April 27, 2011 – Syria in the News: A Roundup of International Reportage

Violence and turmoil in Syria reached critical levels on Friday and Saturday, with over 120 killed in the demonstrations. Troops and tanks were deployed to Daraa early this week in an effort to snuff out the city’s unrest and international condemnation of the events here has taken on new dimensions, with the International Committee of Jurists pushing for members of the Syrian government to be brought before the UN’s International Criminal Court and the US moving forward with legislation to freeze the assets of, and impose targeted sanctions against, government officials. Activists estimate that 453 civilians have been killed in Syria since March 15.

 

Though the government has made significant concessions to the Syrian protest movement – chief among them, the lifting the state of emergency, abolishing the State Security Court, and granting hundreds of thousand of Kurds citizenship rights – all have been followed up with the use of force against the protestors out on the streets.

 

On Wednesday April 20, Homs was once again overtaken by protestors undeterred by the heavy presence of security throughout the city. The same day in Baniyas, a major flashpoint the week before, the chief of security police Amjad Abbas was sacked amid allegations that he brutally beat a villager in the neighboring town of Bayda.

 

On Thursday April 21, President Bashar al-Assad officially lifted the State of Emergency. The move prompted more cynicism on the part of analysts, activists, and governments, however, with some noting that concessions on the part of a government such as Syria’s are a sign of weakness, and others maintaining that there is much more to be done.  

 

After-prayers protests on Friday drew the largest crowds yet, as Syrians came out by the thousands to join demonstrations across the country. The crackdown against protestors on Friday was severe, with international reports putting the day’s death toll at over 100. 

 

Importantly, no major city in Syria was left untouched by the demonstrations and countless towns and villages were also shaken by the unrest. Homs and Izraa, a village not far from Daraa, saw the worst of the violence with more than twenty protesters dying in each. Local media reported that the violence in Izraa occurred when a group of people, some of them armed, drove cars and bikes to the Izraa Directorate where they assaulted its guards with rocks and firearms. According to the same sources, Syrian military personnel responded to the attackers and returned fire. Soon after, “masked individuals” in a civilian car opened fired which led to killing eight people and wounding 28 – military personnel and civilians among them. Government sources explained the violence throughout the day as the work of armed, criminal groups that were carrying mobile phones using non-Syrian SIM cards…and digital cameras containing short fabricated videos depicting acts of violence and fake repression of protests.

 

International media reports of the day’s events remain consistent with those of previous weeks, suggesting that peaceful and unarmed protestors were fired upon by security forces using live ammunition. It was the worst day of violence in the country since the inception of the unrest on March 15. 

 

On Saturday, thousands came out to participate in funerals around the country for those killed the day before. The day was incredibly tense with a number of the funeral processions quickly becoming anti-government demonstrations. International media reports that 12 people were shot and killed during the processions. Four people were reportedly killed in Douma, a suburb of Damascus, and another five in Izraa. A number of people from Daraa were seriously injured when they attempted to join funeral processions in Izraa.

 

Further, in Homs alone, more than 1,000 people are missing or have been killed since the inception of the unrest.

 

Two Syrian MPs, Khalil Al Rifai and Nasser Al Hariri, resigned on Saturday in response to the weekend’s violence. The officials stated that they felt compelled to resign as they were not able to protect the people whom they represented.

 

Meanwhile, President Assad swore in Abdulqader Mohammad al-Sheikh as the new governor of governorate of Lattakia while reports emerged indicating that  more demonstrations were carried out throughout the day. In Aleppo, 100 activists gathered in protest, though they were quickly dispersed by security forces.

 

The government again blamed the violence over the weekend on anonymous armed groups. It also came forward with a statement on Saturday indicating that 286 members of the country’s security forces have been injured in the unrest since March 15 – including 38 injured over the weekend.

