Syrian Revolution Digest: Wednesday, 23 January 2013

“Kleptocrats of the World, Unite!”

Russian FM cannot make head or tail of that “obsession” prevalent in rebel circuits with Assad’s removal. His own obsession with defending kleptocratic regimes, on the other hand, makes perfect sense, being a card-carrying member of one such regime himself. And that’s a far greater obstacle to peace than our insistence on Assad’s removal.

Today’s Death Toll: By end of Wednesday, the LCC documented 146 deaths, including 15 children and 13 women: 74 martyrs fell in Aleppo, 23 martyrs in Damascus and its Suburbs, 12 martyrs in Homs, 11 martyrs in Daraa, 9 martyrs in Hama, 6 martyrs in Hasakeh, 2 martyrs in each of Deir Ezzor and Lattakia, and one martyr in each of Raqa and Swaida (LCCs).

Points of Random Shelling: The LCC also documented 253 different points of shelling, 19 of which were hit by aerial strikes from war planes and choppers, 2 were hit by thermobaric bombs, and one area was hit by both thermobaric and phosphorus bombs. Artillery shelling targeted 112 points: 75 of which were hit by mortars and 66 by missiles (LCCs).

Clashes: Free Syrian Army rebels clashed with regime forces in 109 different points, liberating police station No. 25 at the Jordanian borders, and seizing the Samad and Mothalath checkpoints in Daraa. They also managed to push back a military attack on Mleiha town in Damascus Suburbs (LCCs).

 

News

Russia says diplomats’ families out of Syria, denies large-scale evacuation as fighting rages

Russia Criticizes Syria Rebel ‘Obsession’ With Assad Exit

Syria’s food shortages worsening, U.N. says

Syrian civil war devastates farming: U.N.

NATO to activate Turkey’s missile system near Syria border

Syria rebels accused of looting churches Rights group says fighters have burned and looted Christian and Shia places of worship, increasing sectarian fears.

Walkie-talkies as lifeline in wartime Syria Hand-held transceivers help residents to communicate and also keep track of impending attacks in absence of other means.

Video report on casualties in the ranks of pro-Assad militias

 

Special Reports

Syrians Struggle With Shortages as Economy Buckles
Syria’s economy is buckling under the twin strains of violence and sanctions that have sapped the government’s finances, devastated the nation’s cities and left its industry and infrastructure in ruins… With the economy in tatters and work hard to come by as the war grinds on, many families don’t have the deep pockets for anything other than the cheapest option. One woman said she waited for four hours to get a pack of subsidized bread.

The Economist: The axis power
Almost two years into Syria’s uprising, now a full-blown civil war, misery and despair are growing across the land. Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint envoy of the UN and Arab League who is trying to mediate, is making no progress. A military solution looks far off too. Though rebel fighters continue to make advances in the north and east of the country, Mr Assad’s forces are consolidating along the north-south axis from the capital, Damascus, to the coastal heartland of his Alawite sect. “This is never going to end,” says a usually hopeful rebel commander from the eastern province of Raqqa.

Remember The War In Syria?
More and more groups are being dragged into a conflict that no-one is destined to win… The Christians and Druze minorities would have preferred to stay on the side lines, but the lines have been crossed and the war taken to them.

Robin Yassin-Kassab: Fund Syria’s Moderates
We can’t say that helping the Syrian rebels didn’t work, because it has never really been tried.

 

Video Highlights

Russian TV shows a reportage on the training of an all-female pro-Assad militias “We will only choose: God, Syria and Bashar.” http://youtu.be/f8q5ocsksuY

Regime tanks pound rebel strongholds and residential neighborhoods in Daraa City http://youtu.be/NZw3i6y_lzY ,http://youtu.be/6WHM5BK-ggA Still, local rebels managed to destroy this loyalist headquarters http://youtu.be/uBLCp_L0fH0

Meanwhile, pro-Assad militias pounded mercilessly the nearby town of Basr Al-Harir http://youtu.be/dQFSv99AnmgBut rebels remained dug in http://youtu.be/UXiDOoVvMEY

Elsewhere in the province, rebels manage to liberate huge sections of the town of Bosra Al-Sham http://youtu.be/kmE6pVgtc7g

The pounding of the towns of Eastern Ghoutah in Damascus Suburbs continues: Dhiabiyeh http://youtu.be/b5efuotQMiI Hamouriyeh http://youtu.be/fuVZ2BfRU-0

