Syria Watch

A Tribute to Two Brave Paramedics: Mahmoud Al-Ahmad and Mus’ab Bard

Mahmoud Al-Ahmad’s Story: A Paramedic of Hama City

Paramedic, Mahmoud Al-Ahmad, locally known “Abu Hussein” was one of the most prominent paramedic among the volunteers who aided the wounded in the city of Hama.  He was born in Hama in 1985.  He leaves behind, a young child, a girl less than one year old.

Since the early days of the Syrian revolution, Abu Hussein took to the street as both a protester and a paramedic.  On 3 June 2012, the “Children of Freedom’s” Friday, he received a gunshot that penetrated his chest.  For treatment, he was transported to a makeshift hospital where he was treated and remained through recovery.  He then returned to Hama as an avid activist.

He was persistent and worked hard, founding a makeshift hospital in the Mashaa Al-Arba’een neighbourhood, which was targeted by the Syrian regime’s army.  This neighbourhood had the largest number of the wounded in the city of Hama during the regime’s army offensive.

Abu Hussein treated and aided hundreds of the wounded in the city of Hama.  All locals speak highly of his good morals, loyalty and the invaluable aid he provided.

Abu Hussein documented, using a personal camera, the wounded whom he aided.  He did so to show the world the crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian regime.  The following are examples taken out of scores of videos he recorded in the makeshift hospital.  SNHR and DCHRS have the original copies of these videos that have been uploaded to YouTube.

The footage below shows the wounded in the Al-Hamedya makeshift hospital, where they are supervised and receive treatment from Abu Hussein.

On 20 June 2012, the Syrian regime’s army and security forces launched an offensive on Hama city; they shelled the city continually for three days and isolated it from the whole world using a media and communications blackout.  Numerous citizens fell victims and many more were wounded.  Abu Hussein hurried to aid the wounded.  While he was treating one of the victims a mortar shell, fired by the regime’s forces, hit them and killed Mahmoud along with the four citizens who were accompanying him while he treated the wounded.

In the video below, the location of the body of Abu Hussein, the paramedic of Hama, is shown. The heroic efforts he provided to the injured of Hama are un-matched.

 

Mus’ab Bard’s Story: A Doctor and Paramedic

Doctor and paramedic Mus’ab Bard, was tortured to death by regime forces for aiding civilians.  He was the epitome of a medical hero.

Pictures of Mus'ab Bard before his death and his body following torture by Syrian regime forces.

Mus’ab Bard (1 January, 1992 – 14 June, 2012) was born in Teftenaz, Idleb, Syria.  He was a student in the Faculty of Medicine, at Aleppo University.  He came from an eight person family.  He had three brothers (one is a doctor, the other an engineer, and the third a pharmacist), and two sisters (both are attending school). Mus’ab was always one of the finest students, garnering high achievements and the best grades, both in high school and in his first two years at the University.  However, even more noticeable were his strong morals and values that were present in all his actions.

The young doctor became a part of the Syrian revolution protests in the city of Aleppo.  He was also a member on a paramedic team that gave treatment and aid to the wounded.  Mus’ab was detained in one of the protests on 6 September, 2011.  It began as the funeral procession of Ibrahim Salqeeni, a respected scholar in Aleppo, who was poisoned by the Assad regime, according to his family.  Mus’ab was detained for a month for the crime of attending the funeral and videographing it.  After Mus’ab was released, he stopped attending protests and began a new task:  aiding the wounded and rescuing the injured.

Once Musa’b took upon this new task he worked around the clock, serving the cause of helping humanity.  He traveled with a small bag containing very basic and humble instruments to aid him in his work.  He had many supporters and was well known by dozens of Syrian activist for this noble role which he acquired during the revolution.

On Sunday, the 17th of June, the Syrian regime’s Air Force Intelligence detained Mus’ab and two of his class mates, Basel Aslan and Hazem Batteek.  The three were all returned dead one week later on Sunday the 24 of June.  Their bodies clearly showed that they had been tortured and were badly burned.  Mus’ab’s brother had difficulty identifying him due to the severity of the burns extending even to his hair.  The doctors confirmed that Mus’ab had been tortured and burned to death.  A bullet hole was also found on his body that indicated that the bullet had passed completely through his body.

Thousands of people held a funeral procession for the murdered medical students in Saif Addawla, Aleppo.  The video below shows the procession.

The video below shows the burned bodies of the three medical students inside the coroner’s office.

**WARNING: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES**

Mus’ab’s body was later tranported to Teftenaz, his birthplace, where he was buried.

