Syrian Revolution Digest – Wednesday, 2 January 2013

The Shocking Truth!

The writing was on the wall, and we all refused to see it. Assad had no intention of going gently into that good night, yet he was given all the leeway he needed to transform his crisis into a quagmire with regional, even international implications. Dealing with psychopaths like Assad is never easy, but that’s no excuse for indifference and inaction, nor is the fact that this tragedy is unfolding in some far away country. Distances have lost their relevance in our world, it’s about time our policymaking reflected this reality. Mass murder, ethnic cleansing, tyranny are no longer local concerns with local implications: they are global problems with global implications, and world leaders have sat on their hands for too long in regard to the Syrian crisis, this is unconscionable and inexcusable. Irrespective of the geopolitics involved, this tragic chapter in our contemporary history needs to be brought to a proper end, and the criminals involved need to be held accountable. 

Today’s Death Toll: 207 (including 6 women and 8 children)
141 in Damascus and suburbs including 47 in Mleiha, 32 in Mouadamieh and 8 in Deir Al-Asafeer; 17 in Aleppo; 14 in Daraa; 15 in Idlib; 7 in Hama; 5 in Homs; 4 in Deir Ezzor; 2 in Raqqa; and 2 in Sweida.
Points of Random Shelling: 257
14 areas were subjected to aerial shelling mainly in Damascus Suburbs. Barrel bombing was confirmed in 5 areas, and Mouadamieh was subjected to cluster bombs. Thermobaric bombing was documented in one area in Mleiha. 117 locations were subjected to artillery shelling, 72 locations to mortar shelling, and 68 to missile attacks.
Clashes:  The Free Syrian Army (FSA) clashed with regime forces in 125 locations, with the fiercest clashes taking place in Damascus Suburbs and Idlib Province. In Hama, the FSA was able to control parts of Taftanaz Military Airport, downed an attack helicopter in Taftanaz, and another in Afas. In addition, the FSA attacked the military airport in Thaala in Sweida and repelled regime attempts to storm Basr Al-Harir. The FSA seized control of the checkpoint in western Nahia in Sheikh Miskeen, and repelled regime attempts to storm the village of Al-Saan in Homs (LCCs).
News
Special Reports
Few Syrians interviewed in Aleppo believe that a brand of Islam like that practiced by Jabhat al-Nusra can survive in Syria. But any regime that succeeds Assad is likely to be Islamic in nature, some say. “We want a regime that applies sharia law, but that is fair and just,” says Abu Mohammad, a Free Syrian Army commander in Aleppo and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. “Many Muslims believe that if we apply the true Islam, we can use it to get rid of corruption and problems like bribery,” he says.
The civil war’s threat to Damascus The spirit of Syria’s capital lies in its diverse people and exquisite buildings. Both are in great peril
In addition to our shared humanity, what’s at stake for America is that due to the world’s inaction, the rebel movement is now contaminated by al-Qaida and other Islamist forces – all of whom have enthusiastically filled the vacuum that we have chosen to ignore. In short, we overlook Syria at our own peril. At best, the situation there can now be deemed a civil war; at worst, a petri dish where extremism will be grown for a generation.
After almost two years of bloodletting in Syria, there is little chance that negotiations of the kind UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has been urging would end the conflict. More likely, they would prolong it. And worse, they would perpetuate Bashar al-Assad’s favorite strategy of fanning fears of rebel sectarianism and extremism to dissuade the world from intervening against him.
“Given there has been no let-up in the conflict since the end of November, we can assume that more than 60,000 people have been killed by the beginning of 2013,” Pillay said. “The number of casualties is much higher than we expected, and istruly shocking.” … The analysts noted that 60,000 is likely to be an underestimate of the actual number of deaths, given that reports containing insufficient information were excluded from the list, and that a significant number of killings may not have been documented at all by any of the seven sources. The recording and collection of accurate and reliable data has grown increasingly challenging due to the conflict raging in many parts of the country.
Indeed, the revision does not come as a surprise to me, I have long said that the official casualty figures fail to give an accurate impression of the what’s really taking place in Syria: most of those believed missing or detained are probably dead, this is what previous experiences with the regime tell us. Also, activists on the ground are having a hard time keeping up with the all the violent developments taking place.
Also, the figures we have do not include regime casualties. Many of the soldiers fighting for the regime have no choice in the matter: they were lied to, manipulated and/or coerced, and when some try to defect, they are often killed on the spot by loyalist officers. In many ways, they are victims as well.
Personally, I believe that we have long exceeded the 100,000 mark in terms of casualties. A comparative perspective informs us that official figures are usually off by a factor of three. We will not know the truth of it all until the end of the conflict which may not happen anytime soon.
Video Highlights
The Massacre at Mleiha, Damascus Suburbs: a runor was spread earlier in the day that the local as station finally had some gas. Indeed, Syrian TV came and covered parts of the distribution process, but as soon as the TV crew left, an aerial raid took place and the gas station was bombed, killing around 50 locals.
Rushing to the scene http://youtu.be/tKi-JI20zzI Pulling bodies from under the rubble http://youtu.be/lxLgWylKQQU The martyrs http://youtu.be/ikApkegbqQ0Human remains http://youtu.be/eY8xWPl5BEQ Nearby residential buildings were also targeted http://youtu.be/LHlhtEZkayc
The nearby communities of Eastern Ghoutah were also targeted: Douma http://youtu.be/jl7kvN7pTtI , http://youtu.be/tdWWir04D-I Deir Al-Assafir http://youtu.be/5rM5g6uD3Qg , http://youtu.be/6KBTou6WcH8 Arbeen http://youtu.be/PKJ9kq9Ws0A
Several neighborhoods in Damascus City itself were also pounded: Mazzeh http://youtu.be/mBwbiuA1LLg
To the south, local sift through the rubble in search bodies in the town of Mouadamiyeh http://youtu.be/fdih2E9jxMw
In Idlib, helicopter gunships took part in shelling the town of Taftanaz http://youtu.be/e2iFC7o2FCY , http://youtu.be/MCPL7WDMKgo , http://youtu.be/Ys8pxUFvOYw In Binnish, local rush to pull out the bodies from under the rubble in the aftermath of an aerial raid http://youtu.be/QCeGOroTWX0
Fighter jets took part in pounding the town of Basr Al-Harir in Daraa http://youtu.be/4B5n0vnaOPQ
In Homs City, the aftermath of aerial raid on Old Homs, one of the oldest towns in the world http://youtu.be/i5WXHONBUP0

