SNHR: More Than 80,000 Killed Since Uprising Against Bashar Al-Assad

More than 80,000 people have been killed since Syria’s uprising against Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, according to a statistic made by SNHR ( Syrian Network for Human Rights )

The revolution victims has been documented carefully by name , date and location of death , verified by photo or video , and all circumstances surrounding their death

The UN commissioned reports for documentation the killing in Syria , depends on SNHR as one of the most important sources of information at all , because of the  high credibility and semi-permanent communication between SNHR and Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights

SNHR doesn’t issue any statistical without supplying files contain very precise details of each death case fully identified by the name of the victim , as well as the date and location of death

Since Syria’s uprising began in March 2011 to10-3-2013 , SNHR documented at least killing of 80159 people, including :

7783 Children

7045 Women

2189 tortured to death

7483 armed rebels

(On the following link to the official website of SNHR , you can find all names and details of the victims )

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9Bj18tlYYKBQ0lSb1VXTTI1OVE/edit

Proportion of  women and children to the total number of victims accounted as follows :

80195 ÷ ( 7783+7045) = 5,4

Targeting women and children is one of the international standards to identify the percentage of targeting civilians in wars. This percentage should not exceed 2%, but in the Syrian case, it reached 5.4%, The Syrian government exceeded twice the recognized percentage in wars , and in other months exceeded three times , which is a strict evidence of targeting civilians by Alassad troops

Distribution of recorded death by Syrian Province :

Damascus and countryside : 16111

Homs : 14331

Aleppo : 10769

Idlib : 10538

Daraa : 7169

Hama : 6386

Dier Alzoor : 5463

Damascus : 5112

Lattakia : 1473

Raqqa : 836

Al -Hasaka : 569

Another nationalities ( mostly Palestinian live in Syrian ) : 565

Quneitra : 558

Tartous 338

Swaidaa : 121

It is significant to mention that if we could work freely and move around without prosecutions the actual number will be more than that in thousands , we couldn’t document hundred of massacres and killing cases for many reasons including procedures repeatedly and systematically made by Alassad troops like communications disconnect and blockade  areas for many days , not to mention that the cases like family buried the victims in mass graves as a fear of spread diseases and epidemics  .

All of that because the Syrian government has prevented any of the human right organization to perform their duty on its territory

SNHR doesn’t document Alassad troops murders of Shabiha , security , military and intelligence loyal to Alassad for lack of mechanism to verify them , cause of the ban practiced by the government on SNHR and arresting its members

We have tried repeatedly to communicate with some families of the victims , they reply with abuse , insults and accusations of treason

Results and Recommendations:

Alassad troops with its act of killing systematically more than 80000 Syrian citizens committed thousands of crimes against humanity and war crimes according to articles 7 and 8 of ROME STATUE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT,

Murder;

(b)     Extermination;

(c)     Enslavement;

(d)     Deportation or forcible transfer of population;

(e)     Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law;

(f)     Torture;

(g)     Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;

(h)     Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph 3, or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction of the Court;

(i)     Enforced disappearance of persons;

(j)     The crime of apartheid;

(k)     Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health.

1-      2- Crimes against humanity , according to article 8 War Crimes of ROME STATUE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT :

a)     Grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under the provisions of the relevant Geneva Convention:

(i)  Willful killing;

(ii)     Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;

(iii)     Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;

(iv)     Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;

(v)     Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power;

(vi)  Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;

(vii)     Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;

b)     xxii)     Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, as defined in article 7, paragraph 2 (f), enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions;

Therefore We demand the Security Council and the United Nations and Member States to work at a maximum speed to take all safety procedures for protecting  to protect civilians in Syria, and they are taking responsibility with the Syrian regime in droop for supporting Syrian people and the protection of civilians   ,where they have to comply with the responsibility of ethical, legal and accelerate steps toward reference all those involved in the those massacres to the international Criminal Court.

On the other hand, there are groups of armed rebels committed war crimes condemned in the strongest terms and have been recorded and documented and will be prosecuted criminals and offenders who committed, but remain within the framework of individual attacks unsystematic and non-extensive as we did not record single incident indicates a partisan political or ideological or sectarian or tribal attack

The SNHR holds Bashar Alassad as the Syrian president and the commander of the Armed forces , the hole responsibility of all acts of murders , torture and massacres that have occurred in Syria.

