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07 Aug 2011 11:52

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World: Syria: Bashar al-Assad defends violent, deadly crackdown on opposition

  • Dealing with the outlaws who block the roads and the cities and terrorize the people is the duty of the state.
  • Syrian President Bashar al-Assad • Validating his country’s stance against opposition in Syria, in the wake of violence that killed dozens yesterday alone. Question: What happens when the “outlaws who block the roads and the cities and terrorize the people” and “the state” are one in the same? Because in Syria, they are. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jul 2011 17:24

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World: Pro-Assad protesters confront U.S. and French embassies in Syria

  • Embassies in Syria beset by protests: Throngs of protesters loyal to the embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad descended on the embassies of both France and the United States today, ostensibly to protest ambassadors visiting the violence-stricken city of Hama over the weekend. We say ostensibly because there’s little reason to doubt this was organized by the Syrian government, which has been using violence, intimidation and torture on its citizenry for months — rounding up a posse isn’t as hard when you wield that sort of brutal muscle. The U.S. thinks so, at least: “The Syrian government can organize protests at our embassy if it wants, but the world will not be distracted from the fact that it is the Syrian government that is imprisoning, torturing and killing people who want to peacefully protest,” said press attaché JJ Harder. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jul 2011 17:38

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World: Syrian security crackdown brings violent repression to Hama

  • 10 Syrian citizens killed by security forces in the city of Hama source
  • » “Implacable armed repression”: Those were the words France used to describe the onslaught on the Syrian citizenry by security forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad, as they lobbied the U.N. to adopt a firmer stance on the issue. The realities within Syria are dire right now — as we’ve mentioned before, human rights groups estimate over a thousand people have been killed, and over ten-thousand detained, so in an extremely depressing way, this number isn’t surprising. French MP Gerard Bapt doesn’t see much will for international involvement, either: “With the Arab League not moving and with a nation like Saudi Arabia saying nothing publicly to condemn the killings by the Syrian regime it is difficult to see international pressure rising beyond the economic.”
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2011 12:50

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World: Another governor sacked in Syria after massive protests

  • Yesterday, large protests like this one took place in Hama province in Syria. Today, Bashar al-Assad’s reaction appears to involve sacking the region’s governor in an effort to retain a handle on the situation. No details were given on Ahmad Khaled Abdulaziz’s sacking, though you can probably guess that this large protest, at the same site where Assad’s father led a bloody crackdown 30 years ago, probably had something to do with it. (And it isn’t even the first sacking of its kind, either; two other governors have already lost their gigs.) This is just one sign of the grinding gears of change in Syria — things could get interesting this month. Assad plans meetings with opposition leaders on the 10th; and the opposition plans a large conference of their own on the 16th. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jun 2011 17:19

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World: Human rights groups claim terrible deathtoll in Syria

  • 1,400 Syrians killed since March, say activists source
  • » Quashing dissent, Bashar style: The above number, shocking as it is, isn’t even the full story — in addition to the 1,400 civilians believed dead, human rights groups (according to the good people at Voice of America) estimate as many as 10,000 are in detention. The Syrian government has no compunction about torture, either, leaving the grim task of wondering how many of those 10,000 are going through brutality above and beyond being locked in a cell. Bashar al-Assad’s speech on Monday, full of vague talk of reform and accusations against foreign saboteurs (this is a common tactic for him) has already been broadly dismissed by the Syrian public.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jun 2011 10:25

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World: Syria’s Assad makes baby steps towards reform in major speech

  • We meet today in a defining moment in the history of our country, a moment we wish to be a turning point from a yesterday when innocent blood was shed to a tomorrow when we restore the picture of serenity, freedom, integrity and solidarity. We have seen many grave hours; we have paid a grave price.
  • Syrian President Bashar Assad • During a somewhat rambling 70-minute speech — his first in two months —where he promised to allow for political parties in the country, but offered none of the concrete reforms that many hoped for. The speech was occasionally conspiratorial in nature, but less so than many of the president’s previous speeches. Large protests reportedly followed the speech in cities throughout the country. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Jun 2011 16:44

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World: Are Syrian soldiers defecting instead of combating protests?

  • The Syrian army vs. security: It’s being reported that defections among soldiers in the Syrian military are on the rise, thanks in part to the grisly nature of the deeds they’re being asked to carry out. So says Human Rights Watch researcher Nadim Houry: “…in Daraa, for example, we know there have been some defections and in some cases some soldiers have come under fire from the security forces for defecting.” This allegation isn’t new; security forces have reportedly turned their guns on soldiers unwilling to shoot at civilians for some time now. (Warning: the source article features a graphically unpleasant image of a Syrian policeman who’s been shot dead.) source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Jun 2011 16:54

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World: Syrian protesters rally around memory of Hamza al-Khatib

  • The face of a protest: The above is a childhood picture of Hamza al-Khatib, a slain Syrian boy whose image has become a rallying symbol for the opposition to the rule of Bashar al-Assad. Activists have claimed Syrian security forces al-Khatib tortured and killed by. Be warned, there are extremely grisly images and video floating around the internet of the boy’s corpse that are about as hard to look at as anything, so please be careful. The Syrian protest movement has now galvanized around this boy’s memory, and protesters have plastered this specific image across signs and banners — a chilling reminder of the routine brutalities the Syrian people, even their children, have suffered under Bashar al-Assad’s reign. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 May 2011 16:41

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World: Syria’s Assad vows no firing on protests

  • So, would you trust this guy? That’s the question facing members of the Syrian opposition. Syria has been a hellish place for those protesting the Bashar al-Assad government of late, as live rounds have been fired into protests, many have been captured (and, given the human rights record there, almost certainly tortured), and even army soldiers who’ve refused to unload on civilians have been shot dead by the state police. Now, however, the opposition says that Assad has vowed there won’t be such attacks made on a planned protest on Friday. Forgive us if we’re skeptical, but Assad’s brutality is a cat that was let out of the bag a long time ago. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Apr 2011 13:48

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World: Assad government turns up military might against protests

  • The dance of an authoritarian state: The crackdown against those Syrians with the courage to protest the rule of Bashar al-Assad is already horribly violent — human rights groups claim the deaths of more than 300 people by the hands of the Assad government since the protests began. That’s just the visible deathtoll, to boot — Syria is widely regarded as one of the world’s worst states on human rights, with torture being a valued tactic, so it’s hard not to believe there are people having some pretty terrible things done to them as we write this. Tanks have now been unleashed into Dara, the origin of much of the anti-government protest. Once you’ve arrived at this point, can there ever truly be a “going back?” It looks like Syria may face a protracted and bloody conflict. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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