Crisis in Syrië #15 23.000 doden.

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'President Assad is de duivel die we kennen'

Uit beduchtheid voor 'the devil you don't know' ontziet de wereld andermaal een Syrische president Assad.

Wie nog dacht dat de Syrische president Bashar al-Assad een minder hardvochtig heerser is dan zijn vader Hafez, die weet nu beter. Zondagochtend liet hij het leger de stad Hama binnentrekken, waarbij de tanks voluit vuurden. Het resultaat: minstens vijftig doden, honderden gewonden.

Er schuilt een tragische symboliek in het feit dat juist in Hama alle geweldsregisters werden opengetrokken. De naam van deze stad is voor altijd verbonden met de massaslachting die Assad senior er in 1982 liet aanrichten om een soennitische opstand de kop in te drukken. Berichten over wat er was gebeurd, drongen destijds pas geleidelijk door tot de buitenwereld, die er nauwelijks consequenties aan verbond: Assad was een belangrijke speler in het Midden-Oosten, hij was 'the devil you know'.

Dankzij de moderne communicatiemiddelen kunnen de gebeurtenissen in Syrië niet meer zo vergaand aan het oog worden onttrokken als vroeger. Maar de geslotenheid van het land maakt het nog steeds moeilijk precies te achterhalen wat er gaande is. En tot op zekere hoogte is Assad jr. net als zijn vader 'the devil you know': er is gebrekkig zicht op wat er allemaal gist onder de etnische en religieuze lappendeken die Syrië is.

Vandaar dat ook nu het internationale protest tegen het gewelddadig optreden van het bewind-Assad aan de behoedzame kant is gebleven. Maar Syrië is nu vier maanden in de greep van het geweld, het dodental ligt al boven de 1.500, niets wijst erop dat de oppositie zich het zwijgen laat opleggen, noch dat het bewind een ander antwoord heeft dan brute repressie. Het wordt steeds onzinniger om Assad nog te ontzien uit angst voor 'the devil you don't know'.

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Key events in Syria's protest movement:
Nov 12 - The Arab League gives Syria three days to end its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters and implement an Arab peace deal or face suspension from the regional body.

Nov 9 - Syrian protesters pelt four opposition leaders with eggs outside Arab League headquarters in Cairo, preventing them from entering the building for talks. The protesters were apparently against the men agreeing to a dialogue with the government.

The UN says country runs risk of Libyan-style civil war as troops desert to back protesters.

Nov 8 - The UN said "more than 60" people had died in the central city of Homs since the announcement of the Arab League ceasefire plan.

Nov 2 - The Syrian government accepts several measures suggested by the Arab League aimed at halting the violence in the country, including the removal of tanks and armoured vehicles from the streets, the release of prisoners, and allowing the Arab League and media access to report on the situation.

Nov 1 - NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen rules out the possibility of military intervention in Syria.

More at http://www.aljazeera.com/(...)111113440490791.html

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Houla killings: UN blames Syria troops and militia

UN report says Syria government forces and Shabiha fighters have carried out war crimes and violated human rights

The UN has issued a damning 102-page report saying that Syrian government forces and Shabiha fighters have carried out numerous war crimes in the country including murder and torture.

They are also blamed for the notorious massacre of 100 civilians, almost half of them children, near the town of Houla in May.

The UN's independent international commission of inquiry says the violations were the result of "state policy". It claims President Bashar al-Assad's "security forces and government" at the highest levels were involved in "gross violation of international human rights".

The violations include "unlawful killing, indiscriminate attacks against civilian populations and acts of sexual violence," it says. The report paints a bleak picture of events on the ground in Syria, noting the situation inside the country has "deteriorated significantly" since February.

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Dozens killed in Syria air raid on rebel town



Children among dozens dead in Azaz, 45km north of Aleppo, after attacks reduce a row of residential homes to rubble.

Air attacks by the Syrian government have killed at least 30 people, including children, in the rebel-controlled town of Azaz, about 45km north of Aleppo, according to opposition activists.

Witnesses and Free Syrian Army (FSA) forces who reinforced security around the town after the raids said the jet fired twice, targeting a makeshift media centre used by foreign reporters in the second, smaller attack.


Most of the injured from Wednesday's attack were driven directly to the Turkish border, 6km north.

Dozens of people, many wailing and shouting, were climbing over the rubble, trying to pull out victims.

"That's it, I'm leaving for Turkey with my family today. Life here is impossible," a witness, who gave his name as Jomaa, said.

"If you come to the basement of my house now, there are 15 women who are afraid to go out. This is what Bashar does to us."

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The attack came amid heavy shelling of several districts of Aleppo, regarded as a pivotal battleground in the conflict that is now entering its 18th month and has killed more than 23,000 people, according to activists.

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Op donderdag 16 augustus 2012 19:48 schreef SeLang het volgende:
Alle overlopers ten spijt, ik heb toch het gevoel dat Assad ietwat de upper hand aan het krijgen is.

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Op donderdag 16 augustus 2012 20:49 schreef BlaZ het volgende:

[..]

Assad heeft pas een probleem als hij de controle over de stad Homs verliest.