So, Jihadi groups are now operating in Syria. But the question remains: who let the dogs out? And whose party are they crashing? We see Assad and his militias pounding towns clamoring for freedom and arresting pro-democracy activists, but we are yet to see any serious effort meant to target these groups. Assad and his militias are clearly uninterested in weeding out Jihadi groups at this stage, because they ultimately serve Assad’s cause. Al-Qaeda and the Shabbiha, who are nothing more than the Alawite equivalent of Al-Qaeda, are two instruments of strike and control in Assad’s arsenal.
Wednesday July 04, 2012
Today’s Death toll: 67. The Breakdown: the dead include 10 children and three women. 17 were killed in Idlib, 15 in Damascus (13 in Suburbs and 2 in City), 12 in Daraa, 7 in Aleppo, 6 in Homs, 6 in Deir Ezzor, 2 in Hama, 1 in Lattakia and 1 in Raqqah.
People from Homs City, including a local imam and local fighters give their opinion of the Cairo Conference and the vision regarding the nature of the future state of Syria that was agreed by opposition groups. The Imam believes that excluding those who are sacrificing their lives for the sake of the future state in Syria from the talks and making decisions without consulting them is a “redline” and is “wholly unacceptable.” As the Imam speaks, we can actually hear the pounding in the background. Fighter 1 says that “only the Syrian people, the revolutionaries and the martyrs” have the right to decide the nature of the future state in Syria. Fighter 2 says “only we on the inside have the legitimacy to determine the future state.” Fighter 3: “who are they to determine the shape of the future state” who allowed them to?… Let them do what they want, we will decide matters here.” A Local activist says that regime’s violent crackdown and opposition activities are all meant to impose a solution on all that will meet with popular approvalhttp://youtu.be/UDi7VpfqM3Q All interviewed want an Islamic State. Fighter 3 points to the black flag overhead with the inscription “There is no god but god, Muhammad is the Messenger of God” and says: this is our future flag. Local activist says he wants an Islamic State, but he wants people to decide on this, he believes that most people would vote for an Islamic State, and says that this is exactly what the opposition is afraid of. The views expressed here are those of the few fighters that remain in the city. Naturally the pounding of Homs City continues http://youtu.be/5IjTe1ywr2A , http://youtu.be/LOuhlowHXXM ,http://youtu.be/fcuuk4uWuEw
After intense battles, local fighter took control of the town of Salkeen, Idlib Province, arresting dozens of pro-Assad militias http://youtu.be/4XNsvTDfHYI The plan is to use them to negotiate for the release of local activists. A local mother identified her son’s murders among the arrested. This is her reaction http://youtu.be/aSK68KaQi7I Local activists say that the two killers have not been harmed. It’s interesting to note that the pro-Assad militias in Salkeen are not Alawites, but members of a Sunni clan, Al-Jalkhi, with old ties to the regime’s security apparatus.
Meanwhile, tensions in the Kurdish-majority towns of Efrin and Kobani in Aleppo Province continue to rise as result of ongoing attempts by members of the PYD, the Syrian branch of the PKK, to intimidate their rival Kurdish groups, especially those who are pro-revolution, and establish their control over the towns. The last few weeks witnessed increasing acts of intimidation, including beatings and kidnappings, culminating in the murder of few activists belonging to the revolutionary movements. The situation finally attracted the attention of the local FSA group, the Salaheddine Brigade, whose membership is made up of Arab and Kurdish fighters. The leaders of the Brigade issues a statement calling for reconciliation, calling on PYD members to curb their activities, but saying that they don’t want to be involved in internecine Kurdish disputes http://youtu.be/lMAgtwv6xHA
It’s not about what the international community wants any more than it is about what Assad wants. It’s about what we want and need as a people in order to regain and protect our basic freedoms. And what we want and need is for all decent people in the world to abide by their moral and legal obligations towards us. Intervention to support the pro-democracy revolutionaries in Syria, be it simple of complex, is a moral and legal obligation, and we will never stop rallying for it as it is an essential component of our fight against corruption and tyranny.
Tuesday July 03, 2012
Today’s Death toll: 71. The Breakdown: 14 in Deir Ezzor, 13 in Homs, 12 in Daraa, 13 in Damascus (12 in Suburbs and 1 in City), 10 in Aleppo, 5 in Hama, 3 in Idilb, and 1 in Raqqah.
A video showing the chaotic scene during one of the failed sessions in the opposition conference in Cairo http://youtu.be/ZtX-h_A-_wQ
In regard to the recently released report by Human Rights Watch on torture, this is a leaked video showing pro-Assad troops torturing a civilian http://youtu.be/6bW2AHfyw_oAll through the torture session security officers keep taunting their prisoner: “You want freedom?” “You want to kill the Aalwites?” “Say Assad is your God.”