Assad is primarily responsible for ordering these acts, and we consider all officials of the Syrian government , which leads the security and  army operations as a direct partner of this crimes , and  the same for the Iranian government and Hezbullah participate actively killings and holds them legal judiciary and responsibility , as well as all financiers and supporters of the system and who is committing massacres an almost unstopped daily basis, systematic in day or night, and we hold them all reactions and consequences, and that may be issued from the Syrian people, especially relatives of the martyrs and their families .

Syrian Revolution Digest: Friday, 15 March 2013

Two Years Later!

Two years after the beginning of the Syrian Revolution, the fate of the regime, the delusions of its leaders and their domestic, regional and international supporters notwithstanding, has been sealed, the fight now is for control of the country: heart, soul and body.

 

Today’s Death Toll: 144 martyrs, including 13 women, 12 children and 22 under torture: 59 in Damascus and Suburbs, 28 in Daraa most of them of torture at Hamida checkpoint,18 in Homs, 15 in Aleppo, 12 in Hama, 9 in Idlib, 2 in Deir Ezzor, and 1 in Latakia (LCCs).

Points of Random Shelling: 319 points. Aerial bombardments counted in 11. Scud bombing counted in 2 points. Shelling using Surface-to-Surface missiles counted in 4 points. Shelling using cluster bombs recorded in Sarmeen and Salqeen. Mortar shelling counted in 123 points. Artillery shelling counted for 121 points. Rocket shelling counted in 57 points (LCCs).

Clashes: 135. Successful operations include seizing munition depots in Khan Toman, Aleppo (LCCs).

Rallies: 245. Deir Ezzor 63, Aleppo 49, Hama 35, Damascus and Suburbs 33, Idlib with, Raqqa 11, Daraa 9, Homs 8, Hassakeh 4, Tartous 2 and Lattakia 2 (LCC).

 

News

CIA begins sizing up Islamic extremists in Syria for drone strikes The strategy is part of the agency’s secret contingency planning to protect the U.S. and its allies as the violence there grows. Some militants in Syria are seen as closely linked to Al Qaeda… The Counterterrorism Center, which runs the CIA’s covert drone killing program in Pakistan and Yemen, recently shifted several targeting officers to improve intelligence collection on militants in Syria who could pose a terrorist threat, the officials said… President Obama has not authorized drone missile strikes in Syria, however, and none are under consideration.

U.N. Calls Lag in Syria Aid Worst Funding Crisis in Recent Memory Halfway into an appeal for $1.5 billion to cover the cost of aid to Syrians in the first six month of the year, United Nations officials say they have received barely one-fifth of the money. “That math just doesn’t work,” said Radhouane Nouicer, the United Nations’s regional humanitarian coordinator, in a statement from the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Friday. “It translates into less food, fewer blankets, fewer medicines, less clean water.” The sluggish pace of money that has been pledged is only part of the problem. The rising violence in Syria has accelerated the flow of refugees, making the need more severe, United Nations officials say.

Opposition source: Syrian rebels get U.S.-organized training in Jordan A senior rebel spokesman, who did not want to be named discussing a sensitive matter, would not comment on the nature of the personnel conducting the training, such as whether the personnel were military troops or contractors. But he said that 300 fighters had already completed the course and crossed border into Syria on Thursday. The training was said to include the use of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry, the latter aimed at the particularly vital part of the regime’s military might, which has thus far kept rebels often in check.

From every direction, arms for Syria France is pushing hard, it seems, for Western powers to arm Syria’s rebellion. If they get their way, they’ll be joining an already crowded playing field… Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already arming the rebellion, and Iran and its partner Hezbollah in Lebanon have been sending arms and men to fight alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s troops. Now Britain and France want to open the door to direct arming of the rebels themselves.

The Destruction of a Nation: Syria’s War Revealed in Satellite Imagery On the world map, Syria remains a country. On the ground, it has devolved into a battlefield warred over by sectarian fiefdoms, guerrilla outfits, extremist militias, criminal gangs and a regime clinging grimly to its dwindling sources of power and legitimacy.

Arab nations urge Damascus to cooperate with UN probe rab countries on Friday tabled a resolution lamenting the spiralling violence in Syria and demanding that the regime cooperate with a UN probe into rights violations in the war-torn country… The resolution — submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva by Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates and posted on the council’s website — called for the UN investigators to be granted “immediate, full and unfettered access throughout the Syrian Arab Republic.”