Car Bombs Attack Shiite Pilgrims, Ignite Tensions in Iraq

By Emily Schneider
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Shia pilgrims were targeted by a car bomb yesterday, resulting in twenty deaths. Many Shiite Muslims made the pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala, about 100km southwest of Baghdad, to celebrate the festival of Arbaeen.

Thousands of Shia Muslims have been attending a religious festival in Karbala, Iraq. (Photo courtesy of BBC)

Millions of pilgrims have visited Karbala to mark an anniversary associated with the revered Shia figure, Imam Hussein. Provincial governor, Amal al-Din al-Har, quoted by AFP, said that the festival drew around 750,000 pilgrims from 30 different countries.

The most recent spate of attacks is reinforcing fears that sectarian violence is increasing. In the past, Shiite pilgrims were targeted by Sunni militants during religious festivals.  Zaid Mohammed, a 21-year old student, walked to Karbala from a nearby city to celebrate the festival in spite of these fears.

“All the people came here to show their gratitude and appreciation for the sacrifices made by Imam Hussein while fighting injustice,” he said. “We have decided to confront all the security risks that we might face on our way to Karbala.”

As pilgrims were returning from the festival in the late afternoon, a car bomb exploded in the small town of Musayyib, about 60 kilometers south of Baghdad. This is the second explosion this week. The first blast occurred this past Monday in the town of Musayyib. That blast killed seven people.

The bomb went off near a bus stop frequented by pilgrims from Karbala taking them to other Iraqi cities, police told BBC News. There were no reports on Thursday of any group claiming responsibility for the bombing. Oftentimes, past attacks on Shia pilgrims have been blamed on Sunni militants even when they did not directly claim responsibility.

Ali Sabbar, a pilgrim who witnessed the explosion, told Reuters news agency: “I was getting a sandwich when a very strong explosion rocked the place and the blast threw me away. When I regained my senses and stood up, I saw dozens of bodies. Many cars were set on fire.”

Another witness, teacher Ibrahim Mohammed, said, “the explosion shook the whole block and smashed the windows of my house. I ran to the scene of the explosion only to find charred bodies and burning cars. There were women screaming and searching for their missing children.”