Let it be clear to all: Demanding international intervention is our moral and legal right as a people who belong to a country that is a member of the United Nations. When we call for international intervention to help put an end to Assad’s tyrannical and corrupt rule, we are not demanding anything that is outside the purview of international law and the legal obligations to which all states that are signatories of the UN Charter are subject. Asking the international community to abide by its moral and legal obligations towards us as a people is part and parcel of our struggle to free ourselves of oppression. We do not want to be ruled by a corrupt and oppressive government any more than we are willing to remain part of an oppressive and unfair international system. We want all those politicians who make decisions that impact our lives to be accountable to us, no matter where they happen to be. We want both the national and international institutions that were established in our nameand whose decisions have real impact on our way of life to be transparent, fair and accountable. This is what our revolution is about, and this is why our revolution will go on, until the tyranny of the Assad is no more and the international community has accepted to abide by its legal and moral obligations towards us.
Al-Hubait Massacre| 30 June 2012 | 10 Children Killed in 10 Minutes
At 06:00 pm, the Syrian regime’s army helicopters fiercely attacked the town of Al-Hubait, located 77 kilometers from the center of the city of Idleb and near the city of Khan Shaikoun. Local activists and the families of victims were interviewed, both noting that the helicopters used heavy bombs. The regime’s army shelled the densely populated city deliberately killing 13 victims and injuring 35 people. In all, 10 children were killed within the first few minutes of the attack. There is evidence that the regime deliberately and systematically targets civilians with these seemingly random shelling attacks.
**WARNING: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES**
Injured children from the regime attack are treated at the Kafr Zaita hospital in Al-Hubait.
Hameh Massacre | 26 June 2012 | 21 Victims in 2 Hours
At 02:30, Tuesday 26 June 2012, the Syrian regime’s army raided Al-Hameh city, located 12 kilometers to the west of the Syrian capital Damascus. The force included: tanks, armoured vehicles, at least 15,000 infantry soldiers, and pro-regime’s Shabeeha militias (from the neighbouring areas of Jabal Al-Ward and Al-Buhouth Al-Ilmya). This combined force shelled the city for two hours destroying numerous houses. They harvested the lives of twenty one civilians in these two short hours. Most of the victims were killed by army snipers. All the victims were buried in the Al-Sadat cemetery.
**WARNING: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES**
Victims from the massacre on 26 of June in Al-Hameh. The attack was perpetrated by the Syrian regime’s army aided by pro-regime Shabeeha militias.
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Mahmoud Al-Ahmad’s Story: A Paramedic of Hama City
Paramedic, Mahmoud Al-Ahmad, locally known “Abu Hussein” was one of the most prominent paramedic among the volunteers who aided the wounded in the city of Hama. He was born in Hama in 1985. He leaves behind, a young child, a girl less than one year old.
Since the early days of the Syrian revolution, Abu Hussein took to the street as both a protester and a paramedic. On 3 June 2012, the “Children of Freedom’s” Friday, he received a gunshot that penetrated his chest. For treatment, he was transported to a makeshift hospital where he was treated and remained through recovery. He then returned to Hama as an avid activist.
He was persistent and worked hard, founding a makeshift hospital in the Mashaa Al-Arba’een neighbourhood, which was targeted by the Syrian regime’s army. This neighbourhood had the largest number of the wounded in the city of Hama during the regime’s army offensive.
Abu Hussein treated and aided hundreds of the wounded in the city of Hama. All locals speak highly of his good morals, loyalty and the invaluable aid he provided.
Abu Hussein documented, using a personal camera, the wounded whom he aided. He did so to show the world the crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian regime. The following are examples taken out of scores of videos he recorded in the makeshift hospital. SNHR and DCHRS have the original copies of these videos that have been uploaded to YouTube.
The footage below shows the wounded in the Al-Hamedya makeshift hospital, where they are supervised and receive treatment from Abu Hussein.
On 20 June 2012, the Syrian regime’s army and security forces launched an offensive on Hama city; they shelled the city continually for three days and isolated it from the whole world using a media and communications blackout. Numerous citizens fell victims and many more were wounded. Abu Hussein hurried to aid the wounded. While he was treating one of the victims a mortar shell, fired by the regime’s forces, hit them and killed Mahmoud along with the four citizens who were accompanying him while he treated the wounded.
