Syria Watch

Syrian Network for Human Rights: Special Report on 27 May Massacre in Hama

Massacre in Hama

After the Al-Houla massacre, divisions of the Syrian Regime army marched north and raided the city of Hama.  The troops were reinforced with many armoured vehicles and snipers who were already positioned on high buildings.  In the attack 33 victims were killed, including 7 kids and 5 women.  More than 90 people were wounded.

Districts that came under fierce shelling by armoured vehicles and artillery shells were: Athaheryea, Masha’a Al-Arba’een, some quarters of Aleppo Road, and Masha’a Al-Furousia (Janoub Al-Mal’ab).  When the residents of the abovementioned districts tried to flee, regime’s snipers targeted them, so scores of people were wounded, some of whom are now suffering from critical injuries.  The number of the wounded was at least 90 people.  At least 50 of the wounded received medical care in a makeshift hospital.  This included those with critical injuries, most of whom were women and children.

 

WARNING: SOME OF THE VIDEOS BELOW CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES

The victims and the wounded are shown following the massacre.  

 

The makeshift hospital where the wounded are being treated.

 

For further information, please see;

Syrian Network for Human Rights – Special Report Hama Massacre – 27 May 2012

Syrian Revolution Digest – Wednesday 30 May 2012

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

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Abandoned!

Symbolic gestures cannot save us from real slaughter. Words of sympathy do not shield us from mortar rounds. Sanctions do not stop marauding gangs of thugs and killers. In Syria, our sense of abandonment is as areal as the war being waged against us.  

Wednesday May 30, 2012

Death toll: 39.

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What the Hell Should We Do About Syria? FP asked five smart observers to offer their solutions for the quagmire in Damascus.

Obama & the Russians

… the Syrian revolution is as much about ending an apartheid-patronage system as it is about creating democratic state, yet Russia relies for its own commercial and military interests on preserving the former. Syrian dissident Ammar Abdulhamid, freshly returned from Moscow, smartly observes:

What the “regime” means to the Russians is Alawite control of security and military apparatuses. If regime survival under this formula is not possible, than the powers-that-be in Russia would not be too opposed to the fragmentation of Syria so long as coastal areas remain under Alawite control, which is the likely outcome in this case. To ensure getting their desired outcome, the Russians will continue propping up the regime by supplying it with arms, which they claim are not meant to be used against protesters but against future western intervention, and by continuing to be a stumbling block in the way of any meaningful UN-led action or condemnation.

So Russia will, in the end, accept nothing less than the balkanization of Syria. So much for the insistence of countless Security Council statements that the country’s “sovereignty” and “territorial integrity” be preserved.

The administration hopes that it is possible to appeal to the better angels of Moscow’s nature and that Houla compels them to change their position on Assad. Instead, the Russians are sending more arms to the regime. It’s hardly surprising, then, the Russians won’t even admit that Assad is behind the massacre. Russian deputy U.N. ambassador Alexander Pankin “rejected the idea that the evidence clearly showed Damascus was guilty.” … Moscow is simply playing the spoiler and thereby enjoying the sort of international prestige that it has not been afforded since the end of the Cold War. The Russians are not going to engineer a coup against Assad, or in any way work to resolve the issue, because it is precisely the conflict that has given them influence in Syria—the conflict, that is, and Obama, who for no good reason has handed Moscow the reins.

Video Highlights

In Houla, pounding by pro-Assad troops resumes after departure of UN monitors leaving many dead and wounded: treating the injured http://youtu.be/jBPjhJnjuMs ,http://youtu.be/7evsmN41-YQ Martyrs http://youtu.be/eb5D7Z3XzQo Crops catch firehttp://youtu.be/C3pWlKx9d9I The pounding http://youtu.be/2AUE2io4tbw ,http://youtu.be/2AUE2io4tbw The gunfire http://youtu.be/PnsxuLJ1vp8 ,http://youtu.be/vsjp5WIJ9ko Locals running away from town across the fieldshttp://youtu.be/Z3Z7mCYuphM Earlier in the day, UN monitors visited some of the local houses where entire families were slaughtered http://youtu.be/c1txS0LPPq8

Assad officials keep insisting that no condemnation should be made until their investigation of the events is concluded, but their methods of investigations, which involve random pounding of the town, are a bit… unorthodox.

