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Syrian Revolution Digest: Wednesday, 16 April 2013
Lipstick on a Pig!
Assad’s amnesty deal could free up to 7,000 prisoners, we are told, leaving 150,000 to go. How generous is the Lord! How widespread the rejoicing!
Death Toll: 119 martyrs, including 19 women, 21 children, and 3 under torture: 49 in Aleppo most in Sakhour neighborhood; 19 in Damascus and Suburbs; 16 in Daraa; 14 in Idlib; 8 in Raqqa; 5 in Homs; 5 in Deir Ezzor; and 3 in Hama (LCC).
News
Rebels push Assad’s army away from vital north Syria highway The two sides are struggling for control of a highway that serves as the main route into Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, after President Bashar al-Assad’s forces broke through a six-month rebel blockade of two bases near the road. Rebels are determined to re-establish the blockade of the bases, located outside the town of Maarat al-Nuaman in Idlib province, because a government advance could upset the balance of power in the heart of the rebel-held north. No side now fully controls the highway.
UN agencies call for end to Syria ‘carnage’ Leaders of five UN agencies in rare joint appeal urge international community to find a political solution to conflict.
Syrian guns fall silent to allow Aleppo’s dead to be collected Red Crescent workers and members of an opposition local council drove into the edge of the working class al-Sakhour district in north Aleppo to pick up the mostly civilian dead, many of them hit by army sniper fire, as fighters from the two sides looked on, activists and rebel military sources said. The opposition Aleppo Media Centre said the majority of the bodies, which included children, had already decomposed. Some had been lying in the streets and between buildings for months. Three bodies were found with their hands tied and four were burnt beyond recognition, the monitoring group said.
Syria’s Assad cuts jail terms, activists not satisfied The move reduced prison terms of inmates held for both crimes and misdemeanors and also cut by a quarter the jail terms of “Syrians who had joined the terrorists” – the term used by the government to describe the rebels trying to topple Assad… Syrian opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib said the reductions would be seen as a positive gesture only if the women and children among the detainees were released in the coming days. “We want an amnesty on crimes and the release of all innocents of which there are more than 160,000. Most importantly among them are the women and children. If this happens we will say it is a token of a Syrian solution,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Turkey Holds 10 Suspected of Arming Syria Islamist Rebels-MediaThe suspects were arrested in Konya province, some 250 km south of the capital Ankara, after police were tipped off that a “radical Islamist group” was persuading young men to join the Syrian insurgents, Turkey’s private Dogan News Agency said. According to the report, the men were also suspected of supplying handguns and rifles to the rebels, who have been fighting to overthrow Assad in a civil war that started as a peaceful street uprising two years ago. Konya police declined to comment on the detentions.
NPR website defaced by hackers supporting Syria: Syrian Electronic Army posts messages in support of President Bashar Assad The group tweeted that it would not say why it attacked @NPR. “They know the reason and that is enough,” it said… A subsequent Twitter exchange suggested that it had to do with coverage of the conflict in Syria by NPR reporter Deborah Amos who “has told of the hard toll the fighting there is taking on the Syrian people,” the blog post said.
Special Reports
In rebel fighter’s personal story, the arc of Syria’s war When The Monitor first met Syrian rebel fighter Abu Omar last July, he was buoyant and determined to bring down the Assad regime. Now his outlook is a bit more grim.
Syria’s Forgotten Front Israel and the Syrian opposition don’t have much in common, but they do share some important mutual enemies, namely Hezbollah and Iran, both of which are fighting furiously to save Bashar al-Assad’s government. This convergence of interests provides an opening for America to quietly strike a deal between Israel and the leadership of the Syrian opposition: Israel should agree to refrain from arming proxies inside Syria to protect its border; and the Syrian opposition should work to keep extremist groups like Hezbollah and Jabhat al-Nusra and other affiliates of Al Qaeda far away from the Israeli frontier. This would demonstrate the Syrian opposition’s bona fides to potential Western supporters and dissuade Israel from intervening or arming allies in Syria.
Syria Is Complicated — Simultaneous Conflicts Always Are The war in Syria is so enduring and vexing precisely because it is such a multi-layered conflict, comprising at least six separate battles taking place at the same time, argues Rami G. Khouri.
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.”
Quickly Noted
* Yesterday, I put the wrong link for Moaz Al-Khatib’s speech. Sorry. Here is the correct link http://youtu.be/aeL0nJ415gc.
