SNHR Casualties Report: Tuesday, 16 April 2013

Syrian network for human rights documented 124 victims , Tuesday  16/4/2013 all across Syria,  including a massacre in Aleppo where 33 victims has been found ( documented by photos , videos ) .
Among the 116 victims : 19 children, 8 ladies , 8 tortured to death , 18 armed rebels
Aleppo : 47 victims
Damascus and countryside : 19 victims
Daraa : 16 victims
Homs : 3 victim
Idlib : 15 victims
Qunaitra : 3 victims
Dier Alzoor : 4 victims
Hama : 5 victims
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Aleppo : 47 victims : 11 children , 1 soldier
1-     Mohamad Saed Altarsha , sniper bullet , his body pulled out from the North way that connect between Sakhour and Midan neighborhoods
2-     Basem Abdulghani Orab , his body pulled out from the North way that connect between Sakhour and Midan neighborhoods
3-     Unknown soldier , his body burned and pulled out from the North way that connect between Sakhour and Midan neighborhoods http://youtu.be/2UPc9VErFf4
4-     Unknown victim – slaughtered –  his body pulled out from the North way that connect between Sakhour and Midan neighborhoods
5-9- Five unknown victims , the bodies burned by tires and pulled out from the North way that connect between Sakhour and Midan neighborhoods
Video for Two burned bodies (http://youtu.be/PnY3fKjg2IQ )
10- 28- Nineteen unknown victims , including four children ,the bodies pulled out from the North way that connect between Sakhour and Midan neighborhoods
Videos for Pulling out the bodies :
Testimony of one of the persons who pulled out the bodies
Testimony of local council head of Hanano Neighborhood
Photos of the bodies
29- Mohamad Ragha – 53 years old – sniper bullet in Sakhour neighborhood
30- Mahmod Hamod – 26 years old – armed rebel and father of a children – clashes
31- Husam Hadad – armed rebel and married – clashes
32- Kamel Boni – armed rebel and father of six children – clashes
33- Zakaria Alholo – killed by unknown armed gangs
34- Mohamad Noor – armed rebel – clashes
35- Hamza Aldiri – 28 – targeted his car with his children with a tank shell
36- 39 Four children sons of Hamza Aldiri , targeted their father’s car with a tank shell
40- Abbas Aldiri – 31 – targeted his car with his children with a tank shell
41-42 – Two children sons of Abbas Aldiri , targeted their father’s car with a tank shell
43- Fawaz Aljafal – 34 – shelling on Azizia neighborhood
44- Child Mostafa Aljafal -17 years old – shelling on Azizia neighborhood
45- Jasem Aljafal – 29 – shelling on Azizia neighborhood
46- Unknown victim – sniper bullet in Akeol
47- Mohamad Shamta – shelling on Shikh Miskin in Daraa , his body buried in Ibtaa village in Daraa
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Damascus and countryside : 19 victims : 4 children , 2 ladies , 3 tortured to death
1-     Tarek Slit – armed rebel – affected his wounds cause of clashes
2-     Diab Alhamroni – Dommar – armed rebel – tortured to death in Military branch 215
3-     Child Hasan Alaraj – shelling on Bbila
4-     Girl child Mariam Hasan Alaraj – shelling on Bbila
5-     Girl child Rania Saed Alaraj – shelling on Bbila
6-     Ms. Mariam Kamar Agha – Grandmother of Rania, Mariam and Hasan – shelling on Bbila
7-     Mahmod Saed – Palestinian – Yarmok refugee camp – sniper bullet
8-     Ahmad Kataf – Palestinian – Yarmok refugee camp – sniper bullet
9-     Alaa Alkharki – Mhajrin – tortured to death in prison
10-Ms. Rahaf Alsidawi – affected of her wounds cause of shelling on Doma
11-Yasin Awama –shelling on Doma
12-Mohamad Alhomsi – affected his wounds cause of shilling on Qabon http://youtu.be/1B-Tdk4Gxgo
13- Mohamad Rabia Nor Aldin Alhomsi – 20 years old – targeted his car with a bomb
14-Child Mahmod  Rabia Nor Aldin Alhomsi – 15 years old – targeted with his brother’s car with a bomb