 

On Sunday, Mohammad Saiid Ramadan al-Bouti, a religious scholar, made a statement on Syrian TV suggesting that “infiltrators” are using the “gatherings” around the country for “their own ends” and that there are individuals who are “violating the instructions of security agencies and the state.”

 

Severe violence against protestors continued across the country on Monday and Tuesday as Syrian security forces reportedly launched an attack on Daraa, with tanks moving in to support military forces. Local media stated that the decision to deploy armed forces to the city was in response to the calls for help from the citizens of Daraa and their appeal to the Armed Forces…”to intervene and put an end to the operations of killings”. State-run sources indicate the move was one intended to “restore tranquility, security and normal life” to the city’s inhabitants, while international media report that on Monday and Tuesday the city was under siege with disturbing numbers of citizens “massacred“. 

 

On Monday, in the Damascus suburb of Douma, international reports also suggest that protestors were again under fire. Security forces stormed the city early in the morning. Reportedly, there were also mass arrests of protestors.

 

Military forces were deployed to Baniyas on Tuesday as local protestors called for the “overthrow of the regime“. The same day, Mahmoud Issa, a well-known member of the Syrian opposition, was sent to a military court to be tried on charges of owning a satellite phone. Dissidents around the country are accused of using such phones to organize protests and leak information to the international media. 

 

Security forces are reported to have raided homes across the country on Monday and Tuesday, arresting large numbers of suspected dissidents. 

 

On Tuesday, local media also came forward with the confession of Mustafa bin Yousef Khalifa Aiyash, a young man arrested in Daraa and accused of being a member of an extremist terrorist cell. SANA has also increased the number of officers injured in unrest around the country since March 15 to 295 and made further statements regarding the military’s efforts to root out “terrorists” in Daraa. 

 

Reports have also emerged suggesting that doctors in Douma who are treating wounded protestors, are being arrested. The same reports also maintain that hospitals in the city are encouraging protestors not to come for treatment unless they are severely wounded as many protestors are allegedly being arrested by the police upon arrival.

 

Today, April 27, international media are reporting that more tanks and troops have been deployed to Daraa and that gunfire and explosions can be heard from the besieged city. 

 

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 453 civilians have been killed in Syria since the start of the protests on March 15. 

 

 

“Tanks Signal Beginning of End for Assad” – Financial Times – an op-ed arguing that the decision to use heavy military force against civilians is a ‘path of no return’.

 

“Young Syrians Conspire Covertly to Confound Police” Reuters – an account of the difficulties encountered by Syrians attempting to organize demonstrations and activism. 

 

“Syria Protests: Is There a Peaceful Path to Democracy?” – Christian Science Monitor – an op-ed on the prospects of pushing forward with reform without sparking a civil war and the use of international mediators to reduce tensions. 

 

“How Schoolboys Began the Syrian Revolution” – CBS – background on the young boys whose arrests in Daraa for writing anti-government slurs on a wall almost two months ago, catalyzed the unrest now dominating the country.

 

“Syrian Winter: Assad Shoots Democracy Advocates” –  The Chicago Tribune – an assessment of the situation in Syria and perceptions of the legitimacy of the Syrian government, coupled with a review of US foreign policy toward the country. 

 

“The Freedom Movement Comes to Syria” – Wall Street Journal – analysis of the regional impact of Syria’s political system and the manner in which it influenced Egypt and Libya.

 

“The West’s Double Standards Over Syria” – Sky News – a scathing critique of the West’s failure to go beyond harsh language in its response to the situation in Syria.

 

“Syrian Revolution No Longer About Reform But al-Assad’s Job” – Media Line – analysis of the impact of extreme violence over the weekend on perceptions of the legitimacy of the government.

 

“Exiles Shaping World’s Image of Syria Revolt” – New York Times – account of how Syrians in exile are working to help activists within the country to transmit information and videos of events to the international media.

 

“No Humanity Left in Syria” – Al Jazeera – an eyewitness account by reporter Cal Perry of mass shootings of unarmed civilians outside of Daraa.

