Unlawful Killing of Syrian Women

7543 women including 2454 girls and 257 infants were killed by the Syrian Government’s Armed Forces since the beginning of the Syrian revolution.
Unlawful  killing of Syrian Women
Report Prepared by Syrian Network for Human Rights
SNHR —  By our daily documentation of Syrian victims, we have noted that the proportion of killed women is very high, and up to approximately 9% of the civilians victims toll.  In many days SNHR documented almost 30 female victims, although most of the killings occurred during the indiscriminate or deliberate shelling against civilians with TNT by warplanes, scud missiles, or artillery.  However there are hundreds of women who were killed deliberately during raids and massacres.
Due to our documentation’s methodology, we could not disclose any numbers without providing a statistic’s documented name, date of death, place of death, photo or video of the casualty, and how that person was killed.
Since the beginning of the Syrian revolution, to 30 April 2013, SNHR documented the killing of 7543 female victims: including 2454 girls, and 257 infants (less than 3 years old).  There are 155 female victims whose names are not known.  We have their photos, we know how they were killed and the dates of the incidents, but we could not get their names.
We would like to indicate that 421 women were intentionally sniped, that’s mean the snipers who killed them were fully convinced that they targeted, and killed, women.
Also, 24 women were tortured to death after being arrested.  They were exposed to systematically, and exceptionally cruel torturing methods.
Please find all details for each case in the following link:  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9Bj18tlYYKBZWNQNjFzNDNIbDA/edit
Female victims are distributed among the Syrian provinces below:
Homs : 1411
Damascus countryside : 1397
Aleppo : 1289
Idleb : 1088
Daraa : 667
Deir Alzor : 557
Hama : 483
Damascus : 339
Al-Raqqa : 75
Lattakia : 74
Not Syrian : 55
Al- Quneitra : 38
Al-Hasaka : 29
Tartus : 16
Al-Swidaa : 5

Legal conclusions :

1- Syrian Government Armed Forces committed extensive systematic crimes against humanity with unlawful killings;
2- Syrian Government Armed Forces committed these extensive systematic crimes in non international armed conflicts.  The killings should be deemed as war crimes;
3- The Syrian government, who killed and targeted civilians, violated both International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law
Recommendations:
Human Rights Council:
1- Call upon the Security Council and relevant organizations to take upon their responsibility towards what is happening to the Syrian people, who are subjected to murder, rape, and displacement;
2- Exert pressure on the Syrian government to stop the torturing, and demand the release of all detainees;
3- Hold the Syrian government’s allies and supporters, Russia, Iran, and China, morally and physically responsible for  what is currently happening to the Syrian children;
4- Give serious attention to this case, give it a high priority, and give your best effort to take care of torture victims and their families.
Security Council:
1-Decision to refer all the criminals and the involved to ICC
2- Warn Syrian Government ‘s Armed Forces of therepercussions of using brutal methods and systematic killing and send clear messages about
Arab League :
1- Demand the Human Rights Council and United Nations to give this serious issue the right attention and to continuously follow up with the events;
2- Give serious attention to this case, give it a high priority, and try to take care of victims’ families mentally, physically, , and educationally;
3- Apply political and diplomatic pressure on the Syrian Government’s Armed Forces main allies – Russia, Iran, and China – to prevent them from continuously providing cover, international, and political protection for all the crimes committed againstthe Syrian people.  Also, hold them morally and physically responsible for all the excesses of the Syrian Government’s Armed Forces.

Former Guatemalan Dictator Rios Montt Sentenced to 80 Years for Genocide

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Managing Editor, News

GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — Rios Montt, the former Guatemalan dictator, was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity last Saturday for killing more than 1,700 Ixil Mayan Indians during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war.  He was sentenced to 80 years in prison.  Montt is the first Latin American ex-leader to be convicted of genocide, and the first former, or current leader in the world to be convicted of genocide in his own country.

Former Guatemalan dictator Ricardo Montt was sentenced to 80 years for Genocide when he commanded troops to kill more than 1,700 people of Ixil Mayan decent. (Photo Courtesy of the New York Times)

The 86-year old Montt held power in Guatemala from 1982-1983.  After overthrowing one leader during a coup, he was was overthrown immediately after.  During his year-long dictatorship, he commanded his troops to rape, torture, and murder thousands of Ixil Mayans when he implemented a scorched-earth policy against leftist rebels.  Troops massacred the indigenous population because they were thought to be assisting the rebels.  Over 200,000 people died during the course of the civil war.

After the civil war ended in 1996, Montt became a member of congress and was immune from prosecution.  Montt was indicted in January 2012 after losing his immunity when he finished his congressional term.  His attorneys tried to delay the trial in hopes that he would die before facing a court, however, attempts were futile when he and his former Chief of Military Intelligence, José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, went before Guatemala’s Supreme Court on March 19, 2013.

In a courtroom packed with Ixil Mayan people, garbed in traditional clothing, Judge Yassmin Barrios told Montt that he was “fully aware of plans to exterminate the indigenous Ixl population.”  Montt denied the charge, and proclaimed his innocence, claiming he never had control of the battlefield.  Former U.S. President, Ronald Reagan was a supporter of Montt, believed that Mott was “a man of great personal integrity.”  President Reagan believed that the dictator received a “bum rap” from rights groups when Montt implemented a scorched-earth policy.

The courtroom erupted in cheers after Montt, who claimed he had “never authorized, signed, proposed, or ordered attacks on a racial, ethnic, or religious group,” received his sentence.  “I feel happy.  May no one else ever have to go through what I did.  My community has been sad ever since this happened,” said Elena de Paz, an Ixil Mayan whose parents were killed and home was burned by soldiers when she was only two years old.  Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu was also satisfied by the court’s decision.  “Today we are happy, because for many years it was said that genocide was a lie, but today the court said it was true,” she said.

Amnesty International hailed the verdict, and called Montt’s trial “the trial of the decade.”

For further information please see:

Bloomberg News — Former Guatemalan Dictator Rios Montt Guilty of Genocide Charges — 11 May 2013

The Atlantic News Wire — Rios Montt Convicted of Genocide — 10 May 2013

Human Rights Watch — Guatemala: Rios Montt Convicted of Genocide — 10 May 2013

New York Times — Former Guatemalan Dictator Rios Montt Convicted of Genocide — 10 May 2013