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BOSNA I HERCEGOVINA:
Verbalni napad Florence Hartmann i Eda Vulliamyja na Bildta (video)Florence Hartmann and Ed Vulliamy verbally attacking and criticising Carl Bildt for doing nothing to stop the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians during the Sarajevo siege (video)Državno organizovani zaborav“Agresija se naziva građanskim ratom, a genocid se zove masovnim zločinom. Država Srbija je, kao i veliki deo građanstva, poricala da je naša zemlja uopšte bila u ratu, zatim su rekli – da, Srbija je bila u ratu, ali su svi činili zločine. Treću fazu čini državno organizovani zaborav. Republika Srbija čini sve što je u njenoj moći, potpomognuta od strane institucija, poput Srpske akademije nauka i umetnosti i Srpske pravoslavne crkve, da se rat zaboravi da se zaborave zločini koje je organizovala država i da se krene u ono što zovu putem evropskih integracija”, rekao je Urošević za e-novine. ... “Odnos Demokratske stranke i njen odnos prema Bosni i Hercegovini jeste nastavak Miloševićeve zločinačke politike realizovanja državno organizovanog projekta etnički čiste Velike Srbije. To pokazuje odnos Republike Srbije prema genocidnoj tvorevini Republici Srpskoj. Mi živimo u kontinuitetu sa zločinima iz prošlosti. Sistem vrednosti koji je važio tokom devedesetih na snazi je i sada”, kaže Urošević.
Pročitajte više...HRVATSKA:Protiv fašizma"Protiv fašizma" je ad hoc inicijativa osnovana s namjerom sprječavanja fašističke konferencije i mimohoda koji bi se trebali održati 13. i 14. 4. 2012. u Zagrebu. ... Zagreb bi uskoro trebao postati poprište fašističkih orgija. Naime, za 13. i 14. 4. 2012. je, u organizaciji profašističke strančice HČSP, najavljeno održavanje Međunarodne nacionalističke konferencije, i mimohod po Zagrebu. Na stranu činjenica da je pomalo smiješno da nacionalisti održavaju internacionalna (!) događanja, sam naziv nacionalisti je tu preblag ‒ zapravo je riječ o prikrivenim i ne baš umivenim fašistima i to treba otvoreno reći. Da su naši današnji neonacisti, organizirani oko mladeži HČSP-a, jednako kontradiktorni i idejno nesuvisli kao i njihovi uzori iz NDH, jasno je po tome što će na konferenciji, među ostalima, sudjelovati i velikomađarske grupacije koje imaju teritorijalne pretenzije na velike dijelove Hrvatske. Neke se stvari, dakle, nikad ne mijenjaju ‒ kao što je NDH, tobože se boreći u ime Hrvatske, zapravo izvršila genocid nad Židovima, Romima, Srbima i drugim manjinama, usput prepuštajući svoj teritorij svojim "saveznicama" (Njemačkoj, Italiji i Mađarskoj) i njihovoj ekonomskoj eksploataciji, tako i naši suvremeni fašisti otvoreno surađuju i financiraju se od mađarskih fašista koji bi htjeli prisvojiti dijelove Hrvatske. Ono što je posebno skandalozno je da u svemu ovome sudjeluje i jedna institucija koja se financira iz hrvatskog proračuna, dakle sredstvima svih poreznih obveznika ‒ Matica hrvatska, koja bi u petak 13. 4. trebala u svojoj Velikoj dvorani na Strossmayerovu trgu 4 ugostiti rečene neonaciste. Pozivamo stoga cjelokupnu javnost da se pobuni protiv održavanja ovih fašističkih orgija u središtu Zagreba. Pozivamo Maticu hrvatsku da smjesta otkaže svoje gostoprimstvo za neonacističku konferenciju u petak, a policiju da zabrani fašistički mimohod kroz Zagreb u subotu.Pročitajte više...SIRIJA:Extrajudicial Executions, Security Council Sanctions, ICC Referral NeededSyrian security forces summarily executed over 100 – and possibly many more – civilians and wounded or captured opposition fighters during recent attacks on cities and towns, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. ... Human Rights Watch documented the involvement of Syrian forces and pro-government shabeeha militias in summary and extrajudicial executions in the governorates of Idlib and Homs. Government and pro-government forces not only executed opposition fighters they had captured, or who had otherwise stopped fighting and posed no threat, but also civilians who likewise posed no threat to the security forces. ... In the cases documented by Human Rights Watch, at least 85 victims were Syrian residents who did not take part in the fighting, including women and children. The report describes in detail several cases of mass executions of civilians, including the killing of at least 13 men in the Bilal mosque in Idlib on March 11, the execution of at least 25 men during a search-and-arrest operation in the Sultaniya neighborhood of Homs on March 3, and the killing of at least 47 people, mainly women and children, in the 'Adwiyya, Karm al-Zaytoun, and Refa'i neighborhoods of Homs on March 11 and 12. In these cases, Syrian security forces, operating alone or together with pro-government Shabeeha militias, captured and executed people who were trying to escape as the army took over their towns, shot or stabbed people in their homes as the security forces entered the captured towns, or executed detained residents while conducting house searches. ... Louai, who asked that his real name not be used for fear of reprisals, said that the army first entered his neighbors' house, dragged the four men who were there outside, and slaughtered them with knives in front of their families. The soldiers then came into Louai's house, and, when he and his brother raised their hands, shot at them both, wounding Louai and killing his brother. Human Rights Watch also documented the executions of at least 16 opposition fighters, whom the Syrian security forces shot point blank after they had been captured or wounded and were no longer fighting. Those cases raised concerns that the army has adopted a policy, official or unofficial, of taking no prisoners. ... One of the fighters was injured in his right leg by machine gun fire. He was lying on the street and we could not rescue him as the army was firing and shooting at our position. Then a tank approached, around 15 soldiers with military uniforms surrounded our comrade and started insulting him and kicking him. They were shouting to us that we should surrender or they would kill him. Then they put a black cloth around his eyes, handcuffed him, and one of them shot him dead with an [assault rifle]. When they left, we buried him in the graveyard in the village.Read more...HRW: IN COLD BLOOD: Summary Executions by Syrian Security Forces and Pro-Government Militias"... One of the fighters who had not been killed or wounded, but had run out of ammunition, threw away his weapon and raised his arms. But the officer just shot him in the head. Then he walked around to all the wounded laying on the ground and shot them in the head with his Kalashnikov. ..." "... They kept 18 people, including the 13-year-old brother of a man they could not find, and three women. They brought them inside the mosque. Then they brought 13 of them back out again. They were blindfolded. They put them against the wall of the mosque. Then 13 army soldiers were placed in front of them and opened fire with their Kalashnikovs. The commander then shot them with his arm at point-blank range in the head. ..." ... Salim said that while these family members were at the mosque to identify their relatives, he saw from his hiding place that Syrian soldiers entered the mosque and then lined the local residents up outside. He estimated that about 40 people were lined up. He said: "There were 15-20 soldiers with russets that opened fire on them. There were women and children among them. They were spraying them with bullets. ..." ... According to “Fatma,” as government forces were entering the village, they detained 34 residents, including a 52-year-old woman, her nine-year-old daughter, and at least three teenagers under 18. Fatma said that when the forces arrived at the mosque in the village, they announced that four soldiers who had defected from the Arnaba base had fled to Ayn Larouz and that the army would kill the 34 detainees unless the defectors surrendered within 24 hours. The forces left the village after about four hours, taking the 34 detainees with them. The government forces came back the next day as well, placing children on their vehicles to protect them against attacks. According to the three residents, government forces opened fire on people trying to flee through the fields, killing ten, including Fatma's 27-year-old son. ... According to the three Ayn Larouz residents, the government forces released thirty of the detainees after five days; the next day, the residents discovered the remains of the other four in the mountain. “Majed,” who helped retrieve the bodies, told Human Rights Watch: "The four bodies were completely burned. When we carried them down to the village their body parts were falling off. The people who were killed were all from the Kantar family, aged 14, 15, 16, and 50. ... The dead bodies were lying in a position as if their hands had been tied behind their back." ... According to “Khaled,” a 27-year-old resident of Kherbet al-Jouz, army soldiers and pro-government shabeeha militias gathered around 400 people from the town in the central square around 6 p.m. on March 18. Khaled, who was present in the square, told Human Rights Watch that the soldiers then brought two people, who were handcuffed and blindfolded and wore only trousers, out of an army truck. He said: "Their upper bodies and faces were all bruised and swollen. The soldiers started beating them, saying that they were terrorists and that this should be a lesson to the rest of us. The detainees were lying on the ground. Then the commander – a lieutenant-colonel – gave orders to kill them. Four soldiers opened fire. They emptied their ammunition clips, put in new ones, and continued shooting. I think they must have fired 30 times each. After the soldiers left, the villagers buried the two bodies in the local cemetery. Their identities were not established." ... Human Rights Watch interviewed six witnesses who described the mass killing of civilians and opposition fighters who were fleeing the army attack on Jabal al-Zawiya. At least 74 people died when the army opened fire at residents and defected soldiers hiding in the Wadi Bedmaya valley. Some witnesses said that the opposition fighters who had weapons fired back, and that it is hard to verify how all of the victims died. However, the witnesses told Human Rights Watch that at least seven people from the group, including a local sheikh, surrendered to the army, and were later found shot execution-style, or with their throats cut and hands bound. ... ... "About six of them died instantly [in the shelling.] Two were very badly injured. The tanks and soldiers then entered the square. They dragged the bodies and the wounded to the middle of the street. The soldiers peed on them. Then they shot those who were still alive – I could see some of them moving – before they ran over the bodies with a tank." ... "... From the attic I saw a group of men dragged outside by the Syrian army soldiers. Some of them were residents of Sultaniya; others were from Baba Amr. My 70-year old father, 36-year-old brother, and brother-in-law were among them. The men were lined up into two rows, and men wearing black masks carrying weapons stood in front of them. The men in masks opened fire at the people standing in one of the rows … I don't know why they shot at one row and not the other. ..." ... "... on my way, I saw five women and around 15 children who had escaped 'Adwiyya and they were in terrible shape. I stopped to talk to them. They told me that the shabeeha got into the houses, mostly through the rooftops. Some were wearing civilian clothes, others were in military outfits. The women were very scared, saying that the shabeeha robbed everything, destroyed everything, raped women, and killed anyone who had remained in the neighborhood. ... When I got to Bab Dreib, there were 16 corpses, all women and children. Some of the children had been hit on the head with sharp objects. The brain was outside the skull. Some had traces of gun wounds to the head and sensitive areas. Some of the women were naked, almost completely. ..."Read more...