 

All information, videos, and photos in this report provided by:

Syrian Network for Human Rights

A Call to Action: Save Douma Before it Becomes Another Baba Amr

The Syrian regime’s army troops and security forces raided the city of Douma after fiercely shelling and bombarding it with helicopters. Therefore, the Free Syrian Army members and more than 95 % of its residents fled the city after scores of residents were killed with continual fierce shelling. On Thursday, 28 of June 2012, the Syrian regime’s army took the lives of 71 citizens in the city of Douma.

It is worth mentioning that the regime’s forces and pro-regime shabeeha militias raided the two makeshift hospitals in Al-Jalaa Street.  Volunteer doctors and paramedics fled to save their lives, leaving behind scores of wounded citizens including at least 8 in critical situations.  There are still some nurses providing aid in makeshift hospitals.  However, there are grave concerns that the regime’s forces may extra judicially execute the wounded, mimicking the actions taken in Baba Amr.  There, after seizing control of the makeshift hospitals, the regime’s army quickly executed the wounded receiving care.

After leaving the air in Baba Amr filled with the stench of death and the streets and sidewalks littered with bodies, regime forces ensured that any survivors would be unable to go for help by cutting the town off from the rest of the world.  Telecommunications, electricity and water were disconnected by regime forces, who surrounded the town, prohibiting anyone from leaving or entering.  They also  denied access for humanitarian aid, including provisions of food and medicine.

The Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies and the Syrian Network for Human Rights have verified that regime forces are systematically attempting to wipe the city of Douma off the face of the earth, killing innocent citizens and looting their homes.  A new deployment of military reinforcements arrived in the town a short while ago, and a child was found stabbed by regime forces next to the Heseibeh Mosque.  Regime’s forces are clearly intent on continuing their siege on the town, and if international actors do not intervene swiftly, Douma will become another Baba Amr situation.

SNHR & DCHRS demand the international community and the UN Security Council to fulfill their responsibilities and bring the regime’s perpetrations in the city of Douma to light by making a swift decision to make the announcement that Douma is an inflicted city.  It is also requested that UN countries swiftly set up humanitarian corridors to transport the wounded, women children and men to places of safety.  SNHR & DCHRS hold the Syrian regime fully and directly responsible for all acts of killing, looting and rape, repercussions and consequences thereof.

 

All information contained in this report provided by:

Syrian Network for Human Rights

Syrian Revolution Digest Monday 2 July 2012

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

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Putin’s Gambit!

Can anyone of those who attended the Geneva Conference explain to pro-democracy protesters in Syria how will their proposed plan end the massacres, the ethnic cleansing and the ongoing partition of the country? I have read the full text of their final communiqué and I still can’t understand how they plan to accomplish this.

Monday July 02, 2012

Today’s Death toll: 114. The Breakdown: 32 in Damascus (30 in the Suburbs and 2 in the City), 27 in Hama, 20 in Homs, 13 in Deir Ezzor, 6 in Idlib, 4 in Aleppo, 4 in Daraa and 1 in Lattakia.

In a new provocation of Turkish authorities, pro-Assad militias shell the refugee camp ofKilis right across the border http://youtu.be/Fk3w1RT6zgY

News

Recent weeks have seen an escalation in the number of Syrian troops fleeing the country. The troops flee as the international community has failed to decide on a unified response to the crisis in Syria.

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Mounting Pressure on the Syrian Army Unless the army finds a way to relieve growing pressure on its capabilities and cohesion, it will likely collapse, sweeping away much of the regime in the process.

“A combination of military operations by the local resistance with aerial cover from the U.S. and allies will shortly provide a separation of forces between the few real areas that are still loyal to the regime and the majority of the country which has joined the revolution. It’s at this stage that talks over transition can truly begin.”

Putin’s Gambit

I agree that Russia’s position on Syria is not about Syria. But it’s not simply about the question of who makes the call on international issues either. Russians have their own doublespeak as well, and we just have to find ways to decipher it which the Russians themselves often provide. In my conversations with Russian policy experts back in late May, mention of Saudi Arabia was as frequent as that of Syria and the U.S. The bottom line was: “what can you (the opposition) and the Saudis can offer us to help us change our position?” Some did indeed put it as bluntly as this, so I didn’t really have to struggle to piece things together.

Putin views developments in Syria as a new front for the struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and he believes that Saudi is the main sponsor of the Syrian opposition. If Saudi wants to prevail on this front Russia would like to help for a price.

And the price is not a port along the Syrian coast, Russia already has that and has no plans to give it up, nor do they see that a need for such a move could seriously arise. The opposition, in their view, will never be able to control the coastal areas and force such a development.

