Syrian Revolution Digest – Friday 15 June 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

Hedging Bets!

I wouldn’t ask for intervention had it not been a reality of our lives already, had Russia, China, Iran, Iraq, Belarus and Venezuela not chosen to intervene from the onset in our affairs, siding with the Assads, arming them to the teeth, helping circumvent sanctions, shielding them from accountability. Things need to be made equal. We need to be given a fighting chance. Assad is conducting a war of attrition against the rebels, while carving out his own personal fiefdom, hedging his bets. We only have one bet: staying the course, come what may.

Friday June 15, 2012

Death tolls: 48. The Breakdown: 14 in Damascus City and Suburbs (most in Douma), 9 in Homs, 10 in Daraa, 6 in Deir Ezzor, 6 in Aleppo, 2 in Idlib, and in Raqqah.

News

Mr. Isaykin, a powerful figure in Russia’s military industry, openly discussed the weapons being shipped to Syria: the Pantsyr-S1, a radar-guided missile and artillery system capable of hitting warplanes at altitudes well above those typically flown during bombing sorties, and up to 12 miles away; Buk-M2 antiaircraft missiles, capable of striking airplanes at even higher altitudes, up to 82,000 feet, and at longer ranges; and land-based Bastion antiship missiles that can fire at targets 180 miles from the coast.

My comment: I guess Assad will have to make do with Russian caviar just he is doing with Russian tanks.

Op-Eds & Special Reports

Syria: Sexual Assault in Detention Security Forces Also Attacked Women and Girls in Raids on Homes.

Syria: Shabiha Militia Member Tells It Like It Is An active member of Syria’s feared shabiha militia says he is in a “win or die” fight for his president (and a little bit of cash).

Houla Again

Germany’s FAZ, its main source, Mother Agnes, and John Rosenthal from the National Review Online are sticking to their story that the Houla Massacre was perpetrated by jihadists against Alawite inhabitants. But neither FAZ, nor Mother Agnes nor Rosenthal offer any new proof to back their claims. They simply stick to their story that unidentified sources from the opposition and inhabitants from the village of Kafar Laha were behind the revelation.

Bear in mind here that even the Assad regime does not make or endorse this claim. Bear in mind as well that no one tried to explain why and how Sunni rebels were allowed to bury the bodies of their alleged Alawite victims in open daylight in shallow mass graves while documenting the entire event via YouTube, and while pro-Assad checkpoints were all over the place. Moreover, we have not heard any similar assertions from any of the Alawite communities in the area despite the regime’s access to them.

So, why is it that we can always provide videos and often eyewitnesses to back our stories, while the regime and its supporters, and whoever choose to believe them, for whatever reason, have only their assertions and their unidentified and unidentifiable sources? They certainly have more resources than we do to document their “suffering.” And locals who are sympathetic to the regime have cameras and smartphones as well, and open access to the Internet. How come, then, we are always left having to take their words and only their words for it?

Pointing out that an eyewitness said that people with long beards and shaved heads were the ones who committed this massacre is evidence of nothing in itself: because this is how many Shabbiha members (pro-Assad militias) look like.

Telling us that 80,000 Christians were forced to leave Homs City, well, so did 500,000 Sunnis. The question is why? Mother Agnes and the regime, and she is an unabashed supporter of the regime of course, want us to believe that this is the work of Sunni extremists and Jihadi elements. The evidence we have, not only the videos and testimonies offered by local activists, but those offered by foreign journalist as well, suggest that the intensive indiscriminate pounding of residential neighborhoods by pro-Assad troops and militias did in fact pave the way to this.

Who do you want to believe? Your eyes? Your people? Or the assertions of killers and their supporters? Don’t tell me Mother Agnes is a nun, I know nuns can be wonderful, Sisters Danielle and Jordanie, the nuns from the private school I briefly attended in Lebanon in my childhood, definitely were: cruel but wonderful. On the other hand, I know enough history and watch enough news to know that the habit and the cloth are not shields against prejudice and avarice. So, nun or not, the good old mother needs to offer proof other than her say so to back her stories, and it better be damn convincing. Because knowing Mother Agnes, and yes, I do know Mother Agnes, I know very well that she is no Mother Teresa, or an Angel or Mercy, or a good preacher or practitioner of Christian love.

But to each his source.

