The Holy War!

As calls for Jihad and counter-Jihad proliferate, and an all against all holy war unfolds, Syria disintegrates.  

 

Today’s Death Toll: 121 martyrs, including 8 women and 5 children: 36 martyrs in Damascus and suburbs, 31 in Aleppo, 17 in Homs, 14 in Deir Ezzor, 14 in Daraa, 4 in Idlib, 3 in Hama, and 1 in Jableh (LCCs).

Points of Random Shelling: 308 points. Aerial bombardment counted in 17 points. Scud bombing in 3 points, Shelling using Surface-to-Surface missiles in 7 points. Shelling using cluster bombs recorded in Busra Harir, Daraa. Artillery shelling in 102 points. Rocket shelling counted for 78 points, while mortar shelling counted in 102 points (LCCs).

Clashes: 159. Successful rebel operations include the liberation of the towns of Karnaz, Tal Jadid and Hammamiyat in Hama Province, and shelling the vicinity of the Military Security and Air Force Intelligence headquarters in Deir Ezzor. FSA rebels also seized control over the main road in Busr Al-Harir and targeted few locations where regime forces were stationed. In Aleppo, the FSA targeted a regime checkpoint manned by pro-regime thugs in Tal Shuoaib area near Nairab Camp and killed several regime soldiers (LCCs).

 

News

Deadly abuses intensify in Syria as war worsens: U.N. The Syrian government has stepped up indiscriminate, heavy bombardments of cities while rebels are executing prisoners condemned in their own makeshift courts without due process, U.N. investigators said on Monday. The independent investigators said they were looking into 20 massacres committed by one or the other side and hundreds of “unlawful killings”, cases of torture and arbitrary arrests since September in the two-year-old conflict… “In a disturbing and dangerous trend, mass killings allegedly perpetrated by Popular Committees have at times taken on sectarian overtones,” the 10-page U.N. report said. “Some appear to have been trained and armed by the government.”… “We are not saying that it is a sectarian war but we call attention to sectarian elements in the present conflict,” Pinheiro said. Foreign fighters from more than a dozen countries are estimated to comprise less than 10 percent of the opposition forces fighting the Assad government, he said. “We don’t want to contribute to a paranoia that Syria is being invaded by foreign fighters. But they have a lot of skills and have been very successful in spreading acts of terror inside Syria,” said Pinheiro.

Turkey Links Syria to Deadly Car Bombing at Border Turkey’s interior minister blamed Syria’s intelligence agencies and its army for involvement in a car bombing at a border crossing last month that killed 14 people, after he announced Monday that police detained five suspects. Four Syrians and a Turk are in custody in connection with the Feb. 11 attack at the Bab al-Hawa frontier post. No one has claimed responsibility, but a Syrian opposition faction accused the Syrian government of the bombing, saying it narrowly missed 13 leaders of the group.

EU Foreign Ministers Split on Arms to Syria The ministers were sharply divided, with Britain and Italy joining France in supporting eventual military aid for the opposition while Germany, Sweden and others see that as moving in the wrong direction. Sweden’s Carl Bildt warned that a military solution carries the risk of “the devastation of the region.” On her way into the meeting, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she supports a political solution.

Supporting Assad is a ‘religious obligation:’ Syria’s Grand Imam Supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a “religious obligation” of all Muslims, whether they live inside or outside of Syria, the country’s supreme religious ruling body said Monday. The state television quoted Grand Mufti Shiekh Ahmad Badreddine Hassoun as urging all Arabs and Muslims to fight so called “enemies of Syria.” The Assad government had recently claimed in an interview with The Sunday Time that it was the last “secular” state in the Middle East, reiterating that radical Islamists would come into power if the Alawite president was overthrown.

Assad ‘will fight to the end’ despite setbacks
“Now he is much more the ‘boss’ than before, though he of course could not do without his military and security supporters,” Nikolaos van Dam, a Dutch diplomat and leading expert on Syria, told AFP. “He will fight until death if necessary,” said van Dam, author of “The struggle for power in Syria.” “There is too much at stake here, not only for him, but for his Alawite followers and the Alawite community as well.” The Alawites are an offshoot of Shiite Islam, while the rebels in Syria are mostly Sunni. “The future may hold a long and ferocious civil war,” van Dam added… “He seems both more erratic and more delusional, still convinced he can win militarily,” said Berlin-based Volker Perthes, who heads the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. Steeped in the “anti-imperialist” ideology of the Baath party which has ruled for 50 years, Assad believes Syria is the target of a foreign conspiracy because his government supports movements fighting Israel, such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah. He also believes that control over Syria’s main cities – chiefly Damascus – and the west of the country will give him cards to play in any future negotiations led by the United States and Russia.

The Guardian Interactive Report on Aleppo River Massacre

 

Special Reports

Syria’s Opposition: Ready or Not?
there is no reason why a government, as opposed to an opposition, could not be the interlocutor with regime-designated negotiators in talks aimed at producing the peaceful, managed, and complete regime change transition agreed to by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council at Geneva last year. British and American reluctance on this score has less to do with who does the talking and the implications for continuity of government than it does with their own preparedness to take the next step on Syria.

The Enigma of the Syrian Nation
Today a political order is needed to manage the multiple identities of the Middle East—Syria included. It must not impugn them, suppress them or pretend they don’t exist. Orientalists, Arabists in particular, should stop railing [3] against the pre-modern heritage of the region. They would serve their fields by admitting that tribal, sectarian, and ethnic identities matter in the Middle East, trump all others, and deserve consideration in any thoughtful reflection on the region’s troubles. Absent that, no sense of meaningful civic identities, or genuine “citizenship” can ever develop, and Syria will prove a mere passageway to the impending unraveling of other Middle Eastern states.