DODATNO:BOSNA I HERCEGOVINA:Sarajevo Crazy (video)
PALESTINA/IZRAEL:Günther Grass: Izrael kao prijetnja svjetskom miruNjemački nobelovac Guenter Grass napao je u srijedu Izrael kao prijetnju svjetskom miru i kazao da toj državi ne smije biti dopušteno da napadne Iran... Grass (84), iskusni ljevičarski aktivist i kritičar zapadnih vojnih intervencija poput one u Iraku, također je osudio njemačku prodaju oružja Izraelu u pjesmi pod naslovom "Što se mora izreći" objavljenoj u srijedu u nekoliko novina u Njemačkoj te u New York Timesu i talijanskoj Republici.Pročitajte više...HRVATSKA:Protiv privatizacijeWeb stranice inicijative "Protiv privatizacije"Protiv privatizacije je inicijativa čiji je cilj stvaranjem pritiska odozdo kroz različite direktne akcije pokušati spriječiti privatizacije koje je u 2012. najavila nova vlada. Privatizacija i deindustrijalizacija uz stvaranje nove kapitalističke elite (Tuđmanovih “200 obitelji”), kojoj je društvena imovina predana na lijepe oči, jedan je od glavnih uzroka većine današnjih hrvatskih ekonomskih problema. Mnoga uspješna poduzeća, poput Hrvatskog telekoma ili banaka, prodana su u bescjenje (često nakon namjernog sustavnog upropaštavanja) i putem njih se danas izvlače golemi profiti iz zemlje. Mnoga nekoć uspješna poduzeća, poput Plive, privatizirana su i svedena na sjenku svoje nekadašnje moći. Nova vlada je samo nastavila takvu štetnu politiku te ju dapače pokušava dotjerati do i u svijetu nezamislivih granica najavljujući postupnu i djelomičnu privatizaciju čak i škola, zatvora, staračkih domova, nacionalnih parkova, najavljujući davanje autocesta u koncesiju… Ukratko – potpuna rasprodaja i nastavak bezumne politike koja nas je u ovaj položaj i dovela. Među ostalim, najavljuje se i privatizacija Hrvatske poštanske banke (koja je lani ostvarila dobit od 87,7 milijuna kuna), Croatia osiguranja (lani dobit od 104,7 milijuna kuna) i kutinske Petrokemije (lani dobit od 107,8 milijuna kuna). Ako se gledaju interesi društva, riječ je o potpuno bezumnim potezima kojima će se nakratko zakrpati rupe u proračunu, ali će se dugoročno izgubiti profitabilna poduzeća koja svake godine vraćaju novce u proračun. Problem je u tome što ova vlada, kao ni prethodne, ne radi u interesu 99% ljudi u Hrvatskoj, nego u interesu 1% političko-gospodarske “elite” i stranih vjerovnika kojima treba vratiti dugove.Pročitajte više...Divovski promašajDržava uporno nije željela prepustiti brodogradilišta na upravljanje osobama koje bi se nametnule stručnošću i osvjedočenim zalaganjem za javni interes, nego je tamo namještala stranačke pomazanike. Tako je postupala – i to svaka vlast kroz dva protekla desetljeća – i s drugim državnim i javnim poduzećima. U svima njima, osim Uljanika kao izuzetka, korupcija je nesmetano cvala do enormnih razmjera, a privatni kooperanti su iznosili sav mogući profit i državi ostavljali gubitke i dugove. Na dičnoj hrvatskoj brodogradnji, baš kao i na cestogradnji, recimo, obogatio se mnogi dotadašnji mali obrtnik. I sad, uvjeravaju nas, ništa logičnije se ne da smisliti doli prepuštanja brodogradnje takvim nekim brižnim privatnicima, jer je država, vele, više nego očito – najgori gazda. Na jednako logično pitanje, zašto se ne bi makar sad škverovi povjerili struci, odnosno samim njihovim radnicima, zagovornici privatizacije unisono odgovaraju kako država više nema prostora za novo zaduživanje i novi poslovni rizik. Za radnike ne, za privatnog kupca da. Ipak, premijer Zoran Milanović najavio je novu turu pregovora s Europskom unijom, koja inzistira na svršetku ove priče, kako bi se iznašlo neko rješenje za 3. maj te Brodotrogir. Da bismo shvatili s kojih pozicija će Milanović tom zgodom pohoditi Bruxelles, prisjetimo se njegovih prigovora otprije neki dan, povodom gašenja Kraljevice, a na račun posrnule brodogradnje. Škverovi su, govori on, ugrađivali previše uvoznih dijelova. Baš kao da su škverovi krivi za temeljito uništenje gotovo kompletnog ostatka hrvatske industrije i svega onog što se ugrađuje u brod, od metala, plastike, drva, gume i tekstila. Tako zatvaramo krug i dolazimo do temeljne zamjene teza u hrvatskoj ekonomskoj politici. Nema što više Milanović pregovarati s Europskom unijom, dok i on i ona poriču odgovornost elite za uništavanje proizvodnje i samim tim radničkih pozicija, u korist globaliziranog krupnog kapitala te financijaškog i trgovačkog biznisa. A privatizacija ama baš svega je njima cilj, nikakva posljedica niti gruba neminovnost.Pročitajte više...SIRIJA:HRW: "We Live as in War" Crackdown on Protesters in the Governorate of HomsWitnesses also reported security forces' use of heated metal rods to burn different parts of the body, use of electric shocks, use of stress positions for hours or even days at a time, and the use of improvised devices, such as car tires (locally known as the dulab), to force the bodies of detainees into positions that make it easier to beat them on sensitive parts of the body, like the soles of the feet and head. ... Syria remains off-limits to international journalists and human rights groups, and communications are often interrupted in affected areas. However, an expanding network of activists grouping themselves in local coordination committees and making extensive use of the Internet and social groups have compiled a list of 3,121 civilians dead, including 232children, as of November 2, 2011. On October 14, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay deplored the "devastatingly remorseless toll of human lives" in Syria and said the death toll had exceeded 3,000 people. ... "As we were burying the dead, I suddenly heard gunshots. Four pick-up vehicles with people in uniforms, helmets, and body armor drove up, shooting at the people with their automatic guns and guns mounted on the vehicles. We started running away. The mother and brother of one of the dead were killed next to his coffin. ..." ... "... Then two cars showed up suddenly and opened fire, targeting people even as they were ducking and lying on the ground. They were white Kia Cerato cars with tinted windows, like those used by Air Force intelligence. The guns were machine guns. ... In all, I saw four people killed, all by machine guns from those two cars. I don't know their names, but one was pregnant, one was about a year-and-a-half old, one was 30 years old, and one was 25 years old." ... According to the witness accounts, most of the violence was perpetrated by mukhabarat forces or shabeeha militias. In at least one case, in Tal Kalakh on May 14, a witness said that mukhabarat forces shot to death an army officer for refusing to open fire on protesters. ... a mukhabarat officer who defected told Human Rights Watch that a high-ranking mukhabarat officer ordered the soldiers to fire on the protesters holding a sit-in in the New Clock Tower Square in Homs on April 19, even though they knew that the protesters were unarmed. ...: "... At around 3:30 a.m., we got an order from Colonel Abdel Hamid Ibrahim from Air Force security to shoot at the protesters. We were shooting for more than half an hour. There were dozens and dozens of people killed and wounded. Thirty minutes later, earth diggers and fire trucks arrived. The diggers lifted the bodies and put them in a truck. I don't know where they took them. The wounded ended up at the military hospital in Homs. And then the fire trucks started cleaning the square." ... One local activist explained to Human Rights Watch that since June, army defections had increased and that many neighborhoods had about 15-20 defectors who would sometimes intervene when they heard gunfire. ...: "There was a huge protest. Thousands of protesters marching from three mosques eventually joined at a roundabout near Brazil Street. Security forces first fired teargas. Then they opened fire with blanks, before they started using live fire. About seven protesters were injured. At that point, several defectors showed up on motorcycles and killed 14 or 15 members of the security forces using Kalashnikovs and pump-action shotguns. By the time the security forces returned with reinforcements, the protesters had dispersed." ... "... When they returned him to the cell two hours later, he was half-dead. No matter where you touched his body, he screamed in pain. He had black-and-red marks from electric shocks on his hands, legs, and back. They pulled out nails on his hands. The interrogators also used an electric drill on him – he had holes from the drill on his hands, hips, knees, and feet. He was bleeding profusely. We asked the guard to give him medical assistance, but they refused. ..." ... "After the nurses stitched my wound without applying any anesthesia, the guards took me into a detention facility in the hospital, threw me on the ground, and started beating me. I told them I was injured and cried, asking them not to beat me, but they didn't stop. They put me on a bed, and when they removed my blindfold, I saw five other detainees, all with gunshot wounds, on the beds around me. Two hours later one of the guards came in, and beat me again. Then I saw him heating up a metal rod on a gas heater. I was terrified that he would use it on me, but instead he walked up to another man – he was naked, and his hands were cuffed. The guard put the red-hot