Austria fears for its Golan observers, wants Syria arms ban kept Austria, fearing for the safety of its peacekeepers on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, said on Friday it opposed a French push to lift a European Union ban on arming Syrian rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad. Austrian Defence Minister Gerald Klug also demanded United Nations guarantees that the observers can be rotated and get supplies via Syria, amid growing concerns about their security.

EU fails to agree on sending arms to Syria rebels Leaders at a European Union summit on Friday failed to agree on whether they should send arms to Syrian rebels on the second anniversary of the uprising that has escalated a full-scale civil war. An EU embargo prohibits any arms from being sent to Syria, whether to the rebels or to the Assad government. That embargo is scheduled to remain in effect until May, when it will either be renewed or allowed to expire.

Syria opposition in new bid to name premier “The Coalition is to meet on March 18-19 in Istanbul. So far, the meeting is going ahead, and it is to choose the head of government. Consultations are continuing,” Samir Nashar told AFP. The Coalition posted on its Facebook account a list of 10 candidates.

Remembering the Start of Syria’s Uprising Gen. Salim Idriss, the leader of the Syrian opposition’s military wing, marked the second anniversary of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad on Friday with a brief address posted on YouTube in Arabic and English. In his statement, General Idriss said: “As you all know the Syrian revolution started peacefully. The only thing the Syrian people asked for was freedom, justice and reform. The regime of Bashar al-Assad responded with violence, torture, killings, massacres and bombing of our cities. Today nobody is safe anymore, men and women, elderly people and children.”

 

Special Reports

Did Climate Change Spark the War in Syria? The current conflict in Syria illustrates how climate change can cause societal, civil and even political unrest, say the co-founders of the Washington D.C.-based Center for Climate and Security, Caitlin Werrell and Francesco Femia, in an article on Grist. A recent series of essays (pdf) by the Center argues that the “Arab Spring is a textbook example of the link between climate change and social instability.”

Alawite heartland on Syria’s coast remains loyal to Assad regime It is not clear whether the consensus on the regime is as rock solid as presented by the families bearing the cost of its war. But with the martyrdom cult fusing ideas of country, regime and community, and an enemy at the gates, the logic of sacrifice grinds on.

Between devils and angels in Damascus and Caracas Both the Chavez and Assad regimes have “antagonistic relationships with the US”, but the similarity ends there… Syrians should look to Palestinian civil society’s grassroots Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions model as one way in which a people suffering from oppression can uphold its moral claims despite the politicking of official bodies. Wouldn’t it be a feat if one of the Syrian delegations trotting around Paris or Istanbul had travelled instead to Caracas to convince Venezuelan oil or dock workers to take a stand in solidarity with Syria’s people by protesting shipments to the Syrian military?

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.”

 

Video Highlights

Rebels from Ahrar Al-Sham and other Islamist groups affiliated with Syrian Islamic Front take control of loyalist headquarters in Khan Touman, Aleppo Province, and confiscate major arms and munition storage facilities http://youtu.be/3ReL0LaOHqg , http://youtu.be/e9oFu4JQK9Q , http://youtu.be/KAMzc3RvFUg Rebels celebrate their victory by removing all posters of Assad http://youtu.be/ltByZdePeF8 Rebels used their own tanks in storming the premises http://youtu.be/rVWGNkk0R8E

Rebels affiliated with the Syrian Islamic Front declares the consolidation of their hold over the village of Jousiyeh in Homs Province, close to the borders with Lebanon http://youtu.be/8TQMXFwYlnk

Rebels in Ruknaddine Neighborhood, Damascus City, ambush a car carrying an officer in the Republican Guard and three assistance, they claim to have killed them all http://youtu.be/Lpy4z1GW-4o

Activists catch a major explosion on camera. They believe it’s caused by a Scud missile. It’s not clear where the explosion happened http://youtu.be/QGMPtxlwuGk

Islamists rebels from Liwa al-Islam, storm a loyalist militia in the town of Adra, Damascus Suburbs, manned by members of Al-Jaish Al-Sha’bi, an entity designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. Treasury Department http://youtu.be/0wSJ5OakVjQ

Defectors in Aleppo from the air force form a new brigade dedicated to repairing and maintaining the various planes and helicopters that came under rebel control so that they can be used in the future for various humanitarian and military operations http://youtu.be/291j-Yifeeg Most of the planes that came under rebel control require serious repairs to become operational again, as they had been sabotaged by loyalists before abandoning their positions or bombed while on the tarmac by the regime after the fall of the various airports to rebels.