What might have been: a decade of civil activism in Syria
The Syria Trust for Development was beginning to play an important role in Syria, when the Syrian uprising took place: an excerpt from a study of Syrian civil society on the eve of revolution that helps us to understand some of the deeper changes that were under way.

My new paper, prepared for a briefing in Washington, D.C. that took place on January 15, 2013, is now out and is titled “Syria 2013: Rise of the Warlords.” It should be read in conjunction with my previous briefing “The Shredded Tapestry,” and my recent essay “The Creation of an Unbridgeable Divide.”

Onward Holy Soldiers!
In a statement read by Sheikh Mamdouh Junaid, the League of Syrian Ulema (Sunni religious scholars) responded to yesterday’s call for Jihad issued by Syria’s Grand Mufti with a call of their own. Today’s call was for Jihad against “Assad and his sect,” and threatened the international community that if it fails to intervene to stop Assad’s sectarian war against the “Syria’s Sunni people,” it will be considered a culprit http://youtu.be/lHKdR5D4MZY.

Yesterday’s call for Jihad by the Grand Mufti was not just aimed at Syrians, but at all Arab and Muslim nations. Many activists fear that the call is meant as a prelude for inviting Iran to officially send troops to defend the regime. In my recent paper “Syria 2013: Rise of the Warlords,” I actually predicted that Assad will resort to recruiting Shia fighters from other countries, including in South Asia. This development might be around the corner now. The Assads are not planning to give up despite their recent setbacks.

Activists today posted today a video showing Syrian TV running an actual Jihadi song titled “We will wage our battle against them.” If the video is not actually fake and meant as a joke, it would be the most surreal development to have taken place so far http://youtu.be/rLlpsDLrGVQ. Social media is picking it and describing as real.

Reports from Qardaha now explain that the weekend clashes happened when officials showed up to seek over 2,500 young Alawite men who are dodging the draft. Certain Alawite cans in Latakia may not be willing to directly challenge the Assads, but they are becoming increasingly reluctant to see their children being drafted and forced to fight against rebels, even as rebel groups inch their way towards Latakia City. If Alawite youths are to fight, they might as well fight to safeguard Alawite strongholds, rather than engage in a battle to safeguard Assads’ hold over Sunni-majority areas.

Still, an Alawite youth movement based in Turkey, the Coalition of Alawite Youth Against Bashar Al-Assad, issued a statement today promising to provide shelter and compensation for all Alawite youths willing to leave Syria in order to avoid the draft.

Meanwhile, a group of Alawite sheikhs from Latakia, where most Anti-Assad Alawite clans are based, came up with a 10-point plan to stop the current conflict. In the preamble, the sheikhs refer to a conspiracy against homeland, accuse all actors of working for their own private interests, and a accuse the opposition of being “weak,” “unable to lead the society,” and does not “represent the will of the Syrian people.” For its part, the regime is described as having become “weak and unable to manage the crisis to get Syria to the safe side.” This is not exactly an endorsement of the revolution, nor is it a reflection of a popular move among Alawites, but it does capture the mood within a certain small segments of the Alawite community.

The points: 1) A cease fire observed by all, 2) all non-Syrians should leave the country, 3) A committee of wise men should be established to oversee the implementation of the plan, 4) No more political kidnappings, 5) Assad should declare that he will not run for reelection and the date for the presidential elections should be moved forward to the last quarter of 2013, 6) all exiles should be allowed to return, 7) A representative national reconciliation committee should be established, 8)  Syrian should transition to a civil state with equal rights for all within a year, 9) the transitional period should be supervised by a joint civilian and military council whose members will not be allowed to run or occupy any position in the future, 10) no political party will be allowed to impose its ideology on the state, and the army should not dabble in politics.

Judging from comments on social media sites run by the opposition, the plan seems to have come too late to be taken seriously at this stage.

 

Video Highlights

Missile hit the recently liberated neighborhood of Baba Amr, Homs City http://youtu.be/8WNgCm-Q0b4 Tanks heads towards Baba Amr to take part in the shelling http://youtu.be/7Vn2zDHTMQs Missile launchers positioned inside Homs University are used in pounding Baba Amr http://youtu.be/EozPmjG-1nY The launchers as tehy enter the university grounds http://youtu.be/C2jz1ES_2Go MiGs take part in the pounding http://youtu.be/PJR9oX52u4g

Member of Jabhat Al-Nusra carried out a suicide operation against a checkpoint at Mashtal checkpoint, Damascus http://youtu.be/_3fW77WQ8To

Rebels bring down a Sukhoy warplane in the Raqqa countryside http://youtu.be/SiUYdw2iQgk

Another video produced by the Russians covering the tank assault on the town of Daraya in Damascus Suburbs http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=437792469635518 The view from the rebels’ perspective http://youtu.be/jl4Qx7GluMU

Heavy clashes in Daraa City http://youtu.be/Uf8Ck526Mh4 , http://youtu.be/9cbV567yzJ8 , http://youtu.be/DwXq2gdqNsg , http://youtu.be/rS75XcGg8f0

Heavy clashes take place in Rushdiyeh, Deir Ezzor http://youtu.be/Bz0CKaQ3KWE , http://youtu.be/5KL1Wq5L_eI

The towns of Eastern Ghoutah, Damascus Suburbs, continue to be the target of warplanes and missile attacks: Saqba http://youtu.be/4Pmp5wVheuk Arbeen http://youtu.be/vF791qGyDsE

On the sixth of this month Alassad troops targeted the city with two Scud missiles, the first fall south of the city , and the second one kilometer far from Almashlab area in the city, that’s makes the total number of Ballistic missiles targeted the city is 11.

In light of the inability of the international community to stop the Syrian regime from launching ballistic missiles against the Syrian, where SNHR documented through our reports until the moment at least for 73 Scud missiles we launched.