Although Iraqi authorities typically tighten security in Karbala and along routes used by pilgrims during the festival, they admit they are unable to prevent all attacks.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Shia Pilgrims Killed by Car Bomb in Iraq – 4 Jan. 2013

BBC News – Car Bomb Kills Shia Pilgrims South of Baghdad Iraq – 3 Jan. 2013

Huffington Post – Car Bomb in Iraq Kills 20 Shiite Pilgrims – 3 Jan. 2013

Washington Post – Car Bomb Targeting Shiite Pilgrims Reflects Iraq Tensions – 3 Jan. 2013

 

Russian Court Acquits Doctor Charged with Negligence in Magnitsky Death; Posthumous Trail Against Magnitsky Begins

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia –  A Russian court has acquitted the only person to be formally tried in the death of Sergei L. Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison three years ago after uncovering tax fraud by Russian officials.  Dr. Dmitry Kratov was head of medical services at Butyrka Prison, where Magnitsky was held, and had been accused of negligently refusing requests to treat Magnitsky’s life-threatening hepatitis, diabetes, and heart condition.

Dr. Kratov, the prison medical officer accused of denying Magnitsky medical attention. (Photo Courtesy of RFE/RL)

Last Monday, prosecutors, in an unusual move, asked for charges to be dropped against Kratov, with which the court agreed Friday.  The prosecutors changed direction, no longer pressing for a conviction, four days after Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at a news conference that Magnitsky had died of natural causes and was not tortured in prison.

The Moscow Tverskoy District Court Judge, finding no connection between Dr. Kratov’s lack of medical care and Magnitsky’s death, further stated that Kratov could sue the government for illegal prosecution.

However, according to Nikolai Gorokhov, a lawyer representing the Magnitsky family, Kratov signed paperwork to refuse Magnitsky’s repeated requests to be moved from prison to a hospital.  Furthermore, Gorokhov claims that Kratov was aware that Magnitsky had been diagnosed with pancreatitis and gallstones five days before Magnitsky’s death.

Furthermore, prosecutor Dmitry Bobkov earlier stated that Kratov “failed to organize the necessary diagnostic and treatment measures, which resulted in Magnitsky’s death,” but also claimed that Kratov never received complaints from Magnitsky nor was informed by staff members.

60 Russian officials were implicated by the United States Helsinki Commission as allegedly playing roles in Magnitsky’s death.  Charges were brought against some of those 60, but dropped earlier this year against all, including another doctor, except Kratov.

Magnitsky’s employer, Hermitage Capital, issued the following statement Friday: “There is no doubt that people responsible for Magnitsky’s death are being protected by the president of Russia . . . Now that President Putin is personally involved in the obstruction of justice in a major case of extrajudicial killing, he will have to face the consequences of his actions.”

Instead, it is the late Magnitsky who faces judicial prosecution.  After blowing the whistle in 2008 on a $230 million tax scam by Russian tax and police officials against his employer Hermitage Capital, Magnitsky was promptly thrown in prison by those he had accused on charges of the very same tax fraud he had uncovered.  Although the case was closed after Magnitsky’s death, it was again reopened in August 2011.  In February 2012 investigators then announced plans to try the deceased Magnitsky, and in November prosecutors sent the case to court.

Magnitsky and his employer, London-based head of Hermitage Capital William Browder who is being tried in absentia, are accused of $17.1 million in tax evasion.

Last week, Russian prosecutors went ahead with the beginning of the posthumous fraud trial against Magnitsky before the Tverskoy District Court (the same court which acquitted Kratov).  However, the preliminary hearing in the case was postponed until January 28th because the defense lawyers representing the Magnitsky family refused to participate, citing the illegality of trying a dead man.

Gorokhov, who continues to represent the Magnitsky’s family, has stated that he has “no plans to participate in an unconstitutional affair.”

Gorokhov has argued that posthumous legal proceedings are only appropriate if aimed at quashing a previous conviction or rehabilitation.  According to Gorokhov, to continued fraud probe against Magnitsky, which was initiated by prosecutors despite requests by Magnitsky’s relatives to the contrary, also violates a decision by Russia’s Constitutional Court.

Browder, who has campaigned to punish those allegedly responsible for Magnitsky’s death, denounced the fraud trial as “an act of reprisal against those who exposed the criminal group of corrupt officials.”