To the West, the pounding of the town of Daraya with MiGs continues http://youtu.be/rM76SwIF8Ow

To the north, the town of Yabroud was also pounded http://youtu.be/MyonpSp3VOg

MiGs continue their pounding of the restive neighborhoods in Homs City, including Jobar http://youtu.be/IhukvvlOB74, http://youtu.be/36T4DaoJgMI Elsewhere, activists carry out a series of interviews with the older generation still eking out a haphazard subsistence in the city despite all the violence taking place http://youtu.be/_YuMLfLa9m0

In Aleppo City, rebels and loyalists clash in Sheikh Saeed neighborhood http://youtu.be/nQHyZgtaSMY ,http://youtu.be/3X4xFgraTTI  A rocket falls on the inhabitant of Al-Sukkari Neighborhoodhttp://youtu.be/CgyZQT02x2k

Rebel Groups in CAR Re-recruiting Child Soldiers

By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

BANGUI, Central African Republic – On Monday, a top United Nations (UN) official denounced the re-recruitment of child soldiers by rebel groups and pro-government militias in the Central African Republic (CAR).

Rebel groups in CAR such as Seleka have recruited children, ages 3 to 18, as soldiers according to UNICEF. (Photo courtesy of CISA News Africa)

UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Leila Zerrougui expressed her dismay and concern after learning that armed groups such as ‘Séléka’, the Convention des patriotes pour la justice et la paix (CPJP) and the Union des forces démocratiques pour le rassemblement (UFDR), have been enlisting children among their ranks once again. According to reports, such enlistments are currently on the rise in spite of previous promises made by the said groups to end this practice.

Last November, both the UFDR and CPJP entered into agreements with the UN that they will exclude minors from membership and ultimately, keep children out of the conflict. The UFDR promised to release children in its ranks to the UN, whereas the CPJP signed an action plan to end the recruitment and use of children in line with Security Council resolution 1612.

The following month, however, the UN received reports that the CPJP refused to release two girls in an incident in Aigbando. Also, former child soldiers who were already in the care of UN’s children’s agency were getting numerous death threats from the same rebel groups.

“The reports of child recruitment are a flagrant violation of commitments made by the CPJP and UFDR and must stop now,” Ms. Zerrougui said. “The same actors have been violating child rights with impunity for too long. We will continue to monitor the situation and if no progress is made, we will engage the Security Council on this matter,” she added

Ms. Zerrougui also questioned the Government’s commitment to protect children from the ongoing conflict. She received additional reports claiming that the Government has “called on youth in Bangui to mobilize and arm themselves to counter the armed groups alongside militias.”

“These developments are unacceptable,” Ms. Zerrougui insisted. “Child recruitment is a grave violation. Children separated from armed forces and groups are victims, not perpetrators, and have to be treated as such. Going forward, I urge the Government to take its responsibility to protect children seriously, and to refrain from inciting violence.”

Based on a recent report by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), almost 300,000 children have been involved with various armed groups in the country even before the major outbreak of rebellion last month. Most of them were street children and orphans which made them easy targets for kidnap and recruitment. Armed militias would abuse and force these children – both boys and girls – to fight and carry supplies.

 

For further information, please see:

United Press International – Children recruited for CAR fight – 22 January 2013

Spy Ghana – UN Astonished About Central African Republic child soldiers report – 22 January 2013

All Africa – Central African Republic: UN Official Disappointed By New Reports of Child Soldiers in Central African Republic – 21 January 2013

Al Jazeera – CAR child soldiers face death threats – 19 January 2013

All Africa – Central African Republic: Seleka Rebels and Army Using Child Soldiers – 11 January 2013

 

Syria Deeply: 23 January 2013

All information and videos contained in this post are original content posted with permission from Syria Deeply, an independent digital media project.  For further information, please visit their website.

Videos

http://youtu.be/q_ABlCHuiYg&w=500&h=400

 

The Forum
The Battle for Latakia Part II – by Karen Leigh

 

Recent Headlines
Syria’s Food Shortages Worsening – Washington Post
Syria Rebels Accused of Looting Churches – Aljazeera
Syria’s War: The Axis Power – The Economist

 

Community Op-Eds
Caravan Aid: Yes, You Can Do Something About Syria – by Yassamin Ansari

 

Syrian Rebels Reportedly Destroyed Religious Sites

By Ali Al-Bassam
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

DAMASCUS, Syria — Last Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported three incidents in which rebel groups appeared to have intentionally destroyed or allowed the looting of minority religious sites in northern Syria during the months of November and December of 2012.  HRW believes that such actions indicate that the Syrian conflict is becoming more sectarian.