We are afraid and in a serious manner that the Syrian regime will avenge from the people of the province and the target Al- Baath and Al-Furrat dams.

In 12-2-2013, a Scud rocket hit Albaroda village, 1.5 Km away from Al- Baath dam, and another one hit Aaid protected area, 10 Km away from Al-Furat dam.

Al- Furrat, located 40 Km upstream from  Raqqa city. The dam is 60 meters high and 4.5 kilometers long and is the largest dam in Syria.

Its construction led to the creation of Lake Assad, Syria’s largest water reservoir.  The dam was constructed between 1968 and 1973 with help from the Soviet Union.

Raqqa Tand at least 1.3 million displaced people in addition to nearly half a million of its indigenous population.

Thus destruction of the dam will inundate the city’s buildings until the fourth floor and there will be no time to evacuation the city of its population, because the water will cross the distance between the dam and the city, which almost 50 miles in less than 15 minutes, the water level of the lack is 200-250 m rising from the sea – while Raqqa city rise 170 m and Dier Alzoor rise 150 m, that’s mean water will flood Raqqa up to 50 m and Dier Alzoor up to 100 m.

Then the Dam water will turn to destroy other cities on the same line, which is Ma’dan and Dier Alzoor, it will take less than 40 minutes to get there, and also Abu Kamal city on the Iraqi Syrian border.

To be mentioned that Al-Furrat dam has been liberated in 11-2-2013.

Recommendations:

Scud missile, classified by USA as a mass as a mass destruction weapon in Al Iraq case because of its ability to carry chemical weapons.

For that the International community in the maximum speed should protect Syrian from death and destructions cause using Scud Missile by Alassad Troops, almost two  Scud missile ever day.

SNHR demands international community represented by security council to maintain civil peace, in case it is not deter the Syrian regime, it will be considered as a green light, and it may led to a repeat a major disaster like Hama massacre in 1982, and hold the responsibility again to Alassad regime, security council and Arab League.

 

–

الشبكة السورية لحقوق الإنسان 

Syrian Network for Human Rights 

https://www.facebook.com/syrianhr

Caliphate & Consequence!

Syrian Revolution Digest – March 10, 2013 

Al-Nusra establishes a Sharia Council, and Assad declares Jihad. The 21^st Century is officially on leave in Syria.

 

Today’s Death Toll: 125 martyrs including 15 women, 13 children, and two martyrs under torture. 46 martyrs reported in Damascus and suburbs (including 14 martyrs in Mleiha), 38 in Aleppo, 12 in Hama, 9 in Idlib, 12 in Deraa and 8 in Homs (LCCs).

Points of Random Shelling: 277 points. Aerial bombardments: 19. Scud bombing: 4. Shelling using Surface-to-Surface missiles: 4. Shelling using cluster bombs: in Mayadeen and Rumaileh. Thermobaric bombs recorded in al-Bab city in Aleppo. Artillery shelling counted in 112 points. Rocket shelling counted in 70 points. Mortar shelling counted in 60 points (LCCs).

Clashes: 125. Successful operations included the liberation of Baba Amr neighborhood and laying siege to the political security headquarters in Insha’aat neighborhood in Homs City. In Raqqa, FSA rebels shot down a MiG near al-Mansoura. In the town of Khan Sheikh in Damascus suburbs, FSA rebels managed to take control of Brigade 137 seizing 11 Antiaircraft guns and a large number of weapons and ammunition. In Hama, FSA liberated the Mgheir village (LCCs).

 

News

Islamists Try to Firm Grip on Syria Regions Nearly a week after Islamist groups announced the capture of most of the city of Raqqa and the northeastern province bearing the same name, fierce clashes to gain control of the few outposts the government holds there continued Sunday, said opposition activists. Regime forces are battling insurgents on multiple fronts, including near Damascus, the capital.

US and Europe in ‘major airlift of arms to Syrian rebels through Zagreb’ The United States has coordinated a massive airlift of arms to Syrian rebels from Croatia with the help of Britain and other European states, despite the continuing European Union arms embargo, it was claimed yesterday.

Syrian rebels pierce Assad’s siege lines in Homs: opposition Syrian rebels broke through government lines to ease a siege of their positions in the strategic central city of Homs on Sunday despite coming under fierce aerial bombardment, opposition campaigners said… Homs, 140 km (88 miles) north of Damascus in central Syria, lies on a vital road juncture linking army bases on the Mediterranean coast, home to a large proportion of Assad’s Alawites, and government forces in the capital Damascus.

Rebels in Syria Release U.N. Peacekeepers to Jordan, Easing Crisis in Border Zone The peacekeepers, from the Philippines, arrived “well and unharmed,” United Nations officials said on Saturday.

Syria’s priceless heritage under attack
Thousands have been killed and millions made homeless in Syria’s civil war, but it has also caused irreparable damage to some of the world’s most precious historical sites. The treasures now being destroyed matter to everyone on the planet, argues historian Dan Snow.

UN refugee chief: Syria refugees could triple “If this escalation goes on, we will have – and nothing happens to solve the problem – we might have in the end of the year a much larger number of refugees, two or three times the present level,” Guterres told reporters in the Turkish capital, Ankara.

Twenty bodies turn up in Aleppo’s “river of martyrs” It was the largest number of bodies lifted in a single day from what became known as “the river of martyrs”, after 65 bodies turned up in late January. An average of several bodies a day have been appearing in the river since, several activists in the northern city, which is near Turkey, told Reuters.

Syria’s opposition postpones meeting to form government The Syrian National Coalition meeting to elect a provisional prime minister, which was due to be held on March 12 after being postponed once already, has been rescheduled for March 20, but it was uncertain it would be held even then, the sources said.