And the price is not a multi-billion dollar arms deal with Saudi, albeit they wouldn’t mind that. But that is not as urgent a need as this stage as that other thing that Putin really needs: driving oil prices up! Current oil prices coupled with chronic mismanagement and corruption in Russian circles will soon translate into an economic nightmare for Russia where the elite has until recently lived in the same kind of cocoon that the Ben Alis, the Mubaraks, the Salehs, the Gaddafis and the Assads have been living in: they thought they were invincible. Then came the Arab Re-Awakening, and Putin and his crowd saw in that, rightly, a clear warning sign.

In order to avoid what happened to Arab regimes, Russian officials knew they had little time to tackle some very knotty economic and developmental problems in record time. But for that, they need cash, and plenty of it, and for this they need higher oil prices which constitute the quickest possible fix to their problems.

But Saudi cannot deliver on that without American approval, and Obama cannot give his approval on something like this during elections season, and so long as the economic situation in the U.S. and the E.U. remains as problematic as it is today. Higher oil prices might good for Russia among few other countries, not to mention oil companies, but, at this stage, they are bad for the world.

So, Russia cannot have what it wants at this stage, and that means that Russia cannot be part of the solution in Syria.

Video Highlights

This leaked video shows how pro-Assad troops are pounding the Damascene Suburb ofDaraya from a square in the Midan District http://youtu.be/iFFupmLA-Yo The pounding leaves many dead http://youtu.be/hLJ0PNFgOg0 , http://youtu.be/ZKtlea7ssAE

Pro-Assad militias transform the Damascene Suburb of Douma into another ghost townhttp://youtu.be/M9Jic0FnRbw Local activists retrieve the bodies of people who seem to have been executed in their homes by pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/7ARu2nj4wIQ ,http://youtu.be/U3v7OWbOePM , http://youtu.be/K9GeK_MSE6k , http://youtu.be/-T9Li1XWVuE , http://youtu.be/QcA9HSpKmKk A body that lies unclaimed in the stairwellhttp://youtu.be/E9IzcCPxKJw

The pounding of Deir Ezzor City in the northeastern parts of the country continueshttp://youtu.be/nbAAS8ZTOHI A mortar round lands on a passing car disintegrating the inhabitants http://youtu.be/se4QIRNjd3A Homes catch fire http://youtu.be/BrHFXxp7qGAThe impact of pounding http://youtu.be/NGPZCqQE_Tc

Lattakia: fires started by pro-regime militias continue to rage in Al-Akrad Mountainsdriving locals out finishing the job of ethnic cleansing http://youtu.be/9lNYs-_pBCs

The pounding of Talbisseh, Homs Province, continues http://youtu.be/VLe1jdOEEtc So does the pounding of Rastan http://youtu.be/fp1KqcUrnks ,http://youtu.be/mF3JJINpUqo

The pounding of Naeemah, Daraa Province, continues http://youtu.be/fQtwkbMza20 ,http://youtu.be/bxj1Ik4J5wA

Syrian Revolution Digest – Sunday 1 July 2012

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

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

R2P vs. D2A – Transition Vs. Partition!

While world leaders refuse to commit to their Responsibility to Protect, as evidenced by the fiasco in Geneva, Assad is wholeheartedly committed to his “Duty to Annihilate,” as he so kindly put it. Political pressures will not change Assad’s mind. Unless plans are formed in consultation with Syrian opposition groups and introduced under UN Chapter VII allowing for clear enforcement mechanisms to be agreed, Assad’s war against the Syrian people will continue, so will the massacres, the ethnic cleansing, and the irrevocable disintegration of Syria. 

Sunday July 01, 2012

A number of massacres were perpetrated by pro-Assad militias over the last 48 hours. The largest of which took place lace in Saturday June 30 in the Damascene Suburb of Zamalkawhen 85 people were killed when a car bomb went off during the funeral for a local activist.

The moment of the explosion http://youtu.be/HNUg448Erls The first few seconds following the explosion http://youtu.be/RlBM2wj-44M Retrieving bodieshttp://youtu.be/6LBdU9xzHsg , http://youtu.be/U-Sm9EQ7DIc ,http://youtu.be/UglcLe5YgqE Helping the wounded http://youtu.be/LW9HqAvj1T4Collecting the bodies in the local field hospital http://youtu.be/YMIq4AoTPBQ Preparing for the burial http://youtu.be/FP0kozCv0wQ , http://youtu.be/xjB-NEdb20w The burialhttp://youtu.be/L17lhUIZdfc , http://youtu.be/uKVwd8FZrEc

News

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Disorganized Like a Fox Why it’s a great thing that the Syrian opposition is fragmented.