metal rod to his testicles. The man screamed, saying he was innocent. The guard then beat him with the same rod, and then heated it up again, this time burning his feet." ... "A week after he was detained, his body was returned to his parents. I saw the body when it was brought in. It was covered in bruises and oval red and blue marks that seemed to be from electric shocks, mostly on his back. His ribs were broken – some of the ribs were sticking out of his body. His father said that he had been called into the central facility of the Military Intelligence in Homs and made to sign a statement saying that Ahmad had been killed by “extremists.” He said the security forces threatened to otherwise not only keep the body but also "go after his daughters." So he had no choice but to sign it." ... Residents of Homs interviewed by Human Rights Watch repeated allegations that mutilated bodies of people who had previously been detained were dumped in public gardens and other areas in the city. ... Human Rights Watch believes that the nature and scale of abuses committed by the Syrian security forces across the country, and in Homs Governorate, indicate that crimes including murder, torture, unlawful imprisonment, and enforced disappearances, amounting to crimes against humanity, have been committed. The similarities in the apparent unlawful killings, including evidence of security forces shooting at protesters without any warning in repeated instances, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, and torture, indicate the existence of a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population, which has the backing of the state. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can also be committed during times of peace, if they are part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population. ... Because crimes against humanity are considered crimes of universal jurisdiction, all states are responsible for bringing to justice those responsible. International jurisprudence and standards establish that persons responsible for crimes against humanity, as well as other serious violations of human rights, should not be granted amnesty for those crimes. ... Human Rights Watch supports the call by the High Commission for Human Rights for a referral to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Human Rights Watch believes that in the current situation the ICC is the forum most capable of effectively investigating and prosecuting those bearing most responsibility for any crimes committed and offering accountability to the Syrian people. In the absence of the government of Syria ratifying the Rome statute, or referring the situation itself to the ICC, the Court requires a referral by the Security Council to be seized of the matter. However in the event of continued stalemate at the Security Council, Human Rights Watch recalls that crimes against humanity may also be subject to universal jurisdiction, and urges other countries to consider the exercise of universal jurisdiction for crimes committed in Syria.Read more...Human Rights Watch reporting on SyriaStranica Human Rights Watch-a s izvještajima o kršenjima ljudskih prava i zločinima protiv čovječnosti počinjenim u Siriji.Read more...AI: HEALTH CRISIS: SYRIAN GOVERNMENT TARGETS THE WOUNDED AND HEALTH WORKERSIn Homs, one of Syria's major cities and governorates, government security forces have obstructed ambulances on their way to pick up wounded people and when ferrying the wounded to hospital, threatened Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) workers with violence or detention and interrogated wounded patients while they were still being conveyed in ambulances. ... The security forces have regularly entered state hospitals in search of people injured during the protests, who are liable to be arrested, detained incommunicado and subjected to torture or other ill-treatment. In consequence, unsurprisingly, many people are now reportedly avoiding state-run hospitals if they or their relatives have been wounded during the protests and unrest, and turning instead to private hospitals where they may obtain treatment without exposing themselves to likely arrest or to the makeshift field hospitals that have been set up by some local communities to treat people shot or otherwise wounded by the army and security forces. These private and field hospitals, however, face problems in obtaining adequate medical supplies, including blood for use in transfusions, which they can obtain only from the Central Blood Bank controlled by the Ministry of Defence. ... Many know that the security forces have raided hospitals in which they believed wounded unrest victims were being treated and are probably aware that a number of health professionals have been detained, and in some cases tortured, for seeking to protect patients in their care. ... "... Among them was a boy, aged around 15, injured in his foot. We, the doctors, were attending to more serious injuries as he waited on a bed… I remember hearing shrieks of pain, so I walked towards the voice and saw a male nurse hitting the boy hard on his injury and swearing at him as he poured surgical spirit on the injured foot in an act that clearly intended to cause the boy additional pain... ..." ... "I stood at the door of the emergency room while [“Ahmed”] was unconscious as he was being stitched. There were around seven or eight security men, some carrying rifles, and nurses wearing white robes crowded around him. He opened his eyes and said: ‘Where am I?’ They all suddenly jumped on him and started beating him and hitting him, including a nurse wearing a white robe and a security man with a stick. They shouted foul language at him and said: ‘You pig, you want freedom, eh?’..." ... "Ahmed" told him he had been beaten mercilessly, particularly on his stomach, by both security officials and male nurses at Tell Kalakh hospital. Then he was taken to the military hospital in Homs because his head wound started bleeding, only to be beaten and verbally abused again, though doctors did re-stitch his wound. He was moved to Military Security as a detainee, interrogated for several hours despite his injuries, and reportedly given electric shocks to his testicles, chest and neck. Next day, he was again interrogated from around 9am until the evening and was seen by other detainees to be in a very bad condition when returned to his cell. He said he had been forced into a stress position for a prolonged period and tortured with electric shocks. His fellow detainees asked a guard for anti-inflammatory pills and painkillers for him but were told there were none. ... "We were not treated like humans; it was like we were animals… for four days, I was cuffed to the bed by my feet and hands and it was hard to move… without food or water. Once I asked [the sergeant] for water, so he said: ‘Okay, I will give you water,’ and he peed on me… We were not allowed to use the toilet… we did it on the bed… sometimes as I closed my eyes to sleep, [the sergeant] would hit me with a baton made of wire cables… Nurses and doctors wearing white robes would come to the room, share a laughter with [the sergeant]… one told him that it was enough that we were beaten, he didn't have to pee on us… another came and watched us and then shouted that we deserved what we're going through because we were animals… Female nurses would come to the room at different times just to poke us with needles. I was poked by at least four nurses on around five different occasions to my face, feet and abdomen." ... For example, in two separate incidents at the Military Police facility, a wounded man and a wounded woman were tortured with a heated iron skewer placed on their genitals. ... Soldiers stabbed 21-year-old "Samer" twice in the buttocks with a bayonet during his arrest on 17 May 2011 in a town in the governorate of Homs. He was taken to Homs military hospital's morgue to identify bodies of men from his home town. "I was blindfolded and my hands were tied behind my back. The security man wrapped a mask over my mouth and took me to a very cold room. I wasn't told what it was. Then the security man ordered another man, who apparently worked at the hospital, to show corpse number one. He removed the blindfold and told me not to dare to raise my head. 