Americans are training Syria rebels in Jordan: Spiegel Spiegel said it was not clear whether the Americans worked for private firms or were from the army but said some wore uniforms. The training focused on use of anti-tank weaponry. Some 200 men have already received such training over the past three months and there are plans in the future to provide training for a total 1,200 members of the “Free Syrian Army” in two camps in the south and the east of the country.

‘Hezbollah, Syria try to expand conflict into Lebanon’ “President Bashar Assad’s regime and Hezbollah now realize that it is impossible for them to regain control over Syria, therefore they are looking to cancel Lebanon’s parliamentary elections and cause security instability in Tripoli, Sidon and other regions,” sources told Now Lebanon. By canceling the elections, the Hezbollah-controlled government would be able to stay in power until the Syrian conflict dies down, said Lebanese MP Ammar Houri, who was speaking on the Voice of Lebanon radio station on Sunday.

Israel official warns of ‘Somalization’ of Syria The spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry has voiced his concerns about the potential for radical Sunni elements to take power in a post-Assad Syria.  Yigal Palmor said all could see how different extremist groups are playing their own games in the chaos currently taking over Syria. “There is a great concern that uncontrolled elements at the service of extremist ideas will manage to take over smaller or bigger separate territories inside the Syrian borders,” he told the Hürriyet Daily News in an interview in Jerusalem. “The ‘Somalization’ of Syria is a great concern. We hope that this war ends as quickly as possible, with a central power emerging that will rule all Syria,” he said.

 

Special Reports

How Syrian Women Are Fueling the Resistance, And Why Washington Should Support Them
Because women are rarely involved in the armed side of the revolution, they are much less likely to get stopped, searched, or hassled at government checkpoints. This has proved crucial in distributing humanitarian aid throughout Syria. Syrian women have participated in aid relief deliveries both to FSA-controlled areas and — covertly and at great risk to themselves — to areas still under government control. To evade arrest, women inside Syria communicate largely through Skype and Facebook to provide neighborhood-level reports on security conditions and aid needs. Syrian women outside the country, largely based in Turkey, raise support and funnel it over the border.

My new paper, prepared for a briefing in Washington, D.C. that took place on January 15, 2013, is now out and is titled “Syria 2013: Rise of the Warlords.” It should be read in conjunction with my previous briefing “The Shredded Tapestry,” and my recent essay “The Creation of an Unbridgeable Divide.”

Shenanigans

The delay in choosing a provisional government by the opposition is not simply about failure to agree on its general makeup. There is an actual ideological war going behind closed doors between the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies who, as usual, are trying to impose their candidates and manipulate the process and Coalition leader Moaz Alkhatib who is trying to streamline the process making more transparent and inclusive, especially of women, secular currents, in-country figures and minorities.

Moreover, Alkhatib is trying to push for establishment of a system of accountability that can keep the government in check to prevent cronyism, corruption and mismanagement, or stop them in time. The Brotherhood has been trying to railroad the process by inserting its nominees at the last minute and trying to manipulate the media through carefully orchestrated leaks of names of possible nominees and internal correspondences trying to showcase Alkhatib as stalling and painting him as a stooge for the Americans.

Indeed, a provisional government is needed but not just any government. Moreover, if this provisional government is not able to operate freely and safely in liberated areas, it will simply fail to serve the purpose for which it was established: to unify these territories under one leadership and prevent the fragmentation of the country. The conditions that can allow for a provisional government to operate on Syrian soil are not there yet, Mr. Alkhatib realizes this, and he realize that the current push for establishing a provisional government is meant simply to undermine the Coalition authority and bring us back to the days when the Muslim Brotherhood dominated the political process.

This is not about keeping Syria together. It’s more about who will be the top warlord in liberated areas. In this connection, Jabhat Al-Nusra has a slightly different answer (see below).

The Qaradah Conundrum

Local activists in Latakia report that new clashes took place between pro- and anti-Assad Alawite clans in the town of Qardaha, the Assads hometown. Around 14 people from both sides are said to have been killed. Reports could not be independently verified, but the incident is said to have taken place on Sunday morning.

Social media is also abuzz with reports of the assassination of Hilal Assad, a cousin of Bashar and one of the chief figures behind pro-Assad Alawite militias in the province of Latakia. Once again, this could not be independently verified.

The Assadist Jihad

The High Religious Council of Syria, an official religious body controlled by the Assad regime, declared Jihad against the rebels and called on all able bodied young men to join the Syrian army. The call is not likely to be heeded except by the brainwashed few, but the significance of the call is it indicates a further weakening of the regime, and seems to be part of its strategy to prepare for Guerilla warfare in Damascus.

Another element of this shift might be the recently circulated ordinance calling on all state ministers to relocate to Doummar Projects, a suburb located near the top of Qasayoun Mountain just outside of Damascus city. The decision was made for “security reasons,” and seems to come as a prelude to unleashing hell on the city itself from the surrounding mountains.

 

Video Highlights

Deir Ezzor

The north bank of the Euphrates River in Syria is now effectively liberated.

