would be afforded broad authority to institute its own laws and structure its governance, and it would remain an area under the Ukraine. Western countries have expressed opposition to the referendum, and most have stated that they will not recognize it. The Kremlin in Russia insists that it is an instance of self-determination by the Crimea people.
The UN Security Council overwhelmingly supported a resolution that labels the Crimea referendum as illegal. Russia attempted to veto the resolution during the Security Council’s vote, but every other member nation of the Security Council favored the resolution. China, Russia’s closest ally on the Security Council, abstained from voting which left Russia as the sole proponent of the referendum.
After the Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich, was ousted from office last month, Russian troops occupied Crimea, as it indeed possesses a largely ethnic-Russian population. Ihor Tenyukh, Ukraine’s acting defense minister, stated that the Ukraine and Russia had agreed on a truce in Crimea until March 21, during which “no measures will be taken against our military facilities.”
Amid the voting on the referendum, Russian troops landed on a strip of land in the southeast between Crimea and the mainland, which forced the Ukraine to also dispatch an aircraft with armed forces to stop the troops’ movement.
Meanwhile, approximately 50,000 people gathered in Moscow to protest against Russia’s intervention in the Ukraine, shouting, “The occupation of Crimea is Russia’s disgrace” and “Hands off Ukraine.”
For more information, please see:
Al Jazeera – Crimeans Vote in Breakaway Referendum – 16 March 2014
BBC News – Ukraine Crisis: Crimea Holds Secession Referendum – 16 March 2014
New York Times – Under Watch of Russian Troops, Crimea Votes on Secession – 16 March 2014
Reuters – Crimea to Vote on Joining Russia, Moscow Wields U.N. Veto – 16 March 2014
Latvia Says Minister Must Go after Plans to March
By Ben Kopp
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
RIGA, Latvia – A Latvian government official has been fired for his declaration that the will march with Latvian Nazi veterans who fought off Soviets during World War II.
At the beginning of World War II, Moscow seized Latvia in a deal with Berlin. Later, Moscow transferred approximately 15,000 Latvians to Siberia. In 1941, Germany disregarded the original deal and invaded the Soviet Union. For that reason, some Latvians claimed the Nazis were liberators, even though the Nazis went on to kill over 80% of Latvia’s Jews. By 1945, the Soviet Union had recaptured Latvia, and held it until the communist bloc dissolved fifty years later.
On 14 March 2014, Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma fired a government minister, Einars Cilinskis, who declared that he would join an annual Nazi march as a Latvian “patriot.” The Russian-speaking minority in Latvia rejected Cilinskis’ declaration, saying that the Nazi march distorts history, honors Nazism, and insults victims of World War II.
However, parade veterans insisted that their purpose was to honor the defense of Latvian homeland against Soviet occupation. Approximately 140,000 Latvians—mostly conscripts—fought in the legion, and nearly a third died either in combat or Soviet captivity. On the other hand, about 130,000 fought for the Soviets, of whom about a quarter died.
Environment Minister Einars Cilinskis planned to march with veterans of the Latvian Legion, a group formed and commanded by the Nazi SS in 1943. The parade date of March 16 marks the unsuccessful attempt to repel the Soviet invasion, which began the communist bloc’s half century of occupation. Legion veterans began marching in Riga, Latvia every March 16 since Soviet rule ended in 1991.
Prime Minister Straujuma took office in January 2014, and banned all of her ministers from joining the parade.
A spokesperson for Straujuma commented, “No minister has ever attended this event, so it is important the dismissal happens before it takes place, not afterwards.”
Efraim Zuroff of the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center stated that admirers of people like Latvian SS commander Viktor Arajs “are the spiritual heirs of those who committed the crimes of the Holocaust. It is unthinkable that they should march through European Union capitals and cause unimaginable pain to Holocaust survivors and their families.”
Latvian officials worry that Russian state media might use the story to support claims of a “rebirth of fascism” in Ukraine and its other neighbors.
On the day of the march, Crimea will hold a referendum on whether to secede from Ukraine.
The marketplace of ideas often becomes closed to the most abhorred speech before speech that resides closer to the grey zone. Even when the marketplace opens, abhorred ideas become the basis of persuading others. But is that persuasion aiding better ideas?
For further information, please see:
Aljazeera – Latvian Minister Sacked over ‘Nazi’ March – March 14, 2014
Guardian – Latvia Minister Faces Sack in Nazi Memorial Row – March 14, 2014
Jewish Telegraphic Agency – Latvian Minister to Be Fired for Endorsing SS Vets – March 14, 2014
Reuters – Latvia PM to Fire Minister over Plan to Join SS March – March 14, 2014
Egyptian Politicians Express Concern over the Legitimacy of Upcoming Presidential Elections
By Kathryn Maureen Ryan
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
CAIRO, Egypt – Former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik has pulled out of the nation’s upcoming presidential elections calling the election a “farce” that has been fixed to allow Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a formal military chief, to take control of the country.
Under the administration of Hosni Mubarak, Shafik served as a military leader and was appointed to serve as Prime Minister of the country shortly before the youth-led revolt sparked by the Arab Spring led to the resignation of President Mubarak. Shafik came in second behind President Morsi during the 2012 Presidential elections.
In a leaked recording of a private conversation released by Al Jazeera on Thruway Shafik, who had stated earlier he would endorse al-Sisi if he ran for the presidency, said “I know very well they will fix all the ballot boxes. I have taken myself out of this loop because the election is going to be a farce.” Shafik confirmed the authenticity of the recording.
He went on to say, “of course whether other candidates withdraw will depend on the nomination of Sisi. I said if he’s going to run in the presidential election I will not run but I will get my papers ready (and) if he is going to run I will not submit them.”
Sami Anan, another leading politician and former Chief of Staff of the Egyptian Military, announced his withdrawal from the presidential camping on Thursday saying his decision was “rooted in the nation’s highest interests” and “out of the realisation of the dangers facing it.” His decision will mean that al-Sisi will run with only one significant rival candidate, the leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, from the Nile Delta town of Kafr el-Sheikh. Sabahi who came in third in the 2012 presidential elections
Hamdeen Sabahi, a formal journalist, says he doubts Egypt would be governed according to democratic principles is al-Sisi is elected. Sabahi supported the coup led by al-Sisi that resulted in the removal of Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, Mohamed Morsi, last year. However, he now feels that the culture of political repression that characterized the Mubarak regime still remains rampant in the country. “The current transitional system did not respect the values of democracy and plurality, and violated the constitution … in the way it dealt with its opponents,” he said. “It did not implement the freedoms the Egyptian people want and deserve.”
Despite his concerns, Sabahi is convinced that the Egyptian people will no longer tolerate dictatorship. “Any attempt to reproduce the old regime will not work. The people are very smart,” Sabahi said. “The future of Egypt is in the revolution. There will be no future for anyone who tries to bring back a former regime.”
For more information please see:
Al Jazeera – Egypt ex-PM: presidential poll will be fixed – 14 March 2014
Malta Today – Egypt ex-PM claims presidential poll will be fixed – 14 March 2014
The New York Times – Former Egyptian General Calls Promise of Free Elections a ‘Farce’ – 13 March 2014
Reuters – Egyptian candidate questions Sisi’s commitment to democracy – 13 March 2014