Some of those Russians anti-aircraft missiles, not intended for use in the current crackdown, if we go by the assertions of Russian officials, get used in the pounding of the Old Homs neighborhoods, setting entire buildings on fire: Hamidiyeh http://youtu.be/OmeexzSs1aELocal activist is almost killed while filming http://youtu.be/JZI-C-1zY9g Bab Al-Sibaa: pulling the bodies of the dead from the streets while under fire from snipershttp://youtu.be/AK1i4jnG1sg Khaldiyeh http://youtu.be/3275Rb8nrbg The poundinghttp://youtu.be/P5YE7A8Lygk , http://youtu.be/QurkSJrrnj0 ,http://youtu.be/wMmOHpVkubA , http://youtu.be/wBc0IAGqrvY ,http://youtu.be/qJB6FoVLrZo

In Rastan, the pounding resumes at night http://youtu.be/RKW7NuJb8TQ

In Idlib Province, chopper fires rockets on the village of Mar Shammareenhttp://youtu.be/5Y8ZBI32QMs

In Anadan, Aleppo Province, chopper fires rockets on the townhttp://youtu.be/pVhC15D8Fm0

In Damascus, the pounding of the town of Douma continues http://youtu.be/pnZqu73h5ps

Syrian Network for Human Rights: Massive Shelling and Violent Attacks at Al-Houla Leaves 107 Dead

Al-Houla Plains Flooded with Blood

On 25 May 2012, Al-Houla plains witnessed the most brutal massacre since the arrival of the international observers in Syria. Random shelling targeted the villages and lands of al-Houla particularly the town of Taldo which lies at the western entrance of al-Houla and is surrounded by pro-regime villages.

The shelling, which lasted for 14 hours, left 11 people dead and dozens injured. Subsequently, army and security forces along with shabiha from the villages of Fulla and al-Qabou stormed into many houses at the outskirts of Taldou.

Shabiha forces carried out raids and extra-judicial executions against all residents at the outskirts of the town. Children were handcuffed and gathered with many men and women who were all subsequently slaughtered with bayonets. Shabiha militias then opened fire on the slaughtered victims, acts reminiscent of the dark ages and the law of the jungle.

The preliminary death toll of al-Houla massacre currently stands at 107 victims whose full names and photos have been documented. There remain many bodies that could not be reached and documented as yet. Among the casualties are 49 children under the age of 10 and 32 women.

 

WARNING: SOME OF THE VIDEOS BELOW CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES

 

A video showing some of the victims of the brutal shelling and massacre, including very young children.

 

A video showing some of those wounded from the attack.

 

International visitors arrive in Al-Houla following the massacre and are swarmed by residents relating what has occurred.

 

The mass burial for the victims of the massacre.

 

For further information, please see;

Syrian Network for Human Rights — Special Report on Al-Houla Massacre — 26 May 2012

 

Western Nations Expel Syrian Diplomats Following Houla Massacre

By Mark McMurray
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria — Several Western nations expelled Syrian diplomats in a coordinated response to last Friday’s violence in Houla.  Following the release of a United Nations report on Tuesday describing how many of the victims were shot dead at close range, the United States, Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Australia, Canada, Spain, Belgium, Bulgaria, and the Netherlands participated in the global diplomatic action.

Kofi Annan, the United Nations and Arab League’s Joint Special Envoy for Syria, meets with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. (Photo courtesy of Reuters)

The report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) described how most of the 108 victims were shot at close range with fewer than twenty killed by artillery.  Rupert Colville, an OHCHR spokesman, explained: “this was an absolutely abominable event that took place in Houla, and at least a substantial part of it was summary executions of civilians, women and children [where] entire families were shot in their houses.”

Pro-government paramilitary thugs known as shabiha were blamed for the house-to-house killings.  “Unfortunately, these allegations are consistent with other incidents documented by my office, the international Commission of Inquiry on Syria and other human rights organizations,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay said on Tuesday.  Syria has denied responsibility, calling the Houla massacre a “terrorist massacre” perpetrated by “armed terrorists” who attacked the military in the area, killing civilians.