In the town of Mayadeen, Deir Ezzor, Jabhat Al-Nusra held a military parade celebrating the establishment of a Sharia Council to rule the Eastern Province. The troops we see here are called the policemen or the enforcers of the rules of the Sharia Council http://youtu.be/gjE1OHlqkDc , http://youtu.be/yNhV-qwqrFY

Local activists say that the local population that remains in the city, around 30,000 (half the population was forced to flee over the preceding year on account of pounding by pro-Assad militias) is not happy with this development, nor are other rebels groups in the city. Al-Nusra members have been trying to impose Sharia rule on the city. At night, local inhabitants took to the streets demanding Al-Nusra’s departure chanting “Syria is free, Al-Nusra should leave.” http://youtu.be/McTlm99Igy8 People are also afraid that Al-Nusra presence could leave to aerial or Scud bombardment of their town. The people were not wrong, soon after Al-Nusra’s parade the rural areas around the city were targeted by a Scud http://youtu.be/LiTFJfiC338 An aerial bombardment soon followed http://youtu.be/hufRvlYGn4s , http://youtu.be/mqXneSb1wAo

Seeing that the Council’s jurisdiction is meant to encompass the entire Eastern region and not only Mayadeen, the town, in a sense, has become the provisional capital of the Islamic Caliphate of Syria. But the issue is not settled yet, as tensions between Al-Nusra and its affiliates and more moderates groups in city continue to grow, the two sides might end up clashing.

Meanwhile, battles elsewhere in the province continue, as rebels assert their control and destroy more of pro-Assad troops and militias. Here they chase away troops from the 113^th  Brigade http://youtu.be/bDZQ2L8YZ60 , http://youtu.be/r5vNDpGShNA Rebels from Liwa Al-Ikhlas, an affiliate of Jabhat Al-Nusra, fire at a helicopter gunship that landed to evacuate the last of the pro-Assad militias on the scene http://youtu.be/tZAIzkMjD2A , http://youtu.be/FV9EZ21mzU4 The spoils http://youtu.be/L91sVFSDvMQ , http://youtu.be/-N_t_hcDe04 The Euphrates Storm Brigade also took part in the operation http://youtu.be/GhvMBk3hw7Y A long video surveying the scene of the battle  http://youtu.be/naWLJtg2yv4 One of the confiscated armored vehicles http://youtu.be/LDjNeVPmlz

Elsewhere, members of Jabhat Al-Nusra hold an auction for the tanks and BMPs they confiscated http://youtu.be/pF3-Hq2-v1U

Homs

Rebels declare that the famous refinery of Homs has been shelled by the regime. This is Syria’s main refinery, and one of only 2 refineries in the country http://youtu.be/3m0WSS4ckfI Some of the installation were set ablaze http://youtu.be/yH5fn4rIMHY

The pounding also destroys the paint factor http://youtu.be/hZq6s8d1NRQ

Ghanto, Homs Province: the village is attacked using incendiary cluster bombs http://youtu.be/p8dzKS0l1aA

These bodies belong to pro-Assad militias who tried to invade rebel strongholds in Homs City http://youtu.be/KYAZ1jWFkh8 the strongholds have been under siege for close to 18 months now, but rebels, as few as they are, remain entrenched. Assad needs to control Homs City and province in order to secure access to the Alawite-majority coastal enclave. Rebel strongholds come under renewed shelling after the failure of the attack http://youtu.be/WPkvsHveOyw , http://youtu.be/zyEY4J7RzS8 Scenes of devastation http://youtu.be/LPbK6CE5-xo The neighborhood of Baba Amr gets pounded by MiGs soon after its liberation http://youtu.be/bX2NLzzobKU , http://youtu.be/44x37csXdag , http://youtu.be/5hcNrOR5vvc

Jabhat Al-Nusra documents some of their recent operations in Homs (Dar Al-Kabirah) and Hama provinces where with pro-Assad militias and occasionally with Hezbollah fighters have intensified over the last few weeks http://youtu.be/6BVLAEMNaPg

Rebels from the Farouq Brigade (members of the Syrian Islamic Front) attack a loyalist convoy on a road in Sahel Al-Ghab, Hama Province http://youtu.be/B6ehJov7h0k

Aleppo

In Aleppo Province, Col. Abdul-Jabbar Al-Oqaidi, helps in pounding the Minnigh Airport http://youtu.be/R92aXDZqlGg

A new massacre takes place in Aleppo along the Quwaiq River in Boustan Al-Qasr Neighborhood in Aleppo City: local activists find over 20 bodies strewn along the banks http://youtu.be/4fpYQXDAxPw , http://youtu.be/EKFmMPy-b-k Removing the bodies http://youtu.be/bcpLQJHjIqw

Daraa

Rebels from Shuhada Al-Yarmouk Brigade, Daraa, release the UN observers http://youtu.be/ZTTy4yt_bZE Reception by Jordanian authorities http://youtu.be/ueVrpaAnXjU UN Observers cross over to the Jordanian side http://youtu.be/nHli334QV_0

Elsewhere in Daraa, in the town of Abdeen, rebels take control of the positions of the heavy artillery operated by regime loyalists http://youtu.be/hso3Eh0f_NM Spoils of war http://youtu.be/DPtr–13XwY Survey of the scene http://youtu.be/ZebDvRENcLQ , http://youtu.be/nbfh75RBX3Y

In Daraa City, rebels destroy a tank http://youtu.be/qClWKeTurfM

Elsewhere in the province, the battles continue to rage http://youtu.be/UTB-iqD-Jx8

Damascus

Rebels in Damascus City target the March 8 Complex in Abbasid Square now used by pro-Assad snipers http://youtu.be/FVBa8xfdzMQ , http://youtu.be/ilyrtTUybds Packing up http://youtu.be/Btum98fPLow Pro-Assad militias reapond by pounding Jobar Neighborhood http://youtu.be/ro1sAFoxwlk

Rebels destroy a tank in Mleihah, Eastern Ghoutah http://youtu.be/1qlogJVy_88 On the outskirts of town, people find 14 bodies belonging to people who seem to have been field executed: 2 men, 4 children and 8 women http://youtu.be/SBhTTiDQuBA , http://youtu.be/5DWu0FOVFHs The burial http://youtu.be/tvB6J76UBeE At first, locals had found pieces of clothes buried in the field, which made them dig up the fields and find the bodies http://youtu.be/0GiBJZ4NQB0 , http://youtu.be/3q_76b-NwHg , http://youtu.be/w_ztCQ14K2c

Other towns in Eastern Ghoutah also come under intense aerial bombardment: Jisreen http://youtu.be/uuq6Gw5XpEw Kafar Batna http://youtu.be/G0hKOcjW4to Saqba http://youtu.be/VDnRBtxdMHI

Raqqah

An aerial raid leaves many dead in Al-Rumaila Neighborhood in Raqqah City http://youtu.be/4KFGVBhkung

Elsewhere

In a sign of increasing extremism in the ranks, rebels somewhere in Syria (they don’t identify their location) destroy a Shia shrine http://youtu.be/0PFowslfXm4 Some activists questioned the authenticity of the video, but it is clear by now that some rebel groups are operating as extremist criminal gangs.