Video Highlights
In cooperation with the local chapter Red Crescent, a ceasefire was observed in certain parts of Aleppo City to allow for rebels to retrieve the bodies of dead civilians strewn in the streets. Most were in various degrees of decomposition. The dead were victims of pro-Assad snipers http://youtu.be/9ZJ7lowPSGI
Rebels in Marrat Al-Numan, Idlib, repel an offensive by pro-Assad militiashttp://youtu.be/DCGhcPZ4VE8 , http://youtu.be/TWkTxFYew6M Fighters in nearby Babouline do the same http://youtu.be/GfIsNe7A0x8
Pounding of neighborhoods on the outskirts of the Kurdish-majority city ofQamishly in Syria’s northeastern parts leave many deadhttp://youtu.be/CWSaUrqb3lY
Amidst growing concerns over the possible use of chemical weapons by pro-Assad militias, activists in the Kurdish majority town of Efrin, Aleppo Province, organize a small workshop to inform people on how they could protect themselves of treat the aftermath of exposure http://youtu.be/Uy9z-DbnYD4
This video purports to show a Jordanian intelligence officer declaring his defection and his decision to join Jabhat Al-Nusra and its fighters in Syria. The officer says that he made his decision after he was tasked with monitoring the activities of JAN http://youtu.be/EoH_gWD8Ybs
Rebels in the town of Tabqa, Raqqah Province, bring down a MiG fighterhttp://youtu.be/xd6Z0F-Hpdg
China’s Push for Accelerated Urbanization is Pushing Migrant Workers Toward Homelessness
By Irving Feng
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
SHANGHAI, China – Dozens of migrant Chinese workers are being evicted from their makeshift homes in old shipping containers in Shanghai due the new Chinese leadership’s desire to accelerate urbanization in the outskirts of the country’s “mega” cities.
Neighborhoods like the shipping container village, about twenty minutes away from Shanghai’s wealthy financial district, have sprung up in the last twenty years to fulfill China’s desperate need for cheap housing. Other unusual housing solutions include using tents, repurposing old industrial buildings, and subdividing farm houses to accommodate the droves of migrant workers that flock to urban centers.
China plans on spending roughly $6 trillion on improving domestic infrastructure, like building more housing, in order to serve the projected 400 million people that are estimated to move to urban centers in the next decade.
Though China plans on building more housing to fulfill their desperate housing needs, by destroying the makeshift neighborhoods like the shipping container village in Shanghai, the government is leaving thousands of poor, migrant workers without any housing.
Migrant workers, like Li Yanxin who runs a convenience store out of his shipping container to earn money, cannot afford regular apartments, which can cost as much as 2000 yuan per month (roughly $320 U.S.). The poor must resort to renting smaller properties, like 12 square meter subdivided rooms, at the more affordable rate of 500 yuan per month (roughly $80 U.S.).
Around 130 million migrant, Chinese workers live in subdivided rooms in old farmhouses, which land owning farmers in villages have repurposed. After the government usurps the land the old farmhouses sit on, the land will be rezoned and repurposed for development purposes.
The newly rezoned land can be sold at a very high price for lucrative commercial development. These lands, in theory, will be repurposed for fulfilling the desperate housing needs; however, the evicted migrant poor will be unable to afford the luxury apartments that will most likely sit atop of the newly developed lands.
Other cities, like Beijing, are attempting to clean up crowded tenements, like the shipping container village and farmhouse subdivision tenements, by usurping the land, repurposing it, and raising rents. This effectively prices out the poor who will no longer be able to afford the properties.
Beijing also will not allow migrant poor to purchase the new properties the city plans to build. The migrant workers will only be allowed to rent, however, the number of available apartments to rent usually falls short of public need.
For further information, please see:
Reuters – China’s urbanization drive leaves migrant workers out in the cold – 30 March 2013
China Daily – Migrants: linchpin of China’s urbanization – 27 March 2013
New Tang Dynasty – China’s Urbanization Drive Puts Trillions into Officials’ Pockets – 27 March 2013
South China Morning Post – Managing China’s urban spread – 21 March 2013
Syrian Opposition Opens its First Embassy
By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
DOHA, Qatar — The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) opened the doors to its first “embassy” in Qatar last Wednesday, just a day after the Arab League granted it recognition by giving it Damascus’s seat in the league.
The head of the SNC, Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, and Qatari State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Khaled Al-Attiya, were at the embassy in Doha for the inauguration of the representative office, dubbed the “Embassy of the Syrian National Coalition.” “This is the first embassy of the Syrian people,” said al-Khatib. Al-Khatib said that the SNC’s next goal is to assume Syria’s seat in the United Nations. Al-Khatib also used the ribbon cutting ceremony as a platform to voice his frustration with global powers for failing to do more to assist the SNC with toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. “There is an international willingness for the revolution not to triumph,” said al-Khatib.