Press Release: EU Foreign Policy Chief Wants Russian Authorities to End the Posthumous Prosecution of Sergei Magnitsky

14 June 2012 – In a strongly-worded statement, EU foreign policy chief has demanded that Russian authorities cease the posthumous prosecution of late Russian whistle-blowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. Responding to concerns over the case raised by Polish MEP, Marek Migalski, Baroness Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said:
 
“The posthumous prosecution of Sergey Magnitsky should be closed. The pressure exerted on Sergey Magnitsky’s mother and widow in this context is unacceptable.”
 
“The EU’s position remains that the comprehensive investigation into the death of Sergey Magnitsky has to be brought to conclusion as soon as possible, bringing all perpetrators to justice,” added EU High Representative Catherine Ashton.
 
However, Baroness Ashton stopped short of addressing the pressing issue of enacting EU-wide visa and economic sanctions on the Russian officials involved in the torture and murder of Mr Magnitsky and the $230 million corruption he uncovered in the heart of the Russian government.
 
“Ms Ashton’s personal efforts of raising the Magnitsky case with Russian leaders at every opportunity are well intended and honourable. However, at this stage, actions, not words are needed to make any difference for the sake of Mr Magnitsky’s family and thousands of other victims of abuse and repression in Russia. The Russian people are looking upon the EU for targeted naming and shaming of those officials who have murdered their citizen and stole $230 million of their funds,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.
 
The enactment of visa and economic sanctions on Russian officials in the Magnitsky case was the subject of three resolutions by the European Parliament – in December 2010, December 2011, and February 2012. On 27 February 2012, in addition, the European Union’s parliamentary delegation to the EU-Russia Cooperation Committee unanimously called upon Baroness Ashton and other EU leaders to implement EU-wide visa bans and asset freezes without any further delay. The resolutions were sparked by the impunity of Russian officials two and a half years since Mr Magnitsky’s murder and the pressure by Russian authorities on the Magnitsky family to intimidate them into ceasing their calls for justice.
 
Last week, the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs unanimously voted for the Magnitsky bill that gives the status of law to the visa bans already in place on the Russian officials in the Magnitsky case, and adds a requirement on the U.S. Treasury to freeze the assets of these officials in the U.S.
 
Last month, former Belgian Prime Minister Mr Guy Verhofstadt called upon EU leadership to end the policy of “polite appeasement” of the Russian regime for the sake of democracy and change in Russia and enact Magnitsky sanctions.
 
The EU leadership’s inaction on the Magnitsky sanctions was called “betrayal” by a prominent civil society activist. Zoya Svetova, a journalist with independent New Times magazine and member of the independent prison watchdog, which investigated the circumstances of Magnitsky’s detention and death in custody, and concluded that he had been tortured, said:
 
“I don’t understand why the European national parliaments are taking so long with the adoption of sanctions on Russian officials included on the Magnitsky list. I don’t understand why the European parliament is adopting more and more formidable resolutions stating that Moscow must investigate the murder of Magnitsky, when it has been plain clear for a very long time that nobody is planning to investigate it… It is high time for the West to remind our authorities of their obligations under the “third basket” of the OSCE – to respect human rights. Otherwise, you must admit that the behaviour of the West is not just pragmatism, and, although it may sound pompous, is simply betrayal.” (http://newtimes.ru/articles/detail/52543/)
 
“As public protests against the suppression of freedoms and electoral frauds are continuing on the streets of Moscow, and Russian authorities are clamping down on opposition leaders with police searches, summonses for questioning and criminal prosecutions, the argument for Magnitsky sanctions targeting human rights abusers in Russia is unassailable,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.
 
 
 

Syrian Revolution Digest – Wednesday 14 June 2012

THE COMMENTARY IN THIS PIECE DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF IMPUNITY WATCH.  

*WARNING VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES*

The Revolutionary Imperative!

When people demonstrated peacefully, they were shot it by snipers and attacked with tanks, when they finally began fighting back, they were pounded by heavy artillery and helicopters, when armed fighters withdrew from towns and cities after they ran out of ammunition, pro-Assad militias went in and perpetrated massacres, and yet, and yet, somehow, the resistance continues, and the revolution spreads. With light weapons, and little help from outside, the Syrian popular resistance is taking on a criminal consortium that stretches from Russia and China to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. Add in Venezuela and Belarus for good measure. We don’t plan on being defeated, and we’re no longer waiting for help. While geopolitical imperatives continue to trump the oral ones in policy circles around the world, the only thing that counts for us is staying the course, bitter be the end or sweet. Backing down is a breaking of our spirit, something we cannot live with anymore. We’ve been there, we’ve done that, and it didn’t feel right. So we rebelled. And that’s that.

