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Syria Deeply: Our updates on the battles for Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, the cease-fire south of Damascus, and Turkey’s military expansion in northern Syria
Oct. 16th, 2017
Welcome to our weekly summary of Syria Deeply’s top coverage of crisis in Syria.
Fight Against ISIS: The battles against ISIS in Deir Ezzor and Raqqa advanced over the weekend as pro-government forces claim to have recaptured al-Mayadeen, and U.S.-backed forces announced their final push against militants in Raqqa city.
Citing Russia’s defense ministry, the Associated Press said on Saturday that Syrian troops fully freed al-Mayadeen, in Deir Ezzor province, from ISIS militants. An unidentified Syrian military source confirmed the advance to Reuters, saying that ISIS suffered a “collapse” in their ranks. The ISIS command structure is believed to be based in the city, which is on the Euphrates River near the border with Iraq.
The advance came after ISIS launched a triple car-bomb attack in eastern Syria on Thursday, killing at least 50 people, including internally displaced civilians and Kurdish security personnel, Reuters said.
On Sunday, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched the “final phase” of their battle against ISIS in Raqqa after hundreds of militants surrendered, the SDF said in a statement, adding that the latest push was aimed to drive the few hundred remaining ISIS fighters from their positions inside the city. The announcement came after more than 3,000 civilians and some 275 Syrian ISIS fighters and their families, were evacuated from the city Saturday night under a deal negotiated between local officials from the Raqqa Civil Council and ISIS fighters.
Cease-fire in South Damascus: A cease-fire went into effect at noon on Thursday in a rebel enclave south of Damascus, after three opposition groups agreed to a deal brokered by Russia and Egypt in Cairo.
The exact area covered by the deal remains unclear, but Islamist rebel groups control a pocket of three villages – Yalda, Babila and Beit Sahem – adjacent to ISIS-held territory south of the capital. The three villages have been under total or partial siege since 2013. An estimated 42,500 civilians are still living there.
The Syrian government did not sign the deal. According to Mohammed Alloush, the political leader of Jaish al-Islam, his group is party to the agreement, along with Jaish al-Ababil and Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis, linked to the Palestinian Hamas group.
Turkey Expands In Northern Syria: On Saturday, a new batch of Turkish troops and armored vehicles arrived on the Turkish side of the Syria border ahead of the second phase of deployment in northern Syria, according to Reuters.
Ibrahim al-Idlibi, a military adviser in the Free Syrian Army, told Reuters that “nearly 200 troops are now stationed in areas that separate territory under control of Kurdish groups and opposition groups.” Citing unidentified witnesses, Reuters added that Turkish bulldozers were working “around the clock,” setting up observation posts and digging fortifications.
The Speaker of Syria’s People’s Assembly Hammouda Sabbagh said on Sunday: “The people’s assembly condemns the Turkish flagrant aggression on the Syrian territory in Idlib province, which constitutes a blatant aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and a flagrant violation of international law and norms.”
Read the full summary
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Fate of Catalonia rests on Catalan president’s shoulders
By: Sara Adams
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Europe
BARCELONA, Spain – Catalonia has yet to determine whether they have declared independence.
On October 10th, Catalonia’s president, Carles Puigdemont decided the southern region of Spain would not immediately declare independence from its mother country.
The statement came after Mr. Puigdemont signed an official declaration of independence. Soon after, Mr. Puigdemont announced the suspension.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has accused the Catalan president of deliberately confusing the Spanish government.
On October 11th, the government officially stated that the “ball was now firmly back in Puigdemont’s court.”
What the Catalonian government does next will determine whether the Spanish government will strip Catalonia of its autonomy using Article 155 of the federal constitution. If this happens, administrative control over Catalonia will be given to the Spanish government.
The struggles over the past several days have caused some divide within Spain itself.
The Constitution itself was established in the late 1970s after years of an authoritarian regime, where Catalans were severely oppressed by a dictator.
Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez, of Spain’s main opposition leadership, has expressed support for using the Constitution to deprive Catalonia of its autonomy.