In the video below, the location of the body of Abu Hussein, the paramedic of Hama, is shown. The heroic efforts he provided to the injured of Hama are un-matched.
Mus’ab Bard’s Story: A Doctor and Paramedic
Doctor and paramedic Mus’ab Bard, was tortured to death by regime forces for aiding civilians. He was the epitome of a medical hero.
Pictures of Mus'ab Bard before his death and his body following torture by Syrian regime forces.
Mus’ab Bard (1 January, 1992 – 14 June, 2012) was born in Teftenaz, Idleb, Syria. He was a student in the Faculty of Medicine, at Aleppo University. He came from an eight person family. He had three brothers (one is a doctor, the other an engineer, and the third a pharmacist), and two sisters (both are attending school). Mus’ab was always one of the finest students, garnering high achievements and the best grades, both in high school and in his first two years at the University. However, even more noticeable were his strong morals and values that were present in all his actions.
The young doctor became a part of the Syrian revolution protests in the city of Aleppo. He was also a member on a paramedic team that gave treatment and aid to the wounded. Mus’ab was detained in one of the protests on 6 September, 2011. It began as the funeral procession of Ibrahim Salqeeni, a respected scholar in Aleppo, who was poisoned by the Assad regime, according to his family. Mus’ab was detained for a month for the crime of attending the funeral and videographing it. After Mus’ab was released, he stopped attending protests and began a new task: aiding the wounded and rescuing the injured.
Once Musa’b took upon this new task he worked around the clock, serving the cause of helping humanity. He traveled with a small bag containing very basic and humble instruments to aid him in his work. He had many supporters and was well known by dozens of Syrian activist for this noble role which he acquired during the revolution.
On Sunday, the 17th of June, the Syrian regime’s Air Force Intelligence detained Mus’ab and two of his class mates, Basel Aslan and Hazem Batteek. The three were all returned dead one week later on Sunday the 24 of June. Their bodies clearly showed that they had been tortured and were badly burned. Mus’ab’s brother had difficulty identifying him due to the severity of the burns extending even to his hair. The doctors confirmed that Mus’ab had been tortured and burned to death. A bullet hole was also found on his body that indicated that the bullet had passed completely through his body.
Thousands of people held a funeral procession for the murdered medical students in Saif Addawla, Aleppo. The video below shows the procession.
The video below shows the burned bodies of the three medical students inside the coroner’s office.
**WARNING: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES**
Mus’ab’s body was later tranported to Teftenaz, his birthplace, where he was buried.
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The Syrian regime’s army troops and security forces raided the city of Douma after fiercely shelling and bombarding it with helicopters. Therefore, the Free Syrian Army members and more than 95 % of its residents fled the city after scores of residents were killed with continual fierce shelling. On Thursday, 28 of June 2012, the Syrian regime’s army took the lives of 71 citizens in the city of Douma.
It is worth mentioning that the regime’s forces and pro-regime shabeeha militias raided the two makeshift hospitals in Al-Jalaa Street. Volunteer doctors and paramedics fled to save their lives, leaving behind scores of wounded citizens including at least 8 in critical situations. There are still some nurses providing aid in makeshift hospitals. However, there are grave concerns that the regime’s forces may extra judicially execute the wounded, mimicking the actions taken in Baba Amr. There, after seizing control of the makeshift hospitals, the regime’s army quickly executed the wounded receiving care.
After leaving the air in Baba Amr filled with the stench of death and the streets and sidewalks littered with bodies, regime forces ensured that any survivors would be unable to go for help by cutting the town off from the rest of the world. Telecommunications, electricity and water were disconnected by regime forces, who surrounded the town, prohibiting anyone from leaving or entering. They also denied access for humanitarian aid, including provisions of food and medicine.
The Damascus Centre for Human Rights Studies and the Syrian Network for Human Rights have verified that regime forces are systematically attempting to wipe the city of Douma off the face of the earth, killing innocent citizens and looting their homes. A new deployment of military reinforcements arrived in the town a short while ago, and a child was found stabbed by regime forces next to the Heseibeh Mosque. Regime’s forces are clearly intent on continuing their siege on the town, and if international actors do not intervene swiftly, Douma will become another Baba Amr situation.
SNHR & DCHRS demand the international community and the UN Security Council to fulfill their responsibilities and bring the regime’s perpetrations in the city of Douma to light by making a swift decision to make the announcement that Douma is an inflicted city. It is also requested that UN countries swiftly set up humanitarian corridors to transport the wounded, women children and men to places of safety. SNHR & DCHRS hold the Syrian regime fully and directly responsible for all acts of killing, looting and rape, repercussions and consequences thereof.
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