Rebels force their captives to curse Bashar Al-Assad, just as pro-Assad militias use to force their rebel captives to praise him http://youtu.be/5FjuEbCrbQc

Rebels bring down a plan with heat-seeking missile http://youtu.be/LeSWoGOldeY

Member of Jabhat Al-Nusra arrest a loyalist soldier pretending to be dead http://youtu.be/-bCugKEZDOU

Haass, Idlib: pulling bodies from under the rubble in the aftermath of a Scud attack http://youtu.be/xYEd_AWFFJI , http://youtu.be/LJ2N1nWLOZ8 The general scene http://youtu.be/nkoC9N8WSGc , http://youtu.be/e0E4H-RsXE8

In Focus: Syrian Revolution – Syrian Women Get Abused by Forces Loyal to Alassad

Within the last two years of Syrian people daily life: Syrian woman beard a significant burden of violations, on one hand and as all the Syrian people she shared men all kind of violations made by Alassad troops and in the other hand she also borne the pain of losing the man stand by her; when her husband and the father of her children get killed, arrested or disappeared.  She also endured the pain of losing her own kids.  Not to mention that all the Syrian women without discrimination suffered from the crimes of torture, rape, abduction by Alassd troops

This reports lists five key facts:
1- Victims
2- Arrested and kidnapped
3- Raped
4- Widows
5- Refugees
6- Women in the media
7- Recommendations

First – the Victims:

Alassad troops represented by Army , Shabiha , intelligence , killed 4257 women documented by name , date , place , photos, and the way in which they murder ( shelling – breaking in – field executions , from the beginning of the revolution to 20th of February 2013, Among the victim women
–  1362 Girl Child
– 102 Infant girl less than 2 years old
– 138 old ladies more than 50 years old
– 3 women in media
– 8 teachers
– 6 in the medical field ( Physician and Pharmacist )
– Shockingly 20 ladies tortured to death in security branches cellars
– 22 non- Syrian : 14 Palestinian , 3 Lebanese , 2 Iraqi , 1 Egyptian , 1 Sudanese , 1 Japanese

In his interview with Sunday Times newspaper, Bashar Alassad the Syrian president and the commander of the Armed forces wondered about the names of the alleged victims killed by his troops
As a reply to him , SNHR provide full lists for all the women killed by his troops :

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9Bj18tlYYKBdEFKUlFqdTNSdVk/edit?usp=sharing

Some of Alassad troops women victims:

1-  Engineer Nada Al-Masry
She appears in the photo next to her son Abdullah Tarsha, they were killed by Syrian government forces on 27/1/2012 when an armored of Alassad military forces shot their vehicle.
http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/nada.jpg
http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/nada1.jpg
http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/nada3.jpg
2-  Ms. Fatima Khosrf
She was killed with her newborn baby Abdul Majid Khalid AlKassim, when Syrian government forces shelled Al Bayada eastern village of Homs in 04/09/2012
http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/fatma.jpg
3- Two sisters, Alaa and Israa Tohma
Engineer Esra Tohma and her sister Alaa were killed in Bosra Asham, Dara by a sniper bullet of Alassad troops while they were passing the street on 11/18/2012.
http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/alaa.jpg
4- Razan Al-Qises
She died cause of the random shelling of Alassad troops on Bloudan, Damascus countryside . She was married and has two children that were wounded by shelling on 13/08/2012; one of them lost his foot ..
http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/razan.jpg
5- Haga Rashida Al-Yaseen
She is the wife of the victim Mahmoud Alboiadana, mother of the victim Abdelwakel, grandmother of the victim Khaled, aunt of the victim Abu Hisham and mother of activist Abdul Hamid, she is from Baba Amr/ Homs and killed in 12/1/2011
http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/rshde.jpg

Second : The Arrested Women

Alassad troops arrested or abducted at least 6405 women, including about 1000 female university students, from nearly 194,000 detainees. According to the standard of enforced disappearances ” Enforced disappearance takes place when a person is arrested, detained, abducted or otherwise deprived of their liberty by government officials or by organized groups or private individuals whose actions are condoned by the government in some way.

This is followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned, placing them outside the protection of the law. Enforced disappearance is a crime under international law, prohibited by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, among other international standards. ” Enforced disappearance is a dehumanizing practice which has long-lasting and damaging consequences for both the disappeared person and his or her families and loved ones. It is a particularly cruel human rights abuse because it is of a continuous nature, particularly for families and loved ones of the victim who often wait for years to learn the truth about the victim’s fate. This is applied to nearly 1200 women most of them were abducted by gangs working for Alassad troops known as “Shabiha”. Most of the abducted women are from Homs, Lattakia and Damascus countryside.
Arrested women treated with no regard to human nature or humanity. They are systematically and violently tortured also more than 700 cases inside security branches cellars

As a prove SNHR documented 20 women victims tortured systematically to death in condition that violate human rights and all international laws

In this regard Following link : lists of all documented women tortured to death with their details  as  displayed  in  link : https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9Bj18tlYYKBeGVaU0VNTnprYnc/edit? usp=sharing

SNHR was not be able to document hundreds of cases , cause of reluctance of many parents to cooperate in this issue even denying that their daughters has been arrested for many reasons , most of them  fear of bad reputation such as rape ,harassment , shock on sensitive area or nudity .