Thursday June 14, 2012

Death tolls: 78. The Breakdown: 28 in Damascus, 19 in Homs, 13 in Daraa, 5 in Lattakia, 4 in Deir Ezzor, 2 in each of Aleppo, Idlib, Hama and Hassakeh, and 1 in Raqqah.

9 of the dead in Damascus were executed in the town of Hammourieh by pro-Assad militias. Some were shot, others had their throats slit http://youtu.be/sneRJRxdkPM ,http://youtu.be/eZPRDvD4aig , http://youtu.be/ZW1AbTgeR5s ,http://youtu.be/UM3bi9kY-RQ

The town of Anadan in Aleppo is undergoing intense poundinghttp://youtu.be/dsHNK_9YKn0 , http://youtu.be/fnlrPGoHv-k Pro-Assad militias put fire to the crops http://youtu.be/f_VcAjXGvZU

In Daraa Province, 5 were killed in the pounding the town of Heet and many were injured in the pounding of the town of Nasseef near the border with Jordan. The Martyrs of Heethttp://youtu.be/ira5mlvT95E , http://youtu.be/hEv8C5YyolU Impromptu funeralhttp://youtu.be/-ERpc5D-DBU

Meanwhile, Jordanian authorities continue to deny entry through its airport to Syrians trying to get to Amman. Refugees in Jordanian camps complain of restrictions on their movement, and of poor living conditions.

News

‘Stench of dead bodies’ in Syria’s al Haffe (My Comment: No bodies were found, because they were all taken by pro-Assad militias to hid traces of their crime. We will not know the full extent of the massacre that took place for a while to come.)

The overnight barrage from nearby hills followed the withdrawal of hundreds of troops backed by tanks that had entered the city on Wednesday to root out rebels, the sources said. About 200 people were wounded in the shelling, they said.

Op-Eds & Special Reports

The creation of safe havens will save civilian lives and reduce the influence of Islamists in the Syrian opposition. It will show the Syrian elite that the Assad regime is finished. And it will end Putin’s perverse free ride.

Syrian opposition activists tell me that the Russian Embassy in Washington has scheduled several meetings with different factions of the external opposition. “The Russians offer power-sharing with Assad,” says a leading Syrian human-rights and pro-democracy activist, Ammar Abdulhamid. “They want to push the opposition to talk to the regime.” Abdulhamid said Russian Embassy officials “told opposition activists: ‘The Americans won’t help you. You had better come to us.’ “Syrian activists regard the Russian proposals as a mere face-saver for Assad. Indeed, the Kremlin firmly believes the Assad regime can survive the current upheavals.

Syrian oppositionist Ammar Abdul- Hamid and the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, for example, first detailed the use of attack helicopters against civilian protesters in Syria on June 15, 2011.

In Syria, life goes on despite violence (A report on daily life in Al-Qusayr, Homs Province)

Sign this petition by Amnesty International: “Stop the Assault on Syria’s Civilians”

Videos from my participation at “From glasnost to the Arab Spring: the moral foundation of anti-authoritarian revolutions,” an 1-day conference organized by the American Enterprise Institute, on June 13, 2012 Unity of Expectations http://bcove.me/wh9zrderDeath but not Humiliation http://bcove.me/hixtkf0p Entire Panelhttp://bcove.me/hixtkf0p

Statement from the People of Houla

We write this letter in the name of the residents of the four cities of Houla (Taldo, Kafarlaha, Taldahab, al-Tiba al-Gharbiya), in response to a disgusting slur published in the weekend in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung German newspaper, which shamefully presented lies as facts in the report written by reporter Rainer Hermann and published on June 7, 2012. The report cast the 108 people who died here at the hands of the regime as conspirators instead of victims.  In almost four weeks since this dreadful act of savagery was brought to our village, we have been contacted by numerous reporters from many countries, all of whom have been in search of the truth. None of us recall being contacted by a German or non-German reporter that works for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. We most certainly have not been contacted by Rainer Hermann or any representative of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

The least that can be said about the claims of the newspaper that the families killed were Alawite and that the FSA is responsible for the massacre, is that they are ridiculous. Everyone who is involved with the Syrian issue knows that the four cities of Houla are exclusively Sunni, and all the families who lost members to this slaughter are identifiably Sunni.

To anyone foolish enough to doubt this we invite you to look at the Sunni burial rituals, which are there for all to see on videos posted on YouTube.

The FSA is an essential part of Houla. They are our brothers, fathers, uncles and sons. Any reporter suggesting that they are in fact the villains in this plot are woefully blind or lying.

To conclude we say without reservation that this reporter spoke to no one from Houla before compiling his disgusting report from Damascus. If he has spoken to anyone at all it is stooges put up by the regime in an attempt to deceive. Despite the renewed anguish that this reporter has caused our community and the shame he has brought to himself and his newspaper, we invite him to come to our village to interview survivors and meet the community he has defamed. We guarantee him protection from justifiably angry residents here but wonder whether he first has the courage to slip from the grip of his masters in Damascus.

Video Highlights

It should be borne in mind that the peaceful pro-democracy rallies continue throughout the country, despite my inability to keep reporting them.

Deir Ezzor City: funeral http://youtu.be/wmvcgtFg6sE

Aleppo City: Boustan Al-Qasr http://youtu.be/4LSgb0xI4_Y Sukkarihttp://youtu.be/AKICZpCAH90

Aleppo: Manbij http://youtu.be/-5Td_gkYSKc Protesters come under firehttp://youtu.be/zzeeoc6QqaM

Daraa: Daraa City (funeral) http://youtu.be/qPQPDjhLL0o

Homs City: Wa’er (funeral) http://youtu.be/hdQfrGqp6PM

Scandal Resurfaces Within South African Police Force

By Tara Pistorese
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

PRETORIA, South Africa—Yet another South African police official has been replaced after accusations of irregular leasing deals with business tycoon Roux Shabangu surfaced.

South Africa's Former National Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele. (Photo Courtesy of the Los Angeles Times)

President Jacob Zuma fired the police commissioner over claims that leasing contracts for police headquarters were far above market rates. A subsequent investigation found Cele unfit for office, although Cele vows to “clear his name.”

Sunday Times investigative journalists Mzilikazi Wa Afrika and City Press assistant editor Adriaan Basson believe corrupt police officials and politicians are the reason the South African government has failed to address national issues of inequality and poverty.

“In a country like ours where politicians are rated to earn more money, what makes them steal from the poor?” Wa Afrika asked.

But this is not the first time the South African police force has made headlines due to scandal. Cele’s predecessor, Jackie Selebi, is currently serving a fifteen-year sentence for accepting gifts from a convicted drug trafficker in exchange for information about police investigations.

Recently, Nathi Mthethwa, a South African police minister, revealed Selebi was never formally discharged from his police service. Rather, Selebi’s contract came to a natural end when it was simply allowed to lapse in August 2009.

In other words, Selebi has been able to continually draw a pension and state-funded benefits just as he would have had he resigned or been honorably discharged from service.

Similarly, last year, crime intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli faced charges of fraud and corruption for using crime intelligence funds to buy luxury vehicles.

Corruption within the police force is undermining the public’s faith in law enforcement, which is increasingly important in the face of recent crime rates.

From March 2010 to 2011 almost 16,000 murders were committed in South Africa, making it one of the world’s leaders in intentional homicide. Additionally, South Africa is host to approximately 43 murders per day.

In light of the crime rate, the role of national police commissioner has been called one of the most difficult public positions in South Africa.

In an effort to renew the department, President Zuma appointed Mangwashi “Riya” Phiyega on June 12, making her the first female commissioner in the country’s history. However, this development emerges amid considerable controversy.

As the prior trustee of Nelson Mandela’s foundation and an executive at Barclay-owned banking group Absa, Phiyega has been called a “super administrator.” But she comes into the new position with very little experience in police work.

“We are still reeling from the shock,” an unnamed police official told The South African Star. “We don’t know who this person is.”

According to Institute for Security Studies researcher Johan Burger, this appointment will further corrode public confidence in their leadership, which may be the reason opposition parties and security experts vied for an experienced police officer to take control.

“This shows that the President has no confidence in the police to lead itself,” Burger said.

But Mthethwa believes the appointment evidences Zuma’s commitment to transforming the police force. Similarly, the ANC Women’s League welcomes the appointment.

“We believe having a strong woman at the help of the police service will bring a renewed focus to overcoming the scourge of gender-based violence, such as rape, which has become a growing concern across the country.”

 

For further information, please see:

Associated Press —South Africa Appoints New Police Chief —13 June 2012

The Guardian —South Africa’s Corruption-Tainted Police Force Gets First Female Chief —13 June 2012

Radio Netherlands-Worldwide, Africa —Axed S. African Police Chief Vows to Clear His Name —13 June 2012

The South African Star —Zuma’s Top Cop Bombshell —13 June 2012

Business Day —Richard Mdluli Suspended-Again—3 June 2012

Daily News—Selebi Still Draws Pension, Benefits—31 May 2012

All Africa—South Africa: ‘Government is Dysfunctional’ Say Investigative Journalists—30 May 2012