UN and Arab League representative Kofi Annan met with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday in Damascus.  Annan appealed “for bold steps now – not tomorrow, now – to create momentum for the implementation of the plan.  This means that the Government, and all Government-backed militias, could stop all military operations and show maximum restraint.”  The six-point peace plan offered by Annan to end the bloodshed back in March has not been implemented.  The Houla massacre is only the latest in a long string of atrocities that have taken place over the past fourteen months.

The U.S. and its allies are considering seeking further sanctions by the UN Security Council against Syria according to US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.  However, Russia has blocked two measures in the past and has threatened to veto future attempts.

French President Francois Hollande went so far as to mention the possible use of military force.  Speaking to France 2 television, he said, “military intervention is not excluded provided it is carried out under the auspices of international law, namely via a Security Council resolution.”  Hollande went on to say, “it is down to myself and others to convince Russia and China, and also to find a solution which is not necessarily a military one.”  On Friday, he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Paris.

For more information, please see:

Al-Ahram – Syria Opposition Seeks Resolution Authorising Use of Force – 29 May 2012

Al Jazeera – Syria Diplomats Face Expulsions over Massacre – 29 May 2012

Bloomberg – U.S., Allies Expel Syrian Diplomats after Houla Massacre – 29 May 2012

The New York Times – Western Nations, Protesting Killings, Expel Syrian Envoys – 29 May 2012

United Nations News Centre – Joint UN-Arab League Envoy Urges Syrian President to Take “Bold Steps” to End Violence – 29 May 2012

Syrian Revolution Digest – Tuesday 29 May 2012

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

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Requiem for the Living!

 

If world leaders believe that they have the luxury to turn their collective back on Syria and wring their collective hands, it will not be the first time people failed to see how their own houses were vulnerable to the fire they were doing nothing to combat. Humanity has made a habit of dancing in her own funeral. What we need today, more than ever, is a requiem for the living for the dead are already at peace.

Tuesday May 29, 2012

 

Death toll: 61, mostly in Homs, Aleppo and Deir Ezzor provinces.

 

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All of the attention being devoted to such dead-end diplomatic initiatives is simply indicative of the fundamental lack of seriousness in Washington regarding events in Syria. President Obama may have created an Atrocities Prevention Board, but he is doing nothing serious to prevent the ongoing atrocities in Syria.

 

Video Highlights

 

In the village of Sijer in Deir Ezzor Province in the northeast, locals find dozens of unidentified bodies with their hands tied behind their backs left by pro-Assad militias, the victims of summary executions: http://youtu.be/DxTvF7g6dFU

 

In Homs City, the pounding of old neighborhoods continues: Bab Sibaa http://youtu.be/MCwjNVtmdXo , http://youtu.be/2cW6ncspAqs Hamidiyeh: human remains scattered all over the streets http://youtu.be/6cBGQDOhrsA

 

The nearby town of Qusayr along the Lebanese borders continues to be heavily bombarded as well http://youtu.be/HlZsd8NsY1Y , http://youtu.be/UB9zX4__qUQ ,http://youtu.be/cr7oXDLqseE Treating the injured http://youtu.be/ymvoDziNsQ8 ,http://youtu.be/LStUj9mZros Martyrs http://youtu.be/WKECEkDAGx4 ,http://youtu.be/2VD63bHzm1M

 

In the town of Rastan, Homs Province, and after weeks of pounding, many neighborhoods lie in ruins http://youtu.be/rwL8n1g0-7E

 

In Aleppo Province, the battle for the town of Al-Atareb continues, but for now the local resistance retains control http://youtu.be/In_FZ5-4Nyk Scenes from the battle: local resistance laying siege to an official building where loyalist forces took refugehttp://youtu.be/Q40u6RodIo8 , http://youtu.be/ZZzYa0miY_4 ,http://youtu.be/1q1pSImGdYQ The wounded http://youtu.be/JIpWMxlAY9M Martyrshttp://youtu.be/KNgVAdYSq_c

 

In Damascus, the town of Douma comes under fire at night http://youtu.be/t94bUwJgKpMand has come under fire earlier in the day as well http://youtu.be/ALsbNkqPT0w

 

Leaked videos shows loyalist troops firing at civilian neighborhoods in the town of Da’el in Daraa Province http://youtu.be/TbHscxDBwD8