'Don't look up, I will kill you. Just look where I direct you,' he told me. They opened a black nylon sack and I could see a corpse from the head to the chest. It was the corpse of X. I told him who it was. He wrote down the name on a piece of paper and tagged the corpse. His right eye was stitched, he was hit with bullets on the right shoulder and what appeared to be a stab to the chest. I remained composed but was crying deep inside me. Then he made me stand back and put the blindfold on my eyes again, and ordered the hospital worker to bring corpse number two. They showed me only the face and neck and I saw Y. It was as if they have burned his hair and beard, and his neck seemed to be broken because it was loose. Then I was told to stand back and he said: bring corpse number three. It was Z and his neck looked black and his teeth were black and his face was a bit disfigured, specifically his right eye and his chest as if they had stabbed him with a bayonet on the chest two or three times. There were maggots on the left side of his stomach. Again, he tagged the name I gave him on the corpse. Corpse number four was so disfigured that I couldn't recognize it. It was as if one side of his face had melted. I said: 'Sidi [sir], I don't know him.' So he started moving his face right and left but I just couldn't tell who he was. He showed me other corpses and I think the total was 10 corpses. I said I didn't know any of them. He got angry and said: 'So, you don't know them, eh? Okay, they will introduce themselves to you!' He opened the morgue door, blindfolded me again and pushed me inside and I fell face down on what I could feel was a body. I got up with difficulty as I was wounded in my backside, blindfolded and my hands tied. As I pulled myself up to stand up because I didn't want to lie down between the bodies, I tried to avoid stepping on any of the bodies. I finally stood up… I started praying silently so that God will make things easier for me. I then tried to put my mind off the fact that I'm confined in the morgue, and I started thinking about my family and friends, anything in the outside world that will make me forget where I was. After around one or two hours, I felt so cold deep in my bones and couldn't stop shivering… my bones were shivering, so I shouted to them: I beg you; I swear to God I now know them… I know them all. So they opened the door and dragged me. He ordered me to kneel down. I told him I was wounded but he forced me to kneel. He removed the blindfold and asked me to raise my head and then poured an entire bottle of surgical spirit over my head. I first thought it was water, but then realized it was medical alcohol from the smell and its burning effect. He wiped my eyes and then brought a small digital photo camera… he showed me photos of the same corpses that I saw earlier, and I repeated the names of the first three, and then recognized another two. The rest, I couldn't recognize… but didn't dare to say so, so I just came up with names of people I know from our town. I had to save myself. I was taken blindfolded but able to look from under it in a bus and they threw me on the bus floor and men there were stepping on me and hitting me. I told them I was wounded, they asked where? And when I pointed to the injury, they beat me hard on it. Then I started bleeding and someone ordered them to stay away from me. So they started spitting and swearing at me. We arrived at the Branch [probably Military Security], and were taken to the interrogators. They removed the blindfold and asked me to keep my eyes on the floor. Then one brought a camera and showed me the same corpses and every time I gave the name of a corpse, he would put an electric taser on me. It made my voice shiver. When I reached the last corpse, I couldn't remember the name I gave earlier, and came up with another name. So he put the electric taser on my left leg and kept it there for a while and then asked the guard to take me away." "Samer" was released in the first week of June after putting his thumb print to documents he says he was not permitted to read. ... However, when the ambulance had picked up the wounded person at about 10.35pm, it came under fire, apparently from the security forces as it took the alternative route from Haret al-Hameediye to Abu al-Hol Street. Three SARC volunteers were injured, including Mohamed Hakam Durraq al-Siba'i who died eight days later. ... on the night of 5-6 August at 12.30am, SARC was called to help an injured 14-year-old girl in Hayy al-Fakhoura in Homs. The ambulance was stopped at three security checkpoints on al-'Adawiyya, around a 2km-long street. ... the officer decided to keep the other five IDs to make sure that the ambulance returned to his checkpoint, warning the crew that if they did not return after five minutes, he would consider the ambulance stolen and it would be hit "with a propelled grenade". Fortunately, the girl was conscious and could walk, despite injuries to the pelvis, and the ambulance returned to the checkpoint within the five-minute deadline. ... The officer who initially had stopped them entered the ambulance holding his rifle – a clear breach of SARC rules – and questioned the girl. When she explained that she had been shot while in her grandfather's garden, the officer accused her of lying. ... With mistrust deepening about government-run hospitals, a growing number of wounded people and their families and friends have been opting to find treatment in less well equipped private hospitals or makeshift field hospitals. In response, the authorities have restricted the medical care that such facilities can offer. ... "He was bleeding heavily and shrieking from pain… we had no anaesthetics and no blood units, and all we could do was clean his wound, and provide him with painkillers and serum… What we needed were blood units, an anaesthetic, and a surgeon, and all are usually available at al-Bassel Hospital. But it was impossible to take Majed there because the army and security occupied the hospital and snipers positioned on its rooftop shot at anyone in their line of vision." ... Mohamed Majed al-Akkari died two days later. Video footage was taken of his body on the floor of a house. Two ice blocks had been put on top of him as it was too dangerous to take his body to the hospital morgue, which had been taken over by the army. He was eventually buried in the garden. ... "Communications and electricity were cut off, so we couldn't use essential medical equipment such as the XRay machine, which we desperately needed to locate the bullets lodged in the body… We had to perform clinical examinations without any diagnostic investigations." Private hospitals and health professionals working in them suspected of treating the wounded without informing the authorities and providing blood units from a source other than the Central Blood Bank have been targeted by government forces. The medical care of patients has also been compromised during security raids of hospitals after which wounded people have been taken away against medical advice. In at least one case, security forces stormed an operating theatre while a patient was undergoing surgery. ... he was in pain throughout and unable to stand after sustaining an abdominal wound and being tortured at the National Hospital in Banias. His interrogator allowed him to sit while being questioned, blindfolded and with his hands cuffed, but neither he nor the two other wounded detainees were examined by a doctor or treated for their injuries. Following this, "Mohamed" was moved to "Branch 235", a security installation in Damascus where he was subjected to further torture and abuse but received no medical care throughout the 17 days that he was held there. Boiling water was poured onto his neck, armpit and the soles of his feet and he and other detainees were whipped by guards. He told Amnesty International that he had feared to ask for access to a doctor. ... Medical staff have been among the thousands of people who have been arrested and tortured by the security forces since the current unrest began in March. Some have been detained for treating people injured during the unrest without reporting them to the authorities, others because of their participation in anti-government demonstrations or because they are suspected of providing information about human rights violations by Syrian security forces. ... "We were blindfolded with our hands tied behind our backs, and they swore at us and beat us badly. One of the doctors was wearing his white robe when he was arrested, and he was picked on a lot. They would say: 'So you're the one who treats the wounded, aren't you?' He attracted the attention of all the security personnel, and no one missed beating him. We were taken to the Military Security in Homs where we were welcomed with kicks and slaps to the face, and then placed in an overcrowded room… ... my colleagues, two doctors and the head of nursing, were beaten up badly… At the late stage of our detention, I was taken to an investigating judge and he told me that I had confessed to protesting and rioting. I said that I hadn't and that they forced me to sign a document that I had not read because I was blindfolded. I was released in late August on bail along with my colleagues and now face charges of protesting and damaging the image of the state… Since it would be improper to put us on trial for treating the wounded, they came up with such charges." ... He and the others were taken to the local sports stadium where there were hundreds of men, including some elderly men and a number of boys, who had been detained during the crackdown. They were blindfolded and had their wrists secured with plastic ties. ... "Soldiers and security would come in turn, and ask: 'Where is the doctor? Where is the doctor?' Then they would beat him very hard… They would taunt the nurse, ["Ihab"], saying: 'Look how beautiful he looks, wearing green!' Then I could hear a loud collision of the thick wooden baton against his body followed by "Ihab's" loud shrieking... As they hit him, they would say: 'You were at the hospital, weren't you? Treating the wounded, weren't you?'"Read more...