– Most detainees are 17-29 years old

– Most cases of detention documented by the SNHR were in the long-distance bus stations when traveling from one province to another in order to study in universities. – The arrest on campus comes in the second position.

– The third one is the arrest after breaking in houses Ladies in security branches had the worst periods of detentions in particular

Testimonies of ladies were in Alassad prisons

–           Lady ( L . E ) couldn’t announce her full name for security reasons , she has been detained in Security Branch No.227 known also as Area Branch , before they moved her to Adra Prison , She said : ” more than one hundred detainee go to the bathroom each hour , so I was avoiding going there as much as possible , it cause a stomachache and other complications , The Nurse in the prison was mocking from me when I asked him for —in my period , and purposely waiting for the next day – I couldn’t bear the bad words he used with me , so I decided to cut my clothes into pieces to use them in my period , which cause me many health problems . Aunt M.G ( She is a doctor ) asked him to give me therapy , I called this medicine as chalk cause it never helpes me to get better at all . I still suffering until I was released from prison after 8 months of my jail

–            For More than one and half year , Colleague student Doaa Akrama was arrested without any charges and wad jailed in Adra prison / Damascus , none of her family met her since then , her fellow cells which has been released told us that they beat and electrified her through investigations then stopped torturing her physically and started physiological torture , led her to lose her temper many times , in spite of that preventing her from the right of visit gave them freedom to manipulate her by through lies , deceit , and fabricate unreal incidents to cause her more breakdown .

– In the ninth of February 2013, Ms. Wafaa Alakla – 35 years old – arrested at Alassad army checkpoint with her three children (the older one is 14 years old ) and even the taxi driver who was carrying them , her husband was also arrested for a month and half and was released after investigating that he has no activity . He disappeared for a while and no one knows about him or Ms. Wafaa and her three kids anything at all making her family don’t know what to do .

Alassad troops also arrested many ladies of society , Teachers , Old women and young girls , Now high class ladies and rural girls sharing the same penalties cause they decided to take a side against the Syrian government .

–  Mrs. Hanadi Faisal Alrifai – Daraa –arrested in 16-3-2012 ,for more that 7 months suffered within the cruelest ways of tortures physically and psychologically , in one charge only is to help one solider to get his mother , She tells stories about the suffering of girls who met them in prisons

– Colleague student Adawia Hamad also arrested with six of colleague and held several months in one of the security branches in charge of formatting coordination in Raqa university , although her father is causes of Jasim Hamad –head of political security branch in Dier Alzoor , No one is able to know her destiny and her colleague even time

– Physician May Jandali – 50 Years old –arrested in Adraa prison since 7-11-2012 , she participated with first demonstration in 25-3-2011 from Umayyad mosque in Damascus , and participated also with women sit with many intellectuals and other women in Midan neighborhood in Damascus , she was arrested at checkpoint when she was coming back to home .

The abductions taking place systematically at military checkpoints by forces loyal to the Syrian government “Shabiha” and they ask for a huge amount of money against the release of the victim.

This was negatively reflected by the asylum and escape out of the country as the network statistics indicate that more than 70% of the refugees are women and children.

The distribution of detained women by Syrian governorates is approximately as following  :

–           Damascus: 1650

–           Homs: 1400

–           Lattakia: 970

–           Aleppo: 850

–           Daraa: 625

–           Hama: 475

–           Idlib: 350

–           Deir Ezzor: 85

SOME WOMEN VICTIMS OF THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT FORCES  :

–           Jumana Abdul Hakim, a student at the Faculty of Civil Engineering first year, she was arrested on 15/5/2012 by air security forces that stormed the campus.

http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/jomana.jpg

–           Isra Al-sayad, a student from the city of Al-Kaswa, she studies at the Institute of Technical Inspectors, she was abducted by Syrian security forces after leaving the Institute building on 29/10/2012.

http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/israa.jpg

–           Rahaf Al-Laham, a student at the Faculty of Science at the University of Damascus, she is from Al-Mohajreen, Damascus, she is 21 years and she was arrested on 22/11/2012

http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/rahaf.jpg

–           Rama Yasser Al-Asas, born in Damascus 1/4/1986

An arrest warrant was issued by the Palestine Branch against her forcing her to escape until 27/08/2012, where she was ambushed by the security men who requested a ransom to release her. After the payment of two million Syrian pounds, all contact channels with her were cut and nobody knows anything about her.

http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/380997_522151644477885_71478115 0_n.jpg

–           Nurse : ( A. R ) Hama – her work in treating wounded civilians is a crime  , when Air intelligence discovered that A.R treating wounded people , Their elements broke in her house , stole it, and destroyed furniture , she has been arrested for three months exposed within to the worst and cruelest kind of physical torture , to the time  they  released her and other 20 girls in prisoners swap with free army

Third : Sexual Assault Against Women in Syria 

Sexual Assaults by Alassad troops includes verbal trespass, direct sexual harassments happened during inspection at checkpoints within the city or parts militerised  by Alassad troops , and during raids curried out inside the city with Alshabiha ,  or during detention or abduction of girls inside security branches cells

1-      Sexual assault during raid and breaking in which is the most common , more than 4000 cases

2-      Sexual assault inside security branches cells , more than 700 cases

These statistics are proximately because of the extreme difficulty to get access to accurate figures on this particular subject , but we were able through our team widespread in all Syrian governorates and by listening to tens stories of the arrested women and accumulated during the long experience , testimonies and research survey make our estimation the closest to reality