Protesters in Houleh, Homs Province, remain defiant even as they come under fire while commemorating the second anniversary of the revolution http://youtu.be/XhmLfmyuAXw

Kenya’s Election Results Appealed While Protests Ensue

By Hannah Stewart
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya’s Prime Mister Raila Odinga filed an incendiary appeal with the Supreme Court on Saturday, alleging widespread ballot rigging and contend that “glaring anomalies” existed in the vote.  As such, Odinga is petitioning to court to void the results and order a new election.

Supporters of Kenya’s Prime Minister Raila Odinga protest outside the Supreme Court. (Photo Courtesy of Khalil Senosi/AP)

Approximately one hundred of Odinga’s supporters gathered in downtown Nairobi outside the courthouse just before the petition was filed.  Many wore shirts brazenly displaying slogans including “Democracy on Trial” and “I Support the Petition.”

The police had warned the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy supporters they would not be allowed to gather, and fired tear gas into the crowd to force them to disperse.

Since the March 4 election, Odinga has urged his supporters to remain peaceful and refrain from rioting, as they did in 2007 when he narrowly lost Kenya’s last presidential election amid widespread evidence of vote rigging similar to the allegations he is making now.

The presidential, legislative and municipal elections were Kenya’s first elections since the 2007 poll that triggered nationwide ethnic and political violence.  This violence resulted in the death of more than 1,200 people.

On March 4, millions of Kenyans flooded to the polls. According to the national election commission, Uhuru Kenyatta – son of Kenya’s first president – won 50.07 percent of the vote, avoiding a runoff by a nominal margin of approximately 8,000 votes.

Odinga won about 43 percent.  However, he claims in his petition to the court that his vote was covertly reduced and that Kenyatta’s was inflated in a “deliberate, well-calculated and executed ploy” to hand the election to Mr. Kenyatta.  Moreover, the petition claims that there were problems with the registration of voters and an electronic vote counting mechanism.

Odinga’s attempts to nullify Kenyatta’s victory will be the first significant test for Kenya’s new Supreme Court, established under a constitution adopted in a 2010 referendum.  Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, appointed in 2011 to reform a corrupt legal system accused of serving elitist interests, will be under international scrutiny to render a transparent verdict.

Mutunga received death threats in the weeks before the vote, but he has promised that the judiciary will act without “favor, prejudice or bias” when handling election complaints.  Moreover, he has already invited the media to cover any court proceedings live.

Odinga was the also the runner-up in the 2007 presidential election to Mwai Kibaki, which he also said was stolen.

In his acceptance speech last Saturday, Kenyatta called the election “free and fair” and a “triumph of democracy.”

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Raila Odinga Files Kenya Election Appeal– 16 March 2013

Reuters – Kenya’s Odinga Challenges Election Defeat in Top Court – 16 March 2013

The New York Times – Kenya Court Asked to Order New Election for President – 16 March 2013

The Washington Post – Kenya Police Tear Gas Prime Minister’s Supporters as He Files Court Case Against Election Loss – 16 March 2013

Thai Navy Denies Shooting Rohingya Refugees

By Karen Diep
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – Yesterday, the Thai Navy denied reports of its members opening fire at a boat last February containing 20 Rohingya Muslim refugees, resulting in the deaths of at least two of the asylum seekers.

Rohingya refugees fleeing on boats. (Photo Courtesy of BBC News)

According to Voice of America, in recent months, thousands of Rohingyas are fleeing the ethnic turmoil and state-sponsored discrimination in Western Burma. As a result, many are traveling by boat to Malaysia and ending up on the West coast of Thailand.

“[N]o [Thai] navy officer could be that ruthless,” said Thai Navy commander Admiral Surasak Rounroengrom.

Mr. Surasak continued to state that the Thai Navy possessed no reason to kill the Rohingya refugees because they were not an enemy.

Although Thailand has refused to accept most of the refugees, it has ordered its navy to stop these boats to provide them with supplies.

“Since the policy is to push them back out to sea, we provide humanitarian aid with food and water, medicine and gas for them to continue their journey. All we do is help them, even fixing their boats [if necessary], before sending them back on their way,” continued Mr. Surasak.

