Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: "A City of Torture"
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 18:01 | Ali Yenidunya in Africa, EA Global, EA Middle East and Turkey, Middle East and Iran Vehicles and a house set on fire by regime shelling of the Baba Amr section of Homs in Syria on Monday
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Monday's Syria, Bahrain (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Watching the Protests
2053 GMT: Activist Zilal translates this video from Homs which shows the now-famous doctor, Mohammad al-Mohammad, speaking about the death of citizen journalist Rami Ahmad Al Sayed:
The doctor says that Ramy Sayed died after he hemorrhaged for 3 hours. He was hit by shrapnel from a rocket in the chest, abdomen, thigh and feet. He was injured while accompanying a family (4 member of the family also died). He also says that Rami was one of the most important cameraman and activist in Baba Amr and that he was killed because he was filming the reality in Baba Amr.
The man who speaks at the end of the video is Rami's brother. He says that Rami asked him to give him his phone to film demonstrations the first times, and after that he said to his brother "Bring me a camera, I want to film."
The video may be disturbing to some viewers.
1954 GMT: So many amateur photographers and cameramen in Syria have been injured or killed since the beginning of the conflict. This morning, for example, we referred to a Live Stream of the shelling of Baba Amr in Homs (see 0805 GMT) --- activists now report that the citizen journalist who provided that footage, Rami Ahmad Al Sayed, has been killed in Baba Amr, Homs.
1856 GMT: As is always the case in Syria, the violence is only part of the story. The LCCS reports that a large protest occurred in the Tadhamon district of Damascus:
The Coalition of Free Damascenes for Peaceful Change also report that there were protests earlier in the Kafar Batna, Qadam, Hammouriyeh, and Yalda districts of Damascus.
1850 GMT: Looking at that shockingly-high death toll posted by the LCCS in the previous update, 55 of those deaths were in Idlib alone. A slightly outdated update (2 hours old) from the London-base Syrian Observatory for Human Rights helps provide a clue as to why the death toll is so high in Idlib province:
The death toll of civilians killed today and for whom the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has risen to 33 martyrs in Idlib district. The civilians were killed during the military operation by the Syrian forces in the village of Abdeeta. They have followed those who fled to the villages of Ibleen and Belshon in Zawiya Mountain. The martyrs were; 19 people in Abdeeta, 4 people in Belshon and the other 8 in Ibleen.
1820 GMT: The Local Coordinating Committees of Syria say 106 people have been killed by security forces today, including 10 children, 3 women and 5 defected soldiers. In Idlib, 55 people have been slain. In Homs, shelled by regime forces, 45 have died. Elsewhere, there are three deaths in Damascus suburbs, two in Deir Ez Zor, and one in Aleppo.
More graphic footage of bodies in Baba Amr in Homs:
1750 GMT: In Bahrain, the Gathering of National Unity, composed mainly of Sunni Muslim demonstrators, has rallied outside Al-Fateh Mosque. Among the demands were no regime talks with the opposition movement Al Wefaq:
1610 GMT: Today's death toll in Syria has already reached 50, according to the Local Coordinating Committees of Syria, a loose-nit organization of Syrian activists. 30 of those killed have died in Homs (most in the Baba Amr district, though this most recent report does not break that number down). 17 people have been killed in Idlib, 16 in Ibdita and Ibleen (2 towns near Jabal Alzawiyeh), two people were killed in Douma two were killed in Mesraba in the Damascus Suburbs, and one was killed in Aleppo.
The report from the LCCS also has a video gallery of today's events.
However, this report could already be out of date. The LCCS has recently posted on their Facebook page that the city of Khan Sheikoun, in Idlib province, is under heavy attack and is being shelled into the night. The city is strategically important as it is on the main road between Idlib province and Hama.
1604 GMT: Yemen - a government spokesman has said that we may have to wait for up to 10 days for the results from today's Presidential election - you know, the election where only 1 person is running?
1558 GMT: An opposition group that focuses on Damascus has posted a report from its sources near Zabