Ignored: Syrian exiles in Los Angeles, outside CNN studios, protesting the media's virtual indifference to massacres in Syria. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
The 54-page Human Rights Watch report could not be more explicit.
"Since the beginning of anti-government protests in March 2011, Syrian security forces have killed hundreds of protesters and arbitrarily arrested thousands, subjecting many of them to brutal torture in detention. The security forces routinely prevented the wounded from getting medical assistance, and imposed a siege on several towns, depriving the population of basic services. Some of the worst abuses took place in Daraa governorate in southwestern Syria," the report summary reads.
"The nature and scale of abuses, which Human Rights Watch research indicates were not only systematic, but implemented as part of a state policy, strongly suggest these abuses qualify as crimes against humanity."
More than 50 interviews with residents of Daraa and Jordanians who were in Daraa at the time the protests broke out, along with videos and other accounts, paint a picture of brutality unleashed and unbound by Syrian president Bashar el-Assad's regime.
"Security forces deliberately targeted protesters, who were, in the vast majority of cases, unarmed and posed no threat to the forces; rescuers who were trying to take the wounded and the dead away; medical personnel trying to reach the wounded; and, during the siege, people who dared to go out of their houses or to gain access to supplies. In some cases they also shot bystanders, including women and children," the report continues. "From the end of March, witnesses consistently reported the presence of snipers on government buildings near the protests, targeting and killing protesters. Many of the victims sustained head, neck and chest wounds, suggesting that they were deliberately targeted." Then there's the torture of prisoners: "Released detainees interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that they, as well as hundreds of others they saw in detention, were subjected to various forms of torture and degrading treatment. The methods of torture included prolonged beatings with sticks, twisted wires, and other devices; electric shocks administered with tasers and electric batons; use of improvised metal and wooden "racks"; and, in at least one case documented by Human Rights Watch, the rape of a male detainee with a baton. Interrogators and guards also subjected detainees to various forms of humiliating treatment, such as urinating on the detainees, stepping on their faces, and making them kiss the officers' shoes. Several detainees said they were repeatedly threatened with imminent execution."
The report was released before news of the torture and murder of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khateeb at the hands of Assad's version of the SS. Watch this video. Look at the boy's mutilated body. Look at the bullet holes. Look at the cigarette burns. Imagine this boy's last hours. Imagine how many others are right now suffering the same fate. And listen to that silence--yours included, most likely.
This is Syria today. This is the indifference of the world, and the complicuity of the Arab world.
Nehad Ismail, who last contributed a piece a few weeks ago on Libya, addresses the matter in this latest article, "Massacres in Syria, Silence of the Arab Lambs."
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Comments
I read the main article and the additional piece of nehad ismail.
Look guys, it is now obvious the Syrian regime is doomed and it is only a matter of time.