15- Mohamad Alsakal – lawyer – tortured to death in prison
16- Adnan Mosa – armed rebel – clashes
17-18-19- Three unknown victims – executed by Syrian government ‘s troops on a checkpoint then took their bodies
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 Daraa 16 victims ,2 ladies , 1 tortured to death
1-      Ms. Itihad Almosleh – teacher – shelling on Moaraba town
2-     Ms. Doha Faori – sniper bullet in Shikh Miskin village
3-     Ammar Alkor – ambush by Alassad troops
4-     Omar Alkor – ambush by Alassad troops
5-     Mohamad Abo Daif – ambush by Alassad troops
6-     Nadim Alaid – armed rebel – ambush by Alassad troops
7-     Fadi Alnaif – executed by Alassad troops
8-     Ashraf Alhariri – tortured to death in Air security branch
9-     Ahmad Nahar – killed in 13-4-2013 by sniper bullet
10-Ali Alkhatib – armed rebel – clashes
11-Salah Alhomsi – teacher – Alassad troops bullets
12-Abdullah Mikdad – affected of his wounds cause of shelling
13-Ahmad Mikdad – affected of his wounds cause of shelling
14-Ahmad Ibrahim – armed rebels – clashes
15-Ahmad Alakidi – sniper bullet in Shikh Miskin village
16-Ahmad Barhomi – armed rebels – clashes
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Idlib :15 victims , 2 children , 1 tortured to death
1-     Mahmod Alawi – dissident solider , clashes
2-     Mohamad Almahmod – armed rebel – cashes
3-     Girl child Batol Kabalan – affected her wounds cause of shelling
4-     Child Mohamad Yousef Aldaher – 13 years old – affected his wounds
5-     Firas Aldibl – tortured to death after he was detainee for 21 days
6-     Radwan Jasem – sniper bullet , his body pulled out from the North way that connect between Sakhour and Midan
neighborhoods
7-     Ayman Alhadad – sniper bullet , his body pulled out from the North way that connect between Sakhour and Midan neighborhoods
8-     Ms. Alia Kurdi , her body pulled out from the North way that connect between Sakhour and Midan neighborhoods
9-     Miasara ALsofi – paramedic – shelling on Saraqeb
10-Taha Yasin shelling on Saraqeb
11-Khalif Aljasem – shelling
12-Unknown body – shelling
13-Abdullah Alhusain – armed rebel – clashes
14-Mohamad Alkador – armed rebel – clashes
15-Ali Alsultan – armed rebel – clashes
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Raqqa :9 victims , 2 children
1-     Husain Alanizan –shelling
2-     Rami Alanizan –shelling
3-     Child Hamza Alanizan –4 years old – shelling
4-     Child Abod Alanizan –11 years old – shelling
5-     Ibrahim Alsalim – shelling
6-     Hasan Althiab – shelling
7-8-9 three unknown victims – shelling
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Dier Alzoor :4 victims , 2 ladies
1-     Omar Alaliwi – shelling on Dier Alzoor
2-     Unknown lady – sniper bullet in Damascus
3-     Aref Alabdullah – armed rebel – clashes
4-     Ms. Jahadia Alhabel – shelling
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Qunaitra : 3 victims , 1 under torture
1-     Najdat Alahmad – tortured to death in prison
2-    3- Two unknown victims – shelling on Jobar in Damascus , in toxic gases
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Homs : 2 victims , 1 under torture
1-     Mostafa Turkumani – dissident soldier – clashes
2-     Abdulbaset Tlas – tortured to death in prison
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Hama : 4 victims , 2 ladies , 1 tortured to death
1-     Khadija Jaroud – shelling on Tawba village – mother of 6 children
2-     Anod Albarhom – shelling on Tawba village – mother of 6 children
3-     Mostafa Bilal – under torture
4-     Mohamad Dabdob – shelling
5-     Mohamad Abdulaziz – armed rebel
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SNHR also documented :
Mazen Almalki – tortured to death in prison / Damascus
Syrian Network for Human Rights – London

