By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria–In the latest developments coming out of Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has officially offered amnesty to anyone accused of crimes in connection with demonstrations and protests that have occurred in the last 10 months of anti-regime unrest and ensuing violence. al-Assad has previously made similar statements on three previous occasions in May, June, and November of 2011.

 

 

 

 

 

This time, al-Assad made the announcement on the official SANA news agency and broadcast on state television. According to the announcement, it would apply to army deserters who turned themselves in before the end of January, peaceful protesters, and those who handed in unlicensed weapons. The statement included the following segment.

“Amnesty is granted for crimes committed in the context of the events taking place since March 1, 2011, till the date of issuing the decree.”

Opposition groups did not respond immediately to the amnesty pledge, as this is the first time that al-Assad has made it since forces loyal to him have lost control of parts of Syria’s cities and towns.

Since the demonstrations and protests began in March 2011, SANA has reported that al-Assad has freed approximately 3,952 prisoners. The opposition claims that there are thousands more in Syrian prisons and said that 26 people had died on Sunday 15 January 2012, including a policeman and soldier killed by security forces for refusing to fire upon protesters. Among the individuals who lost their lives on Sunday 15 January 2011, five were factory workers killed when their bus was hit by a bomb in the northern province of Idlib.

In the past year, tens of thousands of people have been detained in the past year. The UN estimates that at least 5,000 people have been killed since initial peaceful protests against al-Assad’s regime turned violent. Many demonstrations and protests were met with brutal security crackdowns, which ignited an ongoing armed conflict that has seen both the military and the opposition orchestrate attacks.

UN chief Ban Ki-Moon released a statement on Sunday 15 January 2012 concerning the ongoing situation in Syria.

“Today, I say again to President Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people. The path of repression is a dead end. The lessons of the past year are eloquent and clear. The winds of change will not cease to blow. The flame ignited in Tunisia will not be dimmed. Let us remember as well, none of these great changes began with a call for a regime change. First and foremost, people wanted dignity.”

Residents in the town of Zabadani, approximately 50 km (30 miles) northwest of Damascus, cheered as Arab League monitors visited their area. These residents, according to CNN, stated that their water and electricity had been cut off from the past three days and displayed fresh wounds from conflicts with pro-government forces.

When the monitors were ready to leave after their inspection of this designated area, many thousands of residents implored them to stay, stating that the attacks would resume once they had left. Many of the residents offered to show the monitors where Syria tanks were hidden in fields surrounding the city. al-Assad’s regime was required to pull its heavy weaponry out of the cities under the agreement that was signed with the Arab League in November 2011. But the residents of Zabadani claimed that the tanks were only absent when the Arab League monitors were present.

Fares Mohammed, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, claimed that about 100 armored vehicles had surrounded the city for three days. Also, that the power and water were cut off, while the city faced sub-freezing temperatures. A member of the Free Syria Army, which is composed primarily of deserters who are siding with the opposition, stated that there were about 70 lightly armored fighters in Zabadani. He gave this statement to CNN, asking not to be named for security purposes.

“The situation is very bad. The siege is choking us, and even air is running out.”

Despite its large presence, the Arab League continues to struggle with its mission of holistically quelling the violence in Syria. The current delegation in the country has not stopped drawing fierce criticisms from both sides of the conflict and a general consensus exists that the mission has failed. However, there is also a general consensus that it is important to keep away intervention from outside of the Arab world, the same intervention in Libya that helped bring down Muammar Gaddafi.

Amr Moussa, who left the Arab League leader’s chair last year, showed support for a Qatari proposal to send Arab troops in Syria to deal with the violence. He shared these sentiments with a correspondent from The Guardian.

“This is a very important proposal. The Arab League should begin to study this possibility and begin consultations on this issue.”

The ruler of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, shared these words with US news outlet CBS in his support of sending in Arab troops.

“For such a situation to stop the killing, some troops should go to stop the killing.”

It appears that the more al-Assad talks about making changes for his people, the more of them seem to suffer or be put at risk to suffer.