Paper trail leads to Damascus Sticking to its reactionary, faux-revolutionary politics, the paper (Al-Akhbar) has regularly delivered fulsome praise for Assad, portraying him as the last bulwark against Western imperialism.

This time, the delay in sending out updates was not caused by traveling but by power outage caused by the recent storm that hit the Washington Metro Areas.  

This interview was given on May 31, some things have changed since, but most arguments remain quite relevant

 “After more than a year of conflict, the violence in Syria is finally being recognized as a civil war. This weekend, world powers are preparing for a high-level meeting that the US hopes will be a turning point in the Syria crisis. To discuss the international community’s search for solutions and the goals of protesters, AAM sits down withAmmar Abdulhamid, a leading Syrian human rights and pro-democracy activist, and fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.” (The interview could also be watched on YouTube).

By Ammar Abdulhamid, Reuf Bajrovic and Kurt Bassuener
“U.S. domestic politics emboldened Milosevic in both Bosnia and Kosovo; it is doing the same in Syria. To prevent Syria from becoming the new Bosnia, the West should apply its Balkan lessons before Assad finishes applying his. The United States must lead, lest it once again stain its collective conscience.”

On the Geneva Conference and the proposed unity government

A plan without clear endgame and clear enforcement mechanisms is not a plan meant to save Syria, but one meant to stall for time and save face of certain leaders who couldn’t agree on anything of substance.

“Rebels report that nearly 200 tanks have moved to positions on the Turkish border, north of the city of Aleppo. The tanks are apparently there to attack rebel held towns, not fight invading Turks. In the last two days, the Turks have moved more troops and anti-aircraft missile units to the Syrian border.”

Comment: We should soon find out if the Turks mean business or if their move is another empty gesture. Assad and his militias are willing to gamble, because they believe they have a strong fallback position along the coast. The only thing they have to lose is control over areas that are already beyond their control. So, while world leaders talk transition, Assad & Co. are working towards partition.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s and NATO’s true intentions are more accurately captured by these comments by Andrew Finkel in the New Yorker:

Yes, Syria’s implosion could degenerate into a regional conflict involving Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and maybe even Russia. And yes, Turkey has summoned other NATO members to discuss the threat to its national security under Article 4 of the alliance’s treaty. But the odds that these tensions with Syria will trigger Article 5 and require NATO to respond in collective self-defense are basically nonexistent: The last and only time that article was invoked was in response to 9/11. Neither Turkey nor the rest of NATO is looking for a fight.

But the world does not move by intentions. There are now hundreds of tanks and missile batteries on either sides of a very porous and hot border, which opens the doors for all different sorts of nasty possibilities, and a showdown of sorts is looming.

The Obama Administration’s attempt at containing the matter by casting doubts on the Turkish version of what took place in regard to the downing of the Turkish jet is not only inadvisable, it’s downright foolish. Undermining your only NATO ally in the region is stupid politics. First E.U. gives Turkey the cold shoulder and now the U.S. Meanwhile, Russia is sticking by her allies through thick and thin.

Turkey might be about to get embroiled in a war after many months of trying to stay aloof. The final decision has not been made yet, and the U.S. may be trying to dissuade the Turks, but this may not be that realistic at this stage. Just as Obama has certain domestic calculations to take into account, so do Turkey’s leaders.

Indeed Erdogan might truly distrust his generals, but Assad’s actions are challenging his and his generals’ credibility at this stage. As such, they may not have a choice but to put their differences aside and embark on a course of action meant primarily to shore up their embattled image at home, and their ability to retain credibility in a region that shows no mercy for the weak.  The vacillations of Turkey over the last few months and the inherent contradictions between official statements and official actions have had a negative effect on the way Turkey and her leaders are being perceived in the region. Seeing that Turkey has no alternative at this stage but to pursue its eastward drive, its shaken image there has to be redressed. Erdogan in particular needs to show that he is capable of making difficult choices when it comes to foreign entanglements.