HRW accused Syrian rebels of intentionally looting and destroying religious sites. (Photo Courtesy of RT)

“The destruction of religious sites is furthering sectarian fears…,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East Director of HRW.

Local witnesses had reported that rebels looted two Christian churches in the western governorate of Latakia, a relatively peaceful province of Syria.  Rebels were also accused of destroying a Shi’ite “husseiniya,” a religious site constructed in honor of Hussein, a martyr in Shi’ite tradition, in Zarzour, a village located in the Idlib governorate.  Its windows had been shattered, prayer stones were found all over the floor, walls were charred from flames, and what appeared to be remnants of a burned prayer rug lay on the floor.  HRW found evidence that  linked the attacks on the religious sites to areas that were falling under the rebels’ control.

Footage which was posted on YouTube on December 12 showed rebels celebrating a victory as the husseiniya burned in the background.  In the video, a fighter is seen yelling “The destruction of the dens of the Shi’ites and the Rafida,” a derogatory term used to describe the minority sect of Alawites, from which President Bashar Al-Assad is a member of.

Sunni residents of Zarzour said that the burning of the husseiniya prompted their Shi’ite neighbors to flee from the village.

On December 11, in Jdeideh, a village in the Latakia governorate, a local resident reported to HRW about how gunmen broke into the church and looted it.  During the looting, they shot off multiple rounds within the church, causing heavy structural damage.  HRW confirmed the attack after inspecting the church.  Local rebels denied that they attacked the church.  “While the motivation for the church break-ins may have been theft rather than a religious attack, opposition fighters have a responsibility to protect religious sites in areas under their control from willful damage and theft,” HRW said.

Gunmen also broke into the church in the village of Ghasaniyeh, where they stole gas and diesel fuel.  Apart from a cross on the floor, there were no indications that the building was damaged.

International humanitarian law prohibits parties involved in armed conflicts from attacking religious buildings which are not used for military purposes.  Parties cannot seize, destroy, or willfully damages religious buildings or any other cultural property.  Such attacks are recognized as war crimes.

For further information, please see:
Al Jazeera — Syria Rebels ‘Attacked’ Religious Sites — 24 January 2013
The Daily Star — Syria Rebels Must Protect Religious Sites: HRW — 23 January 2013
Human Rights Watch — Syria: Attacks on Religious Sites Raise Tensions — 23 January 2013

Fate of Five Ahwazi Arab Prisoners at Risk of Imminent Execution Unknown; International Community Should Pressure the Islamic Republic of Iran to Halt the Executions of these Men

Iran Human Rights Documentation Center

23 January 2013 – The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center joins Iranian civil society, Arab rights groups, and groups working towards global abolition of the death penalty to express its deep concern over the imminent execution of five Ahwazi Arab prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI).

In a joint statement released today, 30 NGOs including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Shirin Ebadi called for the immediate halt of the executions of five men— Jaber Alboshoka, Mokhtar Alboshoka, Hadi Rashedi, Hashem Shabaninejad and Mohammad Ali Amourinejad.

In recent days, the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights have, respectively, called for a halt to the executions, and expressed concern over the fairness of the trials of the five men and allegations that they were subjected to torture.

The five men were sentenced to death last June.  On Wednesday, January 9, 2013 their families were notified that the death sentences for the five men were upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court. Family members maintain they have no current information about the whereabouts of the five men since they were transferred by security forces from Karoun prison in Ahwaz to an undisclosed location last Friday, January 18.

“Ahwazi Arabs constitute one of the most socially, politically and economically marginalized minority groups in Iran today,” said Gissou Nia, Executive Director of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. “The lack of due process and fair trial guarantees afforded these five men is in part a reflection of the larger bias the central government in Iran demonstrates towards this minority group. The Iranian government must do its utmost to address the patent irregularities in the judicial process for these five men and halt their executions immediately.”

With no official indication of the location and status of the five prisoners, they can be executed at any time.  The international community should take immediate action to prevent the execution of these five men.

For further information please contact:
Gissou Nia
Executive Director
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center
Email: gnia@iranhrdc.org
Phone: +1 203 654 9342