For further information, please see:

Rights in Russia – Write to Your MP on the Sergei Magnitsky Case – 1 January 2013

Moscow Times – Former Butyrka Doctor Acquitted of Negligence Charges in Magnitsky Case – 28 December 2012

New York Times – Russian Acquittal Escalates Human Rights Feud With U.S. – 28 December 2012

RFE/RL – Moscow Court Acquits Doctor In Magnitsky Case – 28 December 2012

ABS-CBN News – Russia Puts Dead Lawyer on Trial – 27 December 2012

Syrian Revolution Digest: Tuesday, 1 January 2012

Return to Arrogance!

Syrian Revolution Digest – January 1, 2013 

We don’t need America to be the world’s “top cop,” we just need her, and each member of the global community, to realize that there are certain humanitarian and moral obligations that they simply cannot ignore without major consequences for all. Leadership is not convenient, and often it is not even a choice, at least not in the ethical sense.

Today’s Death Toll: 136 (including 6 women and 16 children)

42 in Damascus and suburbs, 44 in Hama including 23 martyrs from the village of Maan and 16 from Hasraya, 15 in Deir Ezzor including 9 unidentified martyrs in the village of Hatla, 12 martyrs in Homs including an entire family from Deir Baalba, 8 in Daraa, 9 in Aleppo, 4 in Idlib, 1 in Lattakia, and 1 in Raqqa.

Points of Random Shelling: 287

22 areas were subjected to aerial shelling. In 5 areas, the LCC documented barrel bombing, 2 areas were subjected to cluster bombs; and 1 area was subjected to thermobaric bombing. Mortar shelling was reported in 125 areas and followed by artillery shelling in 98 locations. 38 areas were subjected to indiscriminate missile attacks.

Clashes: 133

In Damascus, rebels downed a MiG in Eastern Ghouta and liberated the Khansaa School, which represents the first line of defense at Wadi Al-Deif and the regime withdrew from the checkpoints at Al-Hameh and Al-Bouhamid. In RAqqa, rebels were able to seize control of the Toubian gas field in southern Raqqa. In Hama, rebels repelled a military convoy that was heading to Mourek. In Aleppo, rebels seized control of most of the military airports and issued a warning that they would target the international airport in Aleppo (LCCs).

 

News

Clashes in Syria shut down Aleppo airport

Syria’s grim toll continues into 2013

Syria ushers in New Year with more violence

Syrian Military Mounts Offensive in Suburb of Damascus

 

Special Reports

Why Russia Won’t Help on Syria
Many people in the Russian foreign-policy establishment believe that the string of U.S.-led interventions that resulted in regime change since the end of the Cold War — in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya — are a threat to the stability of the international system and potentially to “regime stability” in Russia itself. Russia did not give its imprimatur to these interventions, and will never do so if it suspects the motive is removal of a sitting government. The notion that Russia could eventually be the target of such an intervention might seem absurd in Washington, but suspicion of potential future U.S. intentions runs deep in Moscow. Therefore, Russia uses what power it has to shape the international system — particularly, its permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council — to avoid creating a dangerous precedent that could eventually be used against it.

As Regime Teeters, Jews Mull Outreach to Rebel Fighters
“There are many in the opposition who believe that Israeli concerns over change in Syria are, in part at least, behind the lack of a more proactive response by the international community to the situation in Syria,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian pro-democracy activist. Abdulhamid is a fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan Washington think tank that serves as an academic home for many neo-conservative thinkers. The group has emerged as one of the key players in forging ties with the budding Syrian opposition and urging a more active U.S. role in bringing about the demise of the Assad regime… “The agreed line by the opposition is that the status quo in the Golan Heights will be maintained until conditions permit for organizing peace talks,” said Abdulhamid, referring to Israel’s occupation of that area since the 1967 Six Day War. This approach could satisfy Jewish and pro-Israel groups whose focus on Syria’s future government in any event prioritizes other concerns.

Reflections On A Difficult Time: Spending New Year’s In Damascus
With all the absurdities of war, we still felt like something was missing in receiving the new year. But with barely eight guests in the hotel, the bar and cafe had been closed for months. So we ordered two coups of champagne from room service, and held up our glasses for better days.

Borzu Daragahi: How to defend Bashar Assad in 10 easy steps
Return to Arrogance

In his defense of the Obama Administration’s stance on Syria, Aaron David Miller makes this “erudite” argument:

We should not be the world’s top cop or caseworker, charged with fixing every calamity. We don’t control history. And it’s time we attend to our own broken house instead of running around the world trying to repair everyone else’s.