The support was in exchange for an agreement to form a commission to change the Constitution.
Both sides of the spectrum argue that the other side is a threat to democracy.
Prime Minister Rajoy accused separatists of “foisting their will on all the people of Catalonia,” indicating that they ignore the Catalans who do not want to secede.
Yet Mr. Puigdemont, Catalonia’s president, sees Catalonia as an autonomous region that has “won the right to be independence” as a result of the vote held on October 1st.
“The people’s will” is to break free from the central government in Madrid, Mr. Puigdemont stated in front of the Catalan parliament in Barcelona.
On the day of the election, the Spanish government sent police troops in to various towns and cities around Catalonia. This led to several clashes between Catalans and police, with hundreds reportedly injured.
The chaos that day has led to the launch of an investigation into the allegations of police brutality. The main question is whether law enforcement used excessive force against people who were peacefully assembling to vote or protest.
If the Spanish government does choose to invoke Article 155, it may cause more civil unrest similar to the kind seen on October 1st.
Meanwhile, Mr. Puigdemont told CNN that he is sending a message of “calmness”, stating, “[w]e are facing a political problem that we need to solve with politics and not with police.”
For more information, please see:
The Guardian – Spanish PM asks Catalonia: have you declared independence or not? – 11 October 2017
The New York Times – Spain Asks Catalonia: Did You Declare Independence or Not? – 11 October 2017
BBC News – Catalonia: Spain takes step towards direct rule – 11 October 2017
BBC News – Catalonia independence declaration signed and suspended – 10 October 2017
Al-Jazeera – Catalan vote: Claims of Spanish police brutality probed – 3 October 2017
Columbian police open fire on protestors
By: Emily Green
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
BOGOTA, Colombia — Hundreds of farmers and community members gathered to protest forced eradication of their coca crops when the peaceful demonstration turned into a massacre. As many as fifteen civilians were killed and 50 more were injured at the hands of Colombia’s own security forces.
Local reports say anti-narcotics police opened fire into the crowd of protestors on October 5. Between 300 and 1,000 unarmed farmers had gathered in a field of coca requesting to speak with the security forces and stop police from destroying their crop. President Santos has ordered further investigation into the event that occurred in Nariño, the rural area known as a key zone for growing coca.
As the largest producer of coca, a base element of cocaine, Colombia has thousands of farmers who rely on the crop. The country’s new peace plan provides an opportunity for crop substitution. Over a thousand farmers signed an agreement with the government to participate in this program that will substitute their coca crop for legal ones. In exchange for ripping up their coca, the farmers will receive government investment in their community.
However, most coca farmers around Nariño are not yet included in this program and need their crop to feed their families. Although they intend to participate, anti-narcotics authorities will not wait and are forcing eradication of their crop. This premature eradication destroys their means of livelihood.
Several conflicting reports have been brought blaming different groups for the violence, but human rights organizations and locals of the area assure that it was the police who opened fire on the protesting farmers. They resorted to violence after a peaceful two-week protest in which the farmers refused to participate in coca eradication efforts. Local media reported on several protests in this highly coca dependent area, where about 1,000 locals demanded to be included in the national crop substitution program.
On the other hand, the Colombian government has indirectly blamed guerrilla rebels for inciting the incident. Hundreds of FARC rebels have refused to follow the group’s peace agreement and have formed their own organized crime factions dedicated to drug trafficking. Colombia’s Defense Ministry claims that the rebels threw five-cylinder bombs at members of security forces and the crowd of protestors.
There has been no evidence of this version of events and most witnesses deny it. They report escalating tension between the police and the protestors that resulted in “excessive and irrational action” by the police that was “a clear violation of human rights.”
For more information, please see:
Reuters – At Least Six Die During Colombia Protest Over Coca Crop Removal – 6 October 2017
Fox News – 4 killed in clashes with Colombia coca growers, eradicators – 6 October 2017
Telesur – Colombians Mobilize Against Police Killing of 8 Campesinos – 5 October 2017