HRVATSKA:Kapitalizam - financijski terorizam + FOTOGALERIJA!Nekoliko stotina ljudi okupilo se danas u 13 sati na Zrinjevcu kako bi obilježili Europski dan akcije protiv kapitalizma. ... "Dok jedni uvećavaju svoj kapital i političku moć, život drugih postaje sve nesigurniji, siromaštvo raste, a društvene podjele su sve veće. Destruktivna logika kapitalizma bit će reproducirana dokle god joj se ne odupremo", naglasili su organizatori.Pročitajte više...Izložba podrške u Dalmacijavinu + FOTOGALERIJA!Tribinu pred tvornicom Dalmacijavina vodio je Antej Jelenić koji je rekao da u Hrvatskoj i svijetu radnicima upravljaju elite i tajkuni kojima je jedini cilj profit, a princip radničkog upravljanja već zaživljava u svijetu kao otpor vladajućim elitama. Sindikalni povjerenik iz Dalmacijavina Lukica Bucat istaknuo je kako ni sadašnja ni bivša vlada nisu željele prihvatiti rješavanje problema firme po načelu radničkog dioničarstva, a predsjednik Nezavisnog sindikata Jadrankamena Tonči Drpić je dodao da ta tvrtka može proizvoditi 95 posto kamena u Hrvatskoj umjesto odlaska u stečaj. Najavio je borbu svim silama protiv stečajnog postupka i formiranje kriznog menadžmenta.Pročitajte više...Snimka tribine "Kriza kapitalizma - kapitalizam u krizi", 28.3.2012. (video)Cijela snimka tribine zajedno s raspravom odnosno dijelom s pitanjima i komentarima iz publike i odgovorima na kraju.Pročitajte više...
Šegvić: Pozivam radnike na jedinstvo u borbi protiv neoliberalnog kapitalizma»Pozivam sve građane na solidarnost, a radnike na jedinstvo u borbi protiv neoliberalnog kapitalizma na hrvatski način. Ovo što se sada događa, a nema dana da neka tvrtka ne završi u stečaju, najbolje pokazuje na čiju se stranu svrstala hrvatska vlada. Apsurdno je da jedna socijaldemokratska i narodnjačka vlada staje na stranu krupnog kapitala i da nas još uvjerava kako je to jedini ispravni put«, poručio je u nedjelju čelnik Nezavisnog sindikata u Brodosplitu Zvonko Šegvić. Istu poruku poslali su i sindikalni vođe Dalmacijavina, Jadrankamena i Adriachema, koji su zatražili od Vlade da zaustavi pokrenute stečajne postupke umjesto kojih bi se proveo model radničkog dioničarstva.Pročitajte više...SIRIJA:Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic15. The Syrian Arab Republic has a population of 22 million, of whom 74 per cent Sunni Muslim, 10 per cent Alawite, 3 per cent other Shia Muslim, 10 per cent Christian and 3 per cent Druze. Major ethnic minorities include Kurdish, Assyrian, Armenian, Turkmen and Circassian populations. The Al Assad family belongs to the Alawite religious community. While comprising only 10 per cent of the population, Alawites today make up the majority in the key positions of the State apparatus, including the officer corps of the armed forces, the Republican Guard and the Fourth Division.16. In 1982, severe human rights violations occurred in the context of an uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood in the city of Hama. In an attack by Syrian forces, several neighbourhoods of the city were shelled and destroyed, and between 10,000 and 25,000 people are estimated to have been killed, most of them civilians. These documented mass killings and numerous violations of human rights remain unpunished.17. During the past four decades, suspected opponents of the Government have suffered torture, detention and long prison sentences imposed under vaguely defined crimes relating to political activity. Surveillance and suppression has been conducted by an extensive apparatus of intelligence, the mukhabarat. Decades of tight control of freedom of expression, as well as surveillance and persecution of opponents, have severely limited political life and the constitution of an autonomous civil society....41. According to individual testimonies, including those of defectors who have acknowledged their role in policing and quelling the protests, State forces shot indiscriminately at unarmed protestors. Most were shot in the upper body, including in the head. Defectors from military and security forces told the commission that they had received orders to shoot at unarmed protesters without warning. ...42. The commission received several testimonies indicating that military and security forces and Shabbiha militias had planned and conducted joint operations with "shoot to kill" orders to crush demonstrations. Such operations were conducted in the centre of Al Ladhiqiyah around Sheikh Daher Square in early April, and also in the Ramel suburb of Al Ladhiqiyah on 13 and 14 August. During the latter incident, at least 20 people, including children, were reportedly killed. In other incidents, officers ordered their personnel to attack protesters without warning, hitting them with batons.43. ... "Our commanding officer told us that there were armed conspirators and terrorists attacking civilians and burning Government buildings. We went into Telbisa on that day. We did not see any armed group. The protestors called for freedom. They carried olive branches and marched with their children. We were ordered to either disperse the crowd or eliminate everybody, including children. The orders were to fire in the air and immediately after to shoot at people. No time was allowed between one action and the other. We opened fire; I was there. We used machine guns and other weapons. There were many people on the ground, injured or killed."44. ... For example, on 29 April, thousands of people walked from nearby villages to the town of Dar'a to bring food, water and medicine to the local population. When they reached the Sayda residence complex, they were ambushed by security forces. More than 40 people were reportedly killed, including women and children....48. Several defectors witnessed the killing of their comrades who refused to execute orders to fire at civilians. A number of conscripts were allegedly killed by security forces on 25 April in Dar'a during a large-scale military operation. The soldiers in the first row were given orders to aim directly at residential areas, but chose to fire in the air to avoid civilian casualties. Security forces posted behind shot them for refusing orders, thus killing dozens of conscripts....50. A number of cases was documented of injured people who were taken to military hospitals, where they were beaten and tortured during interrogation. Torture and killings reportedly took place in the Homs Military Hospital by security forces dressed as doctors and allegedly acting with the complicity of medical personnel. As people became afraid of going to public hospitals, makeshift clinics were set up in mosques and private houses, which also became targets. This was the case of the Omari Mosque in Dar'a, which was raided on 23 March. Several of the injured and some medical personnel were killed there....62. Children were also tortured, some to death. Two well-known cases are those of Thamir Al Sharee, aged 14, and Hamza Al Katheeb, aged 13, from the town of Sayda in the Dar'a governorate. They were seized and allegedly taken to an Air Force Intelligence facility in Damascus in April. They did not return home alive. The injuries described in the post-mortem report of Thamir Al Sharee are consistent with torture. A witness, himself a victim of torture, claimed to have seen Thamir Al Sharee on 3 May. The witness stated that "the boy was lying on the floor and was completely blue. He was bleeding profusely from his ear, eyes and nose. He was shouting and calling for his mother and father for help. He fainted after being hit with a rifle butt on the head."...64. Defectors were tortured because they attempted to spare civilians either surreptitiously or by openly refusing to obey orders. ......67. Testimonies were received from several men who stated they had been anally raped with batons and that they had witnessed the rape of boys. One man stated that he witnessed a 15-year-old boy being raped in front of his father. A 40-year-old man saw the rape of an 11-year-old boy by three security services officers. He stated: "I have never been so afraid in my whole life. And then they turned to me and said; you are next." The interviewee was unable to continue his testimony. One 20-year-old university student told the commission that he was subjected to sexual violence in detention, adding that "if my father had been present and seen me, I would have had to commit suicide". Another man confided while crying, "I don't feel like a man any more"....70. Witnesses informed the commission that children (mostly boys) were killed or injured by beatings or shooting during demonstrations in several locations across the country, including Sayda, Dar'a, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Sarmeen Al Ladhiqiyah and Dayr Az Zawr. Reliable sources indicated that 256 children had been killed by State forces as at 9 November. ...71. One military defector stated that he decided to defect after witnessing the shooting of a 2-year-old girl in Al Ladhiqiyah on 13 August by an officer who affirmed that he did not want her to grow into a demonstrator. ...72. Numerous accounts from former detainees indicated the presence of children, some younger than 10, in detention centres in various locations run by the military and security forces. Torture was reportedly applied equally to adults and children. Several former detainees informed the commission that young boys were tortured at the Air Force Intelligence detention facilities in and around Damascus, in intelligence detention facilities in Tartus and in Political Security and Military Intelligence detention facilities in Al Ladhiqiyah and Idlib. One defector stated that "people had their feet and hands bound with plastic handcuffs. They were beaten mercilessly, including 10-year-old children. Some children urinated out of fear while they were being beaten. It was very cruel."73. Numerous testimonies indicated that boys were subjected to sexual torture in places of detention in front of adult men....108. ... The commission is thus gravely concerned that crimes against humanity of murder, torture, rape or other forms of sexual violence of comparable gravity, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty, enforced disappearances of persons and other inhumane acts of a similar character have occurred in different locations in the country since March 2011, including, but not limited to, Damascus, Dar'a, Duma, Hama, Homs, Idlib and along the borders.Read more...EUROPA:Anti NATO protest in Brussels/NATO Game Over 01.04.2012 (video)