NATO Chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said last Wednesday that a political solution to the Syrian crisis must shapen, but ruled out Western military intervention despite Khatib’s plea.
The SNC named Nizar Haraki as its first ambassador to Qatar. Haraki said that he will “soon” present his accreditation letter to the Emir of Qatar. The SNC also named envoys in several countries including Britain, France, Libya, Turkey, and the United States, but has not yet proceeded with opening diplomatic missions in those countries.
Russia scolded the Arab League for taking “another anti-Syria step,” when the league recognized the SNC. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said, “In terms of international law, the decisions taken by the Arab League in respect of Syria are illegal and void because the government of the Syrian Arab Republic was and will remain the legitimate representative of the UN member state.” Russia also said that the Arab League is supporting a “military solution” to the conflict instead of peace talks.
Iran also criticized the move, calling it illegitimate, and a “dangerous precedent” set by the Arab League. “Handing Syria’s seat to the so-called provisional government is a danagerous precedent by the memberes of the Arab League,” said Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.
The original Syrian embassy’s doors were closed in November 2011, when diplomatic ties with the Gulf countries were severed after Syria rejected the Arab League’s peace proposal to end its campaign of violence against demonstrators, and instead resorted to a bloody crackdown on the rebellion. The embassy continues to remain inactive.
For further information, please see:
Al Jazeera — Syria Opposition Opens Embassy in Qatar — 28 March 2013
Arab News — Syrian Opposition Opens ‘Embassy’ in Qatar — 28 March 2013
Global Times — Coalition Opens Syrian Embassy — 28 March 2013
Al Shorfa — Syrian Opposition Opens Office in Qatar — 27 March 2013
All Voices — Syrian Rebels Open new ‘Embassy’ in Qatar — 27 March 2013
Global Post — Syria Rebels Open ‘Embassy’ in Qatar — 27 March 2013
Ya Libnan — Syrian Opposition gets the Embassy in Qatar — 27 March 2013
Special Election In Venezuela Hints At Electoral Misgivings
By Brendan Oliver Bergh
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
CARACAS, Venezuela – Despite losing last year to Hugo Chavez in the Presidential election, Henrique Capriles is rising to call again as he faces hand-picked and acting interim president Nicolas Maduro in the special election for Venezuela’s Presidency.
While Venezuela gathers its base after the death of their President, Hugo Chavez, the country has been taking a hard pressed stance against the United States and their Western allies. After subtle accusations blaming the U.S. for assassinating Chavez – with an injection to give him cancer – interim president Maduro and the remaining cabinet have halted all official channels of communications between the countries. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua states that “until there is a clear message on what type of relationship the United States wants with Venezuela, it makes no sense to continue wasting time.
While U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson called for open, fair and transparent elections in Venezuela there may be indications that the quick turnaround is hardly fair. The campaign of Henrique Capriles has accused the government of abuse of power and constitutional fraud in inaugurating Maduro as president. Capriles denounced the supreme court which allowed Maduro to become President and then run again in the special election. He has stated that “What the supreme court did I’ve qualified as an electoral fraud,” and insisted that the 60 day election opening, from the time of Chavez’s death to the April 14 election is likely to lead to a favored bias towards Maduro. They have accused Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) as “no more than a tool of the regime to maintain its power.” This of course a massive description from the regimes coalition calling it “an excellent example of democratic institutions in the country.”
In order to adhere to fair elections the CNE has signed an agreement with the Union of South American Nations, in which they would send electoral teams in order to “witness the electoral process “ and hopefully ensure fair elections. Several Venezuelan electoral NGO’s have been invited to augment and observe the upcoming election.
Mr. Capriles has stated that “I feel that this fight… has become a spiritual struggle of a divine character, because those who live in Venezuela feel that this has become a struggle to break down a wall of evil.”
Despite allegations of electoral misgivings, polls have Mr. Capriles at 22%.
For further information, please see:
Telegraph – Capriles Says Venezuela Election Is A War Of ‘Good And Evil’ – 25 March 2013
Venezuela Analysis – Maduro Counters Campaign To Discredit Venezuelan Electoral System – 25 March 2013
Press TV – Venezuela Suspends Communications With US Top Diplomat Ahead OF Election – 20 March 2013
Huffington Post – Venezuela Election Candidate Nicolas Maduro Has Upperhand As Chavez’s ‘Heredero’ – 14 March 2013
Guardian – Venezuelan Opposition Challenges Nicolas Maduro’s Legitimacy – 8 March 2013