Some patterns of documentations:

1-      Conscript of Syrian army admits committing 5 rapes , three of them in Altal / Damascus countryside and two in Almaza neighborhood in Damascus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk2wwc9M5CU

1-      Testimony of a woman came out of jail narrates rape cases of 16 years old girl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWx8sOwHWwc&feature=youtu.be

2-      Damascus – Qudsaia suburb : People found the bodies of two girls , their age estimated of 17 years , has been kidnapped by Shabiha ,their bodies have been burned and throw it into a cellar in a residential building , We couldn’t identify them

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=534896763187803&set=a.249505655060250.76535.243963362281146&type=1&theater

Dier Alzoor :

1-      The first rape case included a mother and three of her daughters

The case of rape took place in Alkazia checkpoint in front of Alassad hospital , where Alassad troops shut down the whole family on the checkpoint and took the female towards grave aria where they all raped ( according to the eyewitnesses X ) he told the story to SNHR member and he is still alive

2-      Second rap condition :

Happened for two ladies in Qusor neighborhood during breaking in by Alassad troops and took place in the same time of executions of large number of activists and families

Eyewitnesses told us that Alassad troops forced two ladies to go into one of the houses and then those ladies coming out in a horrible situation , their clothes was cutting off and signs of rape appeared on them

Tens of rapes cases took place in Sahl Alroj and Korine towns in Idlib , when Alassad troops and Shabiha stormed  the town , frequent cases of large number and survivor who recounted incidents that took place there in Friday 22 February 2012

Syrian Lady called Salma 28 years old – mother of four children ( three girls and one boy ) admitted with tragedy of being raped by Alassad troops in Sahl Alroj and Korine towns

Salma said that 36 ladies was raped when Alassad troops broke down those towns , she was crying bitterly .

Fourth – Widows:

1-      SNHR documented more than 30 thousands married has been killed , leaving their wives widows

2-      Enforced disappearance : almost 19 thousand married men among more than 60 thousand individuals are enforced disappearance , that led to 19000 women don’t know whether they are married or widows , is her husband a life or Alassad troops executed him , which make us back into time to 1982 in Hama , where at least 18000 married men disappeared and the city suffered for decades of this situation

Fifth  – Refugee, Half Million Women Refugees in Neighboring Countries:

SNHR estimates that’s more than 70% of the refugee are women and children , the main reason for leaving Syria is fear of rape and violation

SNHR statistics about refugee in neighborhood countries more than exceeded 1,4 million refugee in January 2013 , that’s mean we have almost one million women and children refugee in the neighboring countries

Sixth – Women In Media:

Media feminist had the larger role in revolution Media , the first victims of the media in the city of Homs a few days after the outbreak of the revolution where young girl  Tahani Khalaf Hilal al-Khalidi by a sniper bullet while she were filming from the balcony of her house in Khalidiya district in Homs

The first Media victim martyred in the Syrian Revolution (Female)

–           Samar Shaban arrested twice cause of her media activity by writing on walls in Damascus , she is a student in Sharia institute , no one of their family know anything about her , and they are afraid to be tortured to death by security men in the prison

–           Shaza Almadad – journalist , born in Qamishli 2 -10-1986 , live in Damascus , arrested in 1-11-2012 – she has been called for investigation more than one time in internal branch of state security , she wrote her  opinion about Syrian affairs freely on her page on facebook that’s was her only  crime

http://syrianhr.org/Upload/savefiles/61400_489627794402129_375765787_n.jpg

–           Ayat Alhalabi – medicine university – killing and arresting didn’t prevent her from participating in demonstrations and transmit to social networking sites ,which running by tens of females activities . they aim to transmit the Syrian people voice to the world , and sometimes solidarity with detainees and talk by their voices , or framing idea

–           Sherine ALhaik : among leader activist on social networking sites , her blog known as Tabashir

Add to many activist who specialized in media to communicate with satellite T.V , audio and video media , especially at the beginning of Syrian Revolution and before the reporters of some station was able to entre Syria , which was and still closed in front of Media Stations

S.H said : At the time that most people thought that filming and protection of demonstrations is a man job , she never went in a demonstration , not that they do not believe in its importance, but because it has something important to do with her colleagues in coordinating ( 60 %of them are women )  , she used to film demonstration after planning  for the time and place , and choose appropriate place for the camera , while another one monitor the end of the street from her Balcony  , and be the one who call other and warn them if security elements show , to avoid them arrested and shot , she continued you may find this way is so old but it avoids a lot of people get arrested cause there are a lot of paid informers for Alassad troops in our area

Seventh – Results and Recommendations:

SNHR conclude that Alassad troops committed all types of abuse against of Syrian Women

1-      Crimes against humanity , according to article 7 of ROME STATUE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT :

(a)  Murder;

(b)     Extermination;

(c)     Enslavement;

(d)     Deportation or forcible transfer of population;

(e)     Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;

(f)     Torture;

(g)     Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;

(h)     Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;

(i)     Enforced disappearance of persons;

(j)     The crime of apartheid;

(k)     Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

2-      2- Crimes against humanity , according to article 8 War Crimes of ROME STATUE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT :

a)     Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:

(i)  Willful killing;

(ii)     Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;

(iii)     Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;

(iv)     Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;

(v)     Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power;

(vi)  Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;

(vii)     Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;

b)     xxii)     Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 7, paragraph 2 (f), enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions; 

Recommendations

Immediate and urgent intervention to ensure the maintenance of security and civil peace and to stop the instantaneous violations against Syrian women
The United Nations and the Security Council to take their responsibilities towards the Syrian women and pressure on the Syrian government to release thousands of detainees at full speed and bring the perpetrators of crimes to International Court Ganaúat