This is the kind of argument that was probably made by the American aristocracy in the first half of the 20th Century regarding “intervention” in certain parts of their country and their cities. It was wrong then, not to mention classicist and racist, it is wrong now, and equally classicist and racist. This is world has grown too small and our destinies too interlocked for this kind of argument to be of any relevance or make any sense.

Indeed, not long ago, international leaders acknowledged this fact by endorsing a new legal notion designed to help them tackle exactly the kind of scenarios currently unfolding in Syria: The Responsibility to Protect. Of course, now, all are rushing to bury their heads in the sand, making up all different sorts of justifications as they go along. But world leaders, especially the American leader, cannot escape culpability and responsibility.

After all, all acknowledged the Assad regime’s role in the assassination of former Lebanese PM, Rafic Al-Hariri and his ongoing support for a variety of terrorist organizations around the world, especially in Iraq and Lebanon. Yet, with encouragement from the Democratic Establishment in the United States (under the leadership of Senator John Kerry and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi), even before Senator Obama became President, the world abandoned its policy of isolating the Assad regime and began circulating the idea that he was a reformer in the face of all evidence to the contrary. President Obama pursued this policy of rapprochement down to the dawn of the Revolution.

American officials were willing to ignore facts in order to pursue an illusion, and now they are doing the same. The facts of the Syrian Revolution are simple: this was not a sectarian movement, nor a civil war nor a radical uprising. But through dithering and downright cowardice, it was allowed to degenerate into the mayhem we see today because Assad was given every leeway to crackdown with impunity.

Miller is right in noting that the situation in Syria was quite different from Libya and that intervention in Syria is a more complicated affair and carries more risks. But the ethical imperative for the intervention and for America’s leadership in this matter is nonetheless clear. President Obama might want to turn his back on this, and he is not alone of course, but do spare us your hypocritical rationalizations.

 

Video Highlights

Leaked video shows pro-Assad militias killing two captives by stabbing them repeatedly laughing all the while http://youtu.be/PBHtjwXQUCQ It’s atrocities likes these coupled with global indifference that helped transform the nonviolent protest movement into a sectarian conflict. But indifference and hand-wringing in the face of such impunity will beget a backlash sooner or later, at which time the perennial “why do they hate us?” will make it usual appearance, and I doubt there will many sympathizers.

U.S. Overlooks Bloodshed in Syria at its Own Peril

By Andrew Beiter (repost from The Buffalo News)
During World War II, a Polish Catholic social worker named Irena Sendler and her network of allies rescued 2,500 Jewish children from the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland. When asked years later where she got her courage, Sendler harkened back to something her father had told her: “Always remember, my darling Irena, that if you see someone drowning, you must rescue them – even if you cannot swim.”

It doesn’t require too much imagination to guess what Sendler might say today about the worsening situation in Syria. Since the rise of the Arab Spring almost two years ago, the dictator Bashar Assad and his forces have killed more than 30,000 Syrians, with well over 1 million fleeing for their lives to neighboring refugee camps. The crisis is yet another test of our humanity and the future of the world.

What makes the issue even more incredible is that the revolt was started in the town of Daraa by a group of 9- to 12-year-old boys, who brazenly wrote on the side of their school, “The people want to topple the regime.” The students’ efforts were followed by other Syrian children who courageously pressed their painted green hands against the walls of their community as a sign of symbolic protest.

In addition to our shared humanity, what’s at stake for America is that due to the world’s inaction, the rebel movement is now contaminated by al-Qaida and other Islamist forces – all of whom have enthusiastically filled the vacuum that we have chosen to ignore. In short, we overlook Syria at our own peril. At best, the situation there can now be deemed a civil war; at worst, a petri dish where extremism will be grown for a generation.

As for what to do, readers can follow and friend the group I Am Syria that was started by a group of young Western New Yorkers. Concerned citizens can also send a tweet to their elected officials, or call the free 1-800-GENOCIDE hot line, which allows them to encourage their leaders to work for the most peaceful solution possible. Tell them that Syria matters and that you care. As the late Illinois Sen. Paul Simon once said about the genocide in Rwanda, “If every member of the House of Representatives and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something, then I think the response would have been different.”

Why is all this important? The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has a saying that “What you do matters.” When one human being suffers, it affects us all. As Buffalonians, we celebrate the role that foreigners such as the Marquis de Lafayette and General Casimir Pulaski had in assisting our American Revolution. Now, for our brothers and sisters in Syria, let us in some way do the same.

Andrew Beiter lives in Hamburg and is the director of the Summer Institute for Human Rights and Genocide Studies in Buffalo.