Notes From Makeni Part 1: “What Charles Taylor’s Judgment Means in Rural Sierra Leone”

By Reta Raymond
Special Features Editor

I am a third-year student at Syracuse University College of Law, and spent this past summer as an intern at Access to Justice Law Centre, a NGO in Makeni, Sierra Leone. These journal entries document my time spent in Sierra Leone. The opinions expressed in this series are purely my own, and not those of Access to Justice Law Centre. 

“Charles Taylor couldn’t escape the law, and neither can your husband!” exclaimed Madiana, a Project Coordinator at Access to Justice Law Centre (“AJLC”).  I was at a community outreach event in a rural village, about thirty minutes outside of Makeni, in northern Sierra Leone.  That day, AJLC brought members of the community together to discuss the legal rights of women and children and provided resources for those seeking help.  The woman Madiana was addressing had been skeptical of the law’s ability to stop her husband from beating her.  This woman had once before reported her husband to the Family Support Unit of the Police Department, but to no avail.

Reta in Makeni, standing on the balcony of Access to Justice Law Centre.
Reta in Makeni, standing on the balcony of Access to Justice Law Centre.

I came to Sierra Leone after my second year of law school at Syracuse University to work as an intern at AJLC.  AJLC is a non-governmental organization that serves women and children throughout northern Sierra Leone.  They provide mediation, counseling, and litigation services.  It was at this community outreach event, during the first week of my internship, that I began to realize how a failed state could rebuild the rule of law.

Many local people I’ve spoken to agree that Sierra Leone was a failed state when the civil war ended in 2002.  The United Nations and the Sierra Leonean government created the Special Court for Sierra Leone as a way of seeking justice for the widespread atrocities that were committed against civilians during the war.   The Special Court was mandated to prosecute the few who bore the “greatest responsibility” for the war crimes.   Finally, on April 26, 2012, after a five-year trial, former Liberian President Charles Taylor was found guilty of eleven counts of aiding and abetting the war in Sierra Leone.

However, those who did not bear the greatest responsibility, but were responsible in fact for the atrocities, were reintegrated into society after the war.  This issue of reintegration is perplexing.  How can respect for the rule of law be instilled in former rebel soldiers who once killed and amputated the limbs of civilians and now work as motorbike taxi drivers or selling mobile phone airtime?  How do they react when they carry an amputee to the market?  How can perpetrators of atrocities and their victims live alongside one another, as if the war never happened? How do other victims respect the rule of law, when it was not applied to the individual perpetrators of the crimes against them?

An Access to Justice Program Coordinator speaks at a community learning session in a village outside of Kambia, Sierra Leone.

While it is hard to speculate on the true impact of Charles Taylor’s judgment, it is clearly has value in rebuilding the rule of law, here in Sierra Leone. The current government is working to set precedents in the area of anti-corruption by indicting top officials.  With steps like this Sierra Leone seems capable of proving that no one can escape conviction, not Charles Taylor, not ministers, and not abusive husbands in rural villages.

Through this series, “Notes from Makeni,” I hope to give readers an insight into some of my experiences here in Sierra Leone.  I am fortunate to be working with some very talented legal professionals here at Access to Justice Law Centre; they are engaged in strengthening this country, village by village.

War Crimes: Al-Shabaab’s Deadly Attacks on Somali Courthouse and International Aid Workers

By Hannah Stewart
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Al-Shabaab carried out a suicide attack on the court complex in the capital city on Sunday, and a bomb was detonated later on the airport road, leaving at least 30 people dead.