HITNA AKCIJA AI-a - SIRIJA:Amnesty International URGENT ACTION: Fears for Syrian human rights lawyer: Abdullah al-KhalilHuman rights lawyer Abdullah al-Khalil is being held in incommunicado detention at an unknown location where he is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. He has not been seen since he was arrested on a street in al-Raqqa, eastern Syria, on 3 February. Abdullah al-Khalil, who is 50 years old, is a well-known lawyer who represents political prisoners and prisoners of conscience. He is a member of the Detainees' Defence Team in al-Raqqa, where he lives, and has reported on human rights violations taking place before and during the past year of protest and unrest. According to Syrian human rights activists, he was arrested on 3 February 2012 with several other lawyers, who have since been released, while on a street in al-Raqqa. Unconfirmed reports suggest he was tortured or otherwise ill-treated while detained at a branch of Military Intelligence in al-Raqqa, and then may have been transferred to another branch of Military Intelligence in Damascus, the capital. He is not known to have been charged with any offence. He had been detained on three other occasions in the past year and he and his family had been subjected to other forms of harassment from the Syrian authorities. ... Abdullah al-Khalil appears to have been subjected to a campaign of harassment by the Syrian authorities for his peaceful human rights activities, including carrying out his duties as a lawyer, Abdullah al-Khalil had been arrested three times already since May 2011 and was due to appear at court on 6 February 2012 on charges that appear to be politically motivated, namely “illegal building” on what the authorities alleged to be state land. On 1 May 2011 he was detained for one month and questioned about his alleged participation in unauthorised demonstrations and incitement of sectarian strife, charges commonly brought against perceived opponents of the government. Several days after his release he was included in a presidential amnesty. On 22 August 2011 he was arrested with 21 other lawyers and held for one week for participating in a peaceful sit-in at the Palace of Justice at al-Raqqa. On 15 December 2011 he was arrested in front of his home, along with his son who was released the next day, and held for some 11 days during which he was questioned about information he had posted on Facebook regarding the alleged torture in detention of several of his clients. He was charged with “spreading false news” and with both inciting and taking part in protests. On 18 December 2011 the family's farmhouse was demolished on the orders of the Governor of al-Hasaka, apparently as a punishment for the human rights work of Abdullah al-Khalil. During the demolition, several of his family members were attacked by individuals working on behalf of the authorities and his nephew required medical treatment in hospital. As early as April 2011 Abdullah al-Khalil said that he had received death threats and that although he reported the threats to the authorities, they do not appear to have been investigated.Read more...DODATNO - LINKOVI:IRAN:Threats, Aggression, War Preparations...and Lies – U.S. and Israel Accelerate Campaign Against IranPut another way, if Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, and the U.S. and Israel know this, why are they threatening war? In a nutshell, the U.S., Britain, and France represent the most militarily, politically, and economically dominant coalition of predatory capitalist-imperialist powers on earth, which together possess thousands of nuclear weapons. Israel is their heavily armed surrogate and enforcer in the Middle East with an estimated 75-200 nukes. Iran, on the other hand, is a much less powerful Third World capitalist state without nuclear weapons. The U.S. can project power thousands of miles from its shores and has 737 military bases around the world; Iran's navy rarely ventures beyond the Persian Gulf/Arabian Sea area and has no foreign military bases. The U.S. spends 100 times as much on its military as Iran, and has over 2,000 deployed nuclear weapons. Its population is over three times as large as Iran's; its economy is nearly 18 times larger and much more technologically advanced than Iran's. At bottom, this is a battle by the U.S. and its allies to maintain their dominance over the Middle East and the world. This need is rooted in the core functioning and power of their entire system, which is based on the global exploitation of labor, control and access to key resources and markets, and the military-political control of vast swaths of the globe. Controlling the Middle East has been a key part of the entire structure of U.S. global dominance for the past 60-plus years because together with Central Asia it contains roughly 80 percent of the world's proven energy reserves. Control of this energy spigot is a key lever on the entire global economy—and on all the other powers that depend on oil and natural gas—from allies in Europe and Japan to rivals Russia and China. The region is a crossroads for global trade and a critical military-strategic pivot. In short, the U.S., Israel, Britain, and France are battling for empire and hegemony—not for justice, liberation, or a nuclear-free world.Read more...HRVATSKA:Tribina Kriza kapitalizma - kapitalizam kao kriza, Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, 28. ožujka 2012. (video)MAGREB I SREDNJI ISTOK:YEAR OF REBELLION: THE STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAIt was a year like no other, when the whole region shook as ordinary people summoned up the courage to provide a demonstration of “people’s power” such as the region had never seen before and, incredibly, to sustain it even when the might of the state and its repressive security forces were deployed against them. This failed in Tunisia and then in Egypt, where peaceful protests triumphed, albeit at heavy human cost, while in Libya the result was a slide into armed conflict in which international intervention tipped the scales against the oppressive regime of Colonel Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi. In Yemen, the President's obstinate refusal until almost the end of the year to stand down despite mass anti-government protests and increasing levels of repression and violence exacerbated the country's already deep social, political and economic problems. Bahrain's rulers, backed by Saudi Arabia, faced down the protests by force, again at heavy human cost and deepening divisions, but ended the year committing to reform, reparation and reconciliation. Meanwhile, Syria teetered at the edge of civil war as its obdurate President, facing unprecedented demands for change, used relentless brute force to crush the protests, but in doing so succeeded only in exposing further the rotten nature of his rule. This report describes the events of this historic, tumultuous year, one which saw so much suffering and sadness but also spread so much hope within the region and beyond, to countries where other people face repression and everyday abuse of their human rights.Read more...SIRIJA:Local Residents Used as Human Shields, Reports of Residents Forced to March in Front of Soldiers in Idlib (video)Witnesses from the towns of al-Janoudyah, Kafr Nabl, Kafr Rouma, and Ayn Larouz in the Idlib governorate in northern Syria told Human Rights Watch that they saw the army and pro-government armed men, referred to locally as shabeeha, force people to march in front of the advancing army during the March 2012 offensive to retake control of areas that had fallen into the hands of the opposition. ... "As we were going to Friday prayer, soldiers from a base near the mosque were rounding up people. They took maybe 25 people, including me. There were also eight children, aged from 10 to 15, among us. They made us march in front and around the military vehicles to some houses where they were searching for wanted opposition activists. We marched for about 600 meters. They were insulting us the whole time. They arrested several people from the houses. Then they made us march back to their base, after which they released all of us, apart from the detained activists. The whole operation lasted for about two hours." Abdullah said that the army often forced town residents to march alongside them, particularly when they needed to get food supplies. Raed Fares, an opposition activist from Kafr Nabl, told Human Rights Watch that the Syrian army, which increased its presence in the town when demonstrations there begun seven months ago, started using civilians as human shields in January after opposition forces tried to attack the army with a roadside explosive device. Since then, he said, the soldiers have gathered residents and forced them to walk in front of the soldiers whenever they want to move around in the town. "They take anybody who opens the door when they knock," he told Human Rights Watch. "It doesn't matter whether it is a man, woman, or child." ... "Ahmed", a resident from Kafr Nabl, also said that the army made civilians walk in front of them on a regular basis and described how the army used civilians when he was detained and transferred to the town of Ma'aret al-Nu'man, five kilometers away ... "After a Friday demonstration about a month ago, the army conducted house searches around 12:30 a.m. I was in one of the streets when I saw that the soldiers forced people out of their houses, put the men in police buses, and made women, children, and elderly people walk in front of the tanks followed by the other police buses transporting the detainees." ... "I could see through my binoculars that when they reached the first houses at the limits of the village, the shabeeha accompanying the army started taking people out of their houses. From my position, I saw them taking about 20 people. They gathered them in front of the advancing tanks to protect themselves from the FSA. They made them march for 600 to 700 meters. Among them were children and old people. " ... "When we went out into the street we saw several tanks and buses. There were three or four children on each tank and in each bus. Several women were shouting at the soldiers and tried to grab the children from the tanks, but the soldiers were just kicking them away. We recognized children from all over the village, but most lived along the main street. We found out from the other mothers that the soldiers had come to their houses and taken the children. When the soldiers left the village, they left the children at the north side of the village."Read more...Government Uses Homs Tactics on Border Town, Indiscriminate Shelling, Sniper Killings, Attacks on Fleeing Residents (video)Syrian security forces are committing serious abuses in their military campaign on al-Qusayr, a city of approximately 40,000 in Homs governorate near the Lebanese border, Human Rights Watch said today. Witnesses describe heavy shelling of residential neighborhoods, snipers shooting residents on the streets, and attacks on fleeing residents. Humanitarian conditions are dire, including food and water shortages, communications blackouts, and virtually non-existent medical assistance. ... "It was a peaceful protest with about 200 participants, after the Friday prayer. There were no security or army present, but 30 minutes into the protest we heard the sound of rockets and then an explosion. The rockets hit a building near the protest, and people started running in all directions while the shelling continued. Three people died and five were injured, including me. " ... "A mortar landed in the street where they were playing. My friend who was in the street with them, he was 28, died instantly. I found him 3 meters away from where he was sitting when I went into the house. A piece of shrapnel hit his head and decapitated him. The son of my neighbor who was with them also died. He was 7. He was lying by a wall 2 meters away from the house.