 

 

For more information, please see:

Ahram – Syrian President Grants General Amnesty – 15 January 2012

Al-Jazeera – Assad Offers ‘Amnesty’ For Opposition – 15 January 2012

BBC – Syria Crisis: Assad ‘Gives Amnesty For Uprising Crimes – 15 January 2012

CNN – Syria Toll Rises To 25; Monitors Cheered In Besieged Town – 15 January 2012

The Guardian – Syria Offers Second Amnesty to Anti-Regime Protesters – 15 January 2012

NYT – Fear of Civil War Mounts in Syria as Crisis Deepens – 14 January 2012

 

By Adom M. Cooper
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria–In the midst of the Arab League’s mission to discover what exactly is happening inside Syria since the protests began, one monitor decided to call it quits after what he witnessed. Anwar Malek, an Algerian member of the monitoring team, has called the Arab League’s mission to the country a ‘farce.’

 

Malek stated that he resigned due to what he saw and that the mission itself was falling apart. He also stated that security forces did not withdraw their tanks from the streets, but rather hid them and chose to redeploy them after the observers had gone. He shared these sentiments with an Al-Jazeera correspondent.

“What I saw was a humanitarian disaster. The regime is not just committing one war crime, but a series of crimes against its people. The snipers are everywhere shooting civilians. People are being kidnapped. Prisoners are being tortured and none were released. The mission was a farce and the observers have been fooled. The regime orchestrated it and fabricated most of what we saw to stop the Arab League from taking action against the regime.”

Meanwhile, President Bashar al-Assad addressed a rather large gathering of his followers and supports in the Syrian capital, Damascus. In his second speech in as many days, al-Assad stated again his accusations that the “homeland was reeling under the brunt of conspiracy.”

“You are standing against a desecration of our identity, and you are confirming your steadfastness and support for the armed forces, whose martyrs are falling every single day so you can live in safety.We will triumph over this conspiracy. It is dying; it’s the end of their plot.”

The United Nations has declared that more than 5,000 civilians have lost their lives since the protests began against al-Assad in March 2011. Conversely, al-Assad has declared that “terrorists” have killed some 2,000 members of his security forces.

A senior UN official informed the UN Security Council on Tuesday 10 January 2012 that Syria had accelerated its killing of pro-democracy demonstrators and protesters after the Arab League monitors had arrived. Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, delivering the following statement concerning the increased death of civilians since the Arab League monitors began their observance.

“The under-secretary-general noted that in the days since the Arab League monitoring mission has been on the ground, an estimated additional 400 people have bee killed, an average of 40 a day, a rate much higher than was the case before their deployment. That is a clear indication that the government of Syria, rather than using the opportunity to end the violence and fulfill all of its commitments to the Arab League, is instead stepping up the violence. The Arab League has failed for six decades to take a position in the Arab interest.”

The Arab League condemned an attack on Monday 9 January 2012 in which 11 of its monitors were hurt by demonstrators and protesters in the province of Latakia. The monitors were upset, saying that Syria breached its obligation to protect them. al-Assad’s regime claimed that it was continuing to provide security for the observers and also condemned any act that would obstruct their mission’s work. The Arab League released the following statement concerning the attacks on its monitors.

“Failing to provide adequate protection in Latakia and other areas where the mission is deployed is considered a serious violation by the government of its commitments.”

Malek further expressed his disgust what the situation, stating that the government was not assisting the observers with their requests. He also stated that those who were supposedly freed and were shown on television, were actually people who had been randomly grabbed off the street.

“The regime didn’t meet any of our requests, in fact they were trying to deceive us and steer us away from what was really happening, towards insignificant events. The people were detained for four or five days in tough conditions and later released as if they had been real prisoners.”

“Around some of the buildings, there were even army officers in front of the building, while snipers were on the roof. Some on our team preferred to maintain good relations with the regime and denied that there were snipers. From time to time, we would see a person killed by a sniper. I have seen it with my own eyes. I could not shed my humanity in such situations and claim independence and objectivity.”

One can only wonder what the civilians on the ground are really going through if one of the Arab League’s monitors, sent to help their situation, felt so repulsed by what he saw that he had to resign. The civilians of Syria need all the attention that they can get so the violence against them ceases. But as long as the violence rages on, the voices for freedom will continue to be silenced.

 

 

For more information, please see: 

Ahram – UN Says Syria Killings Rise After Monitors Arrive – 11 January 2012

Al-Jazeera – Arab Observer Calls Syria Mission a ‘Farce’ – 11 January 2012

BBC – Ex-Arab League Monitor Labels Syria Mission a ‘Farce’ – 11 January 2012

CNN – Al-Assad Revs Up Pro-Regime Rally – 11 January 2012

The Guardian – Arab League Official Attacks Syria Mission as ‘Farce’ – 11 January 2012

Reuters – Arab Monitor Quits Syria Mission in Disgust – 11 January 2012