 

“The Epic Battle Reaches Syria” – Daily Star – an assessment of the protest movement and the strength and viability of the Syrian government amid increasing unrest. 

 

“Obama’s Syria Bind” – Time – an assessment of the potential for US action in Syria. 

 

“Weekly Standard: Syrian Crimes Against Humanity” – NPR – an assessment of the violence in Syria and the potential role of the ICC in bringing Syrian officials to account. 

 

International condemnation of the use of lethal force against Syrian protestors has reached new heights. On Sunday April 24, the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ) released a statement calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and members of his government to be held to account for the extreme use of violence against protestors over Easter weekend. The statement maintains that those who have ordered and carried out violence against protestors, “must be held criminally accountable”. The ICJ is calling for Syria’s referral to the UN Security Council (UNSC), because it finds that there is “enough evidence suggesting mass killings now” and the “Security Council must assess the magnitude of human rights violations.” 

 

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has also stepped up its condemnation of the events in Syria to urge the international community to “impose sanctions on Syrian officials who bear responsibility for the use of lethal force against peaceful protestors and the arbitrary detention and torture of hundreds of protestors”. 

 

In an interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr on the same day, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague described the killings of more than 100 protestors over the weekend as “completely unacceptable behavior” and expressed grave concern about the deterioration of the country’s security environment. 

 

US Senators on both sides of the political spectrum also came forward on Sunday to urge stronger support for opposition parties in Syria – short of military action. 

 

The Obama administration is apparently in the midst of drafting an executive order that will give the US President the power to freeze the assets of senior Syrian officials. The order would also enable Obama to ban said officials from all business dealings in the US. Syrian officials, however, have limited financial holdings in the US. The US imposed unilateral trade sanctions against Syria under the Bush administration in 2004. The sanctions barred nearly all exports/imports between Damascus and Washington. Though Obama has pushed for a thawing of tensions between Syria and the US and increased diplomatic engagement between the two, the violent suppression of Syria’s protest movement renders his gestures politically untenable.

 

European officials are now considering imposing sanctions against the Syrian government. Further, breaking news indicates that European leaders have summoned Syrian ambassadors across Europe in an effort to condemn the violence. UK Foreign Secretary Hague has also come forward to state that it is not too late for the Syrian government “to do the right thing” by pushing forward with serious reform and ending the use of lethal force against unarmed civilians. 

 

In a highly significant move, Turkey has now also joined the EU and US to condemn the extreme use of violence against protestors over the weekend. Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood has also made pronouncements against the killings. 

 

Meanwhile, a number of countries continue to express their firm backing of the Syrian government, Venezuela and Lebanon (see also here), among them.

 

A great deal of commentary has also emerged regarding the impact of turmoil in Syria on Iran’s stability as well as on the Iranian democracy movement.

 

The UK, the US, Australia, Germany, Italy, South Korea and the Philippines, among many others, have all revised their respective travel warning for Syria to advise against all travel to the country and encourage their citizens to leave immediately. 

 

On Thursday, April 21 the Syrian government announced that it is postponing the auctioning of a third mobile license in the country scheduled for this week. While analysts maintain that the decision was based on concern for growing unrest in the country, the official announcement simply indicated that some members of the supervisory committee were a part of the old government and are therefore no longer on the committee. The only telcos in the running were Qatar Telecom and Saudi Telecom.

 

On Saturday, Syrian Prime Minister Dr. Adel Safar held a meeting with the Chairman of the Executive Council of the Arab Center for Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Lands (ACSAD), Fahd bin Abdulrahman Balghunaim and the Saudi Minister of Agriculture as part if the 32nd session of ACSAD in Damascus. They discussed the need to further inter-Arab cooperation on research and expertise in food security. 

 

 

On April 21, Scottish organizers of Reel Festivals 2011, a famous international cultural and film festival, announced that the festival events planned for Damascus next month have been cancelled.