However, according to BBC News, eyewitnesses said otherwise.  Witnesses informed human rights groups that they saw several bodies in the water and even protected some of these refugees during and after the February incident.

“Navy personnel fired into the air three times and told us not to move,” relayed one of the Rohungya refugees to Human Rights Watch (HRW), “But we were panicking and jumped off the boat, and then they opened fire at us in the water.”

Although the spokesperson for the United Nations refugee agency, Vivian Tan, can neither confirm nor deny the events last month, she stated that her agency is worried about the fate of Rohingya refugees.

“U.N.H.C.R. has been advocating that people fleeing persecution should be able to be processed in the country or territory where they arrive.  So, they should not be pushed off for sure,” said Ms. Tan, “They should definitely not be sent back to a place where their lives could be in danger.”

Historically, Thai officials have been suspect of dragging refugee boats that end up in Thai waters out to sea and leave them to die.  Furthermore, they have been accused of selling on asylum seekers to human traffickers.

According to BBC’s South East Asia correspondent Jonathan Head, Thai authorities are rarely held accountable for these allegations regardless of their promise to investigate such incidents.

For further information, please see:

BBC News – Thai Navy Denies Shooting Rohingya Refugee – 15 March 2013

The United Press International – Thais Deny Firing on Rohingya Refugees – 14 March 2013

Voice of America – Fleeing Rohingya Refugees Fired Upon, Says Rights Group – 13 March 2013

 

Maryland to Abolish Death Penalty

By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley is expected to sign a bill next month that would end the use of the death penalty.

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, a supporter of repealing the death penalty, is expected to sign a bill abolishing capital punishment into law next month after lawmakers passed the bill this week. (Photo Courtesy of the Washington Post)

On Friday, the state’s House of Delegates voted 82-to-56 to repeal capital punishment after the state’s Senate voted 27-to-20 last week for a repeal.  Now the bill only needs O’Malley’s signature, which his aides say should come when the legislature session ends in April.

If signed, the law would take effect on October 1, and all current inmates on death row would have their sentences replaced by life terms without parole.  Maryland would become the eighteenth state in the country to abolish the death penalty, marking an end to the state’s 375-year history of capital punishment.

“With [the] vote to repeal the death penalty in Maryland, the General Assembly is eliminating a policy that is proven not to work,” O’Malley said during a press conference after the legislative approval.  The governor pushed the effort to repeal, making it one of his top goals for this year’s legislative session.

Maryland has used the death penalty only five times since it was reinstated during the 1970s, the last time happening in 2005.  In 2006, Maryland’s Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled that a legislative committee had not properly approved the state’s lethal injection protocols, effectively putting capital punishment on hold.

Supporters of the repeal applauded state lawmakers for eliminating a measure they called costly and counterproductive.  Delegate Heather Mizeur said the decision about who lives or dies, even the worst criminal offenders, is not one anybody should make.

“By willfully taking a human life, the state enacts the worst of human impulses,” she said.

“Maryland’s rejection of the death penalty adds to the national momentum against this cruel and increasing unusual punishment,” said Antonia Ginatta, an advocacy director with the nonprofit Human Rights Watch.

Opponents, however, criticized the legislature and called on O’Malley to not sign the bill.  They said the law would put officers’ safety in jeopardy.  Most significantly, though, opponents said capital punishment was a necessary measure in criminal justice.

“The death penalty is not a deterrent; it is justice,” said Delegate C. T. Wilson, a former prosecutor and U.S. Army veteran.

Even if O’Malley signs the bill into law, the death penalty might not be entirely forgotten yet.  According to the Baltimore Sun, those who support the death penalty could petition it to be on the 2014 ballot, leaving the issue up to voters.  If they succeed, the law would be put on hold pending the results of the election.

State Sen. Thomas Miller, the Senate President, predicted that kind of challenge happening.  Even though no group has publicly supported the idea yet, the Sun reported that recent polls indicate a narrow majority of voters still supports the death penalty.

For further information, please see:

The Baltimore Sun — House Votes to Repeal Death Penalty — 15 March 2013

The Capital Gazette — Maryland General Assembly Votes to Abolish the Death Penalty — 15 March 2013

Human Rights Watch — US: Maryland Expected to Abolish Death Penalty — 15 March 2013

The Washington Post — Md. Assembly Votes to Repeal Death Penalty — 15 March 2013