Video Highlights

Locals in Mourek, Hama Province, find unidentified bodies in their townhttp://youtu.be/By4QLCcYric

The pounding of Houla, Homs Province, continues http://youtu.be/aMWv1O3n36k ,http://youtu.be/vDR5mmr_kgk

Locals from the Damascene Suburb of Arbeen claim that the object we see here falling from a helicopter gunship is a person that was executed by pro-Assad troopshttp://youtu.be/LVUfcfM8Npg

In Homs City, the pounding of the Old Neighborhood continueshttp://youtu.be/6M4PVXbZydo , http://youtu.be/sVQa_Idf3wE ,http://youtu.be/o3jCtgL2i6k Meanwhile, the pounding of Houla continueshttp://youtu.be/R5wguG-iqEs , http://youtu.be/YxDDXdrPZtc ,http://youtu.be/Y8SscIVImm8 and Talbisseh http://youtu.be/4tNwakqPxNA In Rastan, choppers take part in the pounding http://youtu.be/78mDGGjS5e4 In Bouaydah Sharqiyeh http://youtu.be/zekie3xZJu8 The ethnic cleansing of the town of Ghanto is almost complete http://youtu.be/hDswlo4blJ8 But in Houla, locals bury their dead and remain defiant http://youtu.be/WXNn158RUpI

In Deir Ezzor City: rescuing the wounded of today’s shellinghttp://youtu.be/cC_tnPZI3W8

In Khirbet Ghazaleh, Daraa, the pounding continues http://youtu.be/8hJL6TdkadY InDaraa City as well http://youtu.be/gS13aDz22Wo A helicopter gunship takes part in the pounding in Matayeh http://youtu.be/M8IFf83NLVk And in Taybehhttp://youtu.be/CAgzGWsp3uc

In the restive areas of Lattakia Province, pro-Assad militias start forest fires to drive out local fighters http://youtu.be/BEHYVk0meQ8 IN nearby town of Jisr Ashoughour in Idlib Province, the same tactic is employed http://youtu.be/BlknPrEtwew And in Rastanhttp://youtu.be/shH1INddCrs

In Damascus Suburbs, the regime follows the massacre in Zamalka, by intensive pounding of the nearby towns of Harasta http://youtu.be/YlOzqjQmR5c ,http://youtu.be/0bOFzIxjGns and Douma http://youtu.be/McGLmxdDXUQ

Worldwide Release of “S.O.S. — Siege on Syria”: A Short Film Highlighting the Atrocities in Syria and a Call to Action

Syrian artists are calling on the International Criminal Court to hold the Syrian Regime accountable for their crimes against humanity and demand an immediate stop to the murder of civilians, the bombing of hospitals, the rape of women, and the torture of prisoners which are all currently being perpetrated by Bashar al-Assad and his regime in Syria.

At a special evening for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, commemorating the farewell of the first Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, and the welcome of his successor Fatou Bensouda, The Cinema for Peace Foundation, presented the first official screening of “S.O.S. – Siege on Syria”, a short film, which sheds light on the unbelievable atrocities being committed by the Assad regime in Syria. The film follows members of the local Arab community and supporters of the Syrian revolution as they assembled a flash mob in Detroit, Michigan to raise awareness of the ongoing violence in Syria; and aims to bring to attention to the Syrian uprising for freedom and dignity.

The film has already reached several members of the European Union and was screened for a select assembly of U.S. congressmen and the U.S. ambassador to Syria on June 22, 2012. Cinema for Peace is asking everybody to screen this film and distribute it in social media networks, so it can reach a worldwide audience. Since the film’s shooting, the number of Syrian martyrs has already doubled with nearly 20,000 Syrians massacred, many of which have been women and children. As well as targeting civilians with shelling, fighters have also moved in on the ground and brutally shot and stabbed peaceful civilians to death. In addition to the many thousands murdered, there are hundreds of thousands more who have been displaced. A Syrian activist and victim featured in the film declares, “Everyone that can say a word, and doesn’t say that word, the blood of the people dying is on their hands”

In response to this plea, Syrian artists and Cinema for Peace Foundation are releasing “S.O.S. – Siege on Syria” and calling for the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad and his regime; an urgent deliverance of mediators, emergency supplies and humanitarian aid to the afflicted civilian population, and an immediate stop to the violence and murder of innocent civilians.

Invisible Children have joined the charge, standing with Cinema for Peace Foundation in calling for an international unified voice demanding an end to the violence. “We are a generation who will not stand for the brutality against our brothers and sisters, wherever that may be. As a part of a global connectivity, there is a responsibility that flows from it.” The strength of a worldwide call can provoke change, and Cinema for Peace Foundation in partnership with Syrian artists and Invisible Children are appealing to the international community to be a part of bringing peace and justice to Syria by sharing “S.O.S.- Siege on Syria” as far and wide as possible and appealing for the freedom of the Syrian people.

 

Cinema for Peace Foundation
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Phone: +49 – (0)30 76 77 525 – 22
Fax: +49 – (0)30 76 77 525 – 20
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www.cinemaforpeace.com