Women and children ran through the streets of Mogadishu after a suicide attack on the court complex occurred. (Photograph Courtesy of New York Times and Mohamed Abdiwahab/Agence France-Presse)

Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militant group, claimed the attacks.  The attack on the court consisted of a suicide bombing followed by additional explosions, and several assailants stormed the court complex shooting live rounds.  At least four legal professionals were killed, including a judge and three lawyers.  Shortly afterward a car bomb detonated hitting several cars carrying Turkish aid workers on the airport road several kilometers from the court complex.

International humanitarian law, also called “the laws of armed conflict” is applicable in Somalia.  As such, the courthouse was not a legal military target and the aid workers are protected civilians.  These deliberate attacks, resulting in the death of civilians, are violations of the international humanitarian law.  However, an al-Shabaab spokesman told the media that the court was a legitimate military target as they were ruling contrary to Sharia, or Islamic law.

The number of fatalities from the attacks has continued to rise.  Medina Hospital, one of the Mogadishu’s main hospitals, told Human Rights Watch that it received at least 18 bodies and 4 people died at the hospital.  International and Somali media reported that at least 30 people died and dozens were wounded.

Among the dead were a Somali journalist who had acted as the courts’ media adviser and two human rights lawyers.  Respected attorneys Professor Mohamed Mohamud Afrah, the head of the Somali Lawyers Association, and Abdikarin Hassan Gorod were killed when al-Shabaab gunmen opened fire inside the court complex.

Afrah and Gorod had recently represented a woman who faced criminal charges after she accused government security forces of rape.  They also represented a journalist who had interviewed the woman, and also faced charges in a politically motivated trial that received international attention.  This woman was initially sentenced for “falsely accusing” government forces; however, the court of appeals eventually dropped all charges.

Al-Shabaab once controlled almost all of Mogadishu; however, African Union and Somali forces reclaimed the city in 2011.  As such, Sunday’s events marks the deadliest Islamist militant attack in years for the city.  President Hassan Sheik Mohamud, called the attack “nothing but a sign of desperation by the terrorists, who’ve lost all their strongholds and are in complete decline, right across Somalia.”

For more information, please see:

All Africa – Somalia: New Al-Shabaab Attacks are War Crimes – 16 April 2013

Human Rights Watch – Somalia: New Al-Shabaab Attacks are War Crimes – 16 April 2013

The Guardian – Tributes Paid to Somali Human Rights Lawyers Killed in al-Shabaab Attack – 15 April 2013

The New York Times – Coordinated Blasts Kill at Least 20 in Somalia’s Capital – 14 April 2013

Syrian Revolution Digest: Monday, 15 April 2013

Screwed by Design?

The U.S. is secretly “feeding” us, while Russia and Iran are “secretly” arming Assad, now he has a “second wind,” and we are doubly screwed. For fear of “mission creep,” the U.S. has so far been indulging in mission crap. By refraining from doing what should be done, that is, supporting moderate rebels and imposing a no-fly zone, and by keeping secret its humanitarian aid to the Syrian population, thus allowing extremist to claim credit for it, the U.S. has weakened moderate forces, strengthened the hand of extremists, and gave Assad all the leeway he needed to plunge the country, and perhaps the region, into chaos and mayhem. Had this been by design it wouldn’t have worked so perfectly.

Death Toll: 75 martyrs, including 7 women, 4 children and 1 martyr under torture: 47 reported in Damascus and Suburbs, most in Douma; 9 in Aleppo; 7 in Daraa; 5 in Idlib; 3 in Deir Ezzor; 3 in Homs; and 1 in Hama (LCC).


News

U.S. feeds Syrians, but secretly So secretive is the operation, however, that almost none of the Syrians who receive the help are aware of its American origins. Out of concern for the safety of the recipients and the delivery staff, who could be targeted by the government if their affiliation to the United States were known, the Obama administration and the aid workers have chosen not to advertise the assistance…

The bakery is fully supplied with flour paid for by the United States. But Waisi credited Jabhat al-Nusra — a rebel group the United States has designated a terrorist organization because of its ties to al-Qaeda — with providing flour to the region, though he admitted he wasn’t sure where it comes from.
Assad’s forces break rebel blockade in north.