… My two girls were still alive. I saw my 4-year-old's arm was moving in an unnatural way. I started yelling "help…help." I put them in a taxi and took them to the field hospital." ... "They were passing behind the mosque to the other side of the street, but my daughter, Tamara who was carrying her 7-month-old cousin made a mistake when crossing and took the wrong corner, passing in front of the mosque giving the sniper on the municipal building a clear view of her. The next thing I heard was a gunshot and Tamara was yelling. Men in the neighboring buildings ran toward her. They were revolutionaries (thuwar). Some were wearing military uniforms others were in civilian clothes. Some of them carried her and put her in a car while others were shooting at the municipal building to protect her and the others rescuing her." ... "I have never seen such a dire situation in terms of medical assistance in any other conflict I've covered – not in Libya, not in Afghanistan. The "hospital" was just a tent under a tree, about 6 square meters, with one doctor and a medical student. They had nothing – no morphine, no alcohol for disinfecting the wounds, let alone proper equipment; they were running out of bandages. Before leaving, I gave the doctor 10 doses of morphine that I normally carry to war zone assignments, and he accepted it as the most precious gift. But it would probably only last him for a few days. At that point, they could no longer arrange the transfer of the wounded to Lebanon, and knew they were likely to die."Read more...
Izvor i link na peticiju: Arrest Syria's torturersNa linku možete potpisati peticiju svim članicama UN-ovog Vijeća sigurnosti i Arapske lige kojom tražimo da odgovorni za zločine protiv čovječnosti počinjene od strane sirijskog režima budu procesuirani na Međunarodnom kaznenom sudu.Hrvatski prijevod teksta peticije:Svim članicama UN-ovog Vijeća sigurnosti i Arapske lige:Pozivamo vas da zaustavite ubojiti teror u Siriji na način da odmah uputite slučajeve protiv sirijskog režima Međunarodnom kaznenom sudu. UN-ovo Vijeće za ljudska prava i novi Avaazov izvještaj pronašli su dokaze da su Assadovi viši dužnosnici i sigurnosne snage počinili zločine protiv čovječnosti. Došlo je vrijeme da se zaustavi ova ubojita brutalnost i zaštiti sirijski narod koji riskira sve kako bi se izborio za svoja prava i dostojanstvo.Potrebno je u odgovarajuća polja upisati Ime i prezime (Name), Email adresu (Email), odabrati svoju Zemlju (Country), upisati Poštanski broj (Post code), te potom kliknuti na SIGN.Na ovom linku možete također pronaći razne načine kako poslati dodatne poruke ruskim vlastima i od njih zatražiti da poduzmu potrebne korake kako bi zločine počinjene od strane Assadovog režima mogao procesuirati Međunarodni kazneni sud.Izvor i link na peticiju: Arrest Syria's torturers
SIRIJA:Witnesses Describe Idlib Destruction, Killings, One Year On, Indiscriminate Attacks Inflicting Heavy TollSyrian activists have compiled a list of 114 civilians killed since the current assault there, which began on March 10, 2012. Five witnesses, including three foreign correspondents, gave separate accounts to Human Rights Watch that government forces used large-caliber machine-guns, tanks, and mortars to fire indiscriminately at buildings and people in the street. After they entered Idlib, government forces detained people in house-to-house searches, looted buildings, and burned down houses, the witnesses said. ... The attacks on Idlib follow months of atrocities that both the United Nation's Commission of Inquiry and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have described as crimes against humanity. The large-scale military operation on Idlib on March 10 began at around 5 a.m. ... Three children – two girls and one boy – and their father had been killed. One of the girls had fallen from the building so she was lying in the street. The other members of the family were injured as well. It looked like the building had been hit from the roof. There was no particular reason for the army to attack this building. They just shot at everything. They are crazy. They have no particular targets. "Hassan", a journalist with significant experience working in war zones, told Human Rights Watch that one of the people extracting the wounded and killed from the building on Ajama street brought him remnants of the shell used to attack the building. Hassan identified the remnant as a mortar. ... Many of the wounded and killed were brought to a hospital in the old city, which was quickly overwhelmed by the number of casualties. ... At least 20 killed people were brought to the hospital the first day. There were more the second day – at least 30. The third day was terrifying. I don't think anybody was keeping lists at that point. Wounded people kept arriving all the time. Medical personnel were trying to revive and attend to the wounded on the floors in the corridors because there was no space. Doctors were doing surgery without the proper equipment. They were doing their best, but they were really exhausted. ... The hospital was in total chaos. They couldn't cope with the number of killed and injured. The dead were buried right away in a nearby park. But by Sunday [March 11] they had run out of space in the park and the park and school behind it were also being attacked so they had to bury the dead wherever they could. ... There were women, children and elderly among them. Most of the civilians were wounded or killed because of shelling. As government forces moved in to occupy areas of the city, they frequently looted shops and apartments, and deliberately burned down houses of suspected activists, the witnesses said. ... The witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that it is very difficult for people to leave the city as the highway encircling Idlib, forming a belt around the city, is controlled by the Syrian army. Landmines planted by government forces along the border with Turkey have made it even more difficult for people to flee the government's onslaught. Hassan estimated that 85 percent of Idlib's population is still in the city. ... One year after the uprising began in Syria, security forces have killed at least 8,000 civilians according to lists compiled by local activists. Vetoes by Russia and China have prevented the Security Council from taking any action on Syria despite evidence that crimes against humanity are being committed. ... The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has, on multiple occasions, recommended that the Security Council refer the situation to the court. Similarly, a growing number and wide range of countries have voiced their support for an ICC referral. On March 13, during a session at the UN Human Rights Council, Austria delivered a cross-regional statement on behalf of 13 countries supporting the High Commissioner's call for a referral. Human Rights Watch urged others to join the mounting calls for accountability by supporting a referral to the ICC as the forum most capable of effectively investigating and prosecuting those bearing the greatest responsibility for abuses in Syria.Read more...The Syrian authorities must reveal the fate of Mazen Darwish and SCM staffSince their detention almost a month ago, Mr. Mazen Darwish and eight other men have been held in incommunicado detention at the Air Force Intelligence detention center located in El Mezzeh, Damascus. They have no access to any of their colleagues, family members or their lawyers and so far no official charges have been pressed against them. ... According to the Violations Documentation Center, a Syrian network of activists, at least 386 detainees died in custody since the start of the uprising on March 15, 2011.Read more...Amnesty International: 'I WANTED TO DIE' SYRIA'S TORTURE SURVIVORS SPEAK OUTAccording to the many testimonies gathered and received by Amnesty International over the past year, people are almost invariably beaten and otherwise tortured and ill-treated during arrest, often during the subsequent transportation to detention centres, and routinely upon arrival at the detention centres and afterwards. Among the victims are children aged under 18. The torture and other ill-treatment appear intended to punish, to intimidate, to coerce “confessions” and perhaps to send a warning to others as to what they may expect should they also be arrested. In almost all cases the detainees are held in incommunicado detention, often for lengthy periods, with no access to visits from their families or lawyers in conditions which all too often amount to enforced disappearance. In scores of cases, the torture or other ill-treatment is so severe that victims have died in custody, leading to a staggering rise in the number of such deaths reported. Amnesty International documented this disturbing trend in its report Deadly detention: Death in custody amid popular protest in Syria, published in August 2011. Since then, the number of reported deaths in custody has continued to rise and at the time of writing had reached 276. Given the number of people believed to be held in conditions amounting to enforced disappearance in Syria whose families have had no information concerning their fate for months, the true figure is likely to be higher. Individuals are particularly at risk of arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment if they take to the streets to protest or in any other way promote protests, record or disseminate information about them, or document government violations. Others run the risk of such abuses if they try to provide medical assistance to people shot by the security forces or otherwise injured in the protests. Others still are at risk for their real or suspected support of the FSA or other armed opposition groups. Torture and other ill-treatment continue to be routinely practised by all the various security forces, whether Air Force Intelligence, Military Intelligence, Political Security, General Intelligence (which is usually referred to as State Security), Criminal Security or the armed forces. Air Force Intelligence – currently headed by Major General Jamil Hassan – has the most feared reputation. Even in hospitals, individuals injured in the protests needing medical assistance may suffer torture and other ill-treatment; some are even killed or are subjected to enforced disappearances. Amnesty International documented how the Syrian authorities have turned hospitals and medical staff into instruments of repression in its October 2011 report Health crisis: Syrian government targets the wounded and health workers. The report also documents how medical staff who defy the government may themselves face arrest, incommunicado detention, torture or other ill-treatment and other prosecution for their attempts to carry out their obligation to put their patients' welfare first. ... “During one of those night-beating sessions a guy had his ribs broken in front of me. Another had his back broken but they did not take him to hospital. A young man from Homs was beaten in one of those sessions with metal pipes. His neck was broken and he died on the spot. I don't know where they took him.” ... “We were carrying two injured people when Military Intelligence caught us. They shot dead with revolvers the injured on the floor. They tied my hands behind my back and blindfolded me… They took me to Military Intelligence in Kafr Sousseh… In the car they beat me, punched me in the head and pulled my hair… I was beaten so much with fists, sticks, kicks. I lost consciousness. I lost sense of time. I came to in a tiny cell. I was in terrible pain, badly bleeding, with bad back pain.” ... In use over many years, although less frequently reported in recent years, is the “German Chair” torture method which involves the detainee being tied by their arms and legs to a metal chair, the back of which is moved backwards, causing acute stress to the spine and severe pressure on the neck and limbs. In the past, detainees tortured by this method have suffered permanent damage to the spine and paralysis. “I was hanged from the metal handcuffs on my hands attached to the wall. This hugely strained my hands and was very painful. I also suffered the 'German chair' torture method and while in that position I was given electric shocks. I was also hanged from the window and my feet did not reach the ground for a few days… By the end of it, I lost my sense of pain – even that caused by electric shocks.” ... “I also was taken to the electric chair – there were three chairs in the torture room, metal, with straps for the wrists and lower legs. A switch is pulled for a few seconds and the electricity surges. Some people lose consciousness immediately. If you don't, they do it again, about three seconds a time. Your mouth fills with saliva, gunk and dribble. You pee. They do it until you collapse. Some go straight to hospital.” ... “The following day at noon they brought a group of detainees, 28 people, to the cell and the corridor adjacent to the cell. All of them were blindfolded and handcuffed. I was forced to look at the security forces while they were beating these detainees. They were kicking them and beating them with thick wooden sticks focusing on their heads for two hours. One man had his shoulder broken in front of me. Another man was my nephew whom I could not see but I identified his voice. I was screaming the whole time and asking them to stop...” ... “The following day I was blindfolded and handcuffed and taken to the interrogation room again. They forced me to kneel and put a stick in my mouth horizontally and tied it up behind my head. Then they brought my dad and started beating him in front of me with their wooden and electric prods for almost 45 minutes.” ... “They used to take eight or nine of us to interrogation, where around 25 to 30 people would be beating us… During one session I saw the death of a crucified man because they slashed his body with a blade. One of the slashes was deep and near his heart causing his death.”Read more...Revealing the Scale and Horror of Assad's Torture Chambers: An Avaaz Brief on the Locations and Conditions of Syria's Detention FacilitiesMore than 617 people have been confirmed killed under torture by regime forces since the crackdown started on March 15 of last year. Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on Syria's popular uprising has claimed at least 6,874 victims and seen a further 69,000 people detained over the course of the last nine months. Of the 69,000 detained since March, over 37,000 people remain in detention and some 32,000 people have been released, many of them bearing scars from torture and violence. ... "... I was chained to the bed, but when the door of the room was open, I could see that there was a room across the corridor that was locked for 15 days. When I got transferred to the Airforce Intelligence Branch after the hospital, I met the detainees held in that room. They had started out as 20 people in that room, but some had died. They had not been fed for the entire duration of their detention. In the room where I was held, an injured man on the bed next to me was beaten at least once a day. His leg wasn't treated. I could see the worms and small insects crawling in and out of the wound with my own eyes. In the same hospital, they would use a drill to gouge out eyes. They also used an iron welder to burn the flesh off your body as you are awake. In some cases also, they would use brute force to pull your hair out. At the hospital, they also used the method of hanging you upside down. They kept people hanging like that for days. Sometimes they changed the method of torture according to your "crime". For photographers and videographers, they broke their arms, their wrists, and individual fingers. They also gore their eyes out." ... "In this branch, one of the techniques is that they put the head of someone and squeeze it between two iron walls, and this sometimes smashes their heads in -- some people have died from that. Another is a wooden bed of two pieces that folds together at the middle. It's called the German Chair. Sometimes they put you on your stomach and they fold it so that your legs reach your head and your spine is broken and you are paralysed. ..." ... "... There are elderly men held there – a 70-year-old man was humiliated and his sons were with him. He was punished before his sons. It was a painful scene for us. To see your dad being tortured because he is old. He gets hit on his way to the bathroom because he can't run fast enough and he can't go fast enough. And it hurts you to see your elderly father suffering from hunger. This branch is specialised for defected soldiers. Sometimes even before you defect, even if you show a sign of remorse about shooting demonstrators you are imprisoned and taken to this place. ..." ... "... "The way I got out was that the judge saw my confession, and he saw my body and that my nails were removed. And he realised, and I told him, that I was innocent and had confessed under torture so he let me out. My ribs have been broken also. So I confessed that I killed security forces which is not true. ..." ... There is a building south of the main Adra Prison building which has been converted into a prison for political detainees, where the worst forms of torture have been documented. Avaaz has confirmed 14 cases of execution; bodies are buried in the prison yard. ... Mohammad Mefleh is reportedly responsible for the June 3rd "Friday of the Freedom of the Children" massacre where the recorded number of deaths was 78, but activists believe the casualty toll to be far higher. ... "... It's very normal to see people with broken arms and jaws that are untreated there for weeks. ..." ... Numerous Syrian regime officers were named as being involved in ordering, directing or overseeing torture. A list of 13 of these individuals, named by at least 11 sources, is provided below ... Major General Ali Mamlouk ... General Zuhaier Al Hamad ... General Nazih Hasoun ... General Thair Al Omar ... General Hafiz Makhlouf ... Major General Abd Al Fatah Qudsia ... General Ali Younis ... General Adnan Assi ... General Mohamed Makhlouf ... General Fouad Fadel ... Major General Gamil Al Hassan ... General Adib Salamah ... Major General Mohamed Deeb Zaitoun...Read more...SAD:Video: Left Forum Panel on Stopping the US Drone WarUnder the US global war of terror, 40% of the US budget goes to preserve and expand the US empire, killing people in the Middle East to protect a global system of exploitation. As an integral part of the terror program, drones are a weapon of choice. The Obama administration is coordinating drone strikes in at least six countries: Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan. In fact, these drones are being used eight times more by the Obama administration than by the Bush regime, in programs run by the military and the C.I.A. Obama's Office of Legal Counsel argues that such strikes are legally justified under international law, basing its argument on the Bush doctrine of borderless, endless “war on terror.” On an almost daily basis, drones circle miles above Earth, following targets. The pilots may live and work out of Colorado or on a base in upstate NY or even in some other part of the world. In this new warfare, the pilot does his killing and then goes home for dinner with his family, remaining removed and aloof from the death and destruction caused by his work. When a home or other location is targeted, the drone cannot tell if there are civilians or insurgents in the vicinity – yet everyone who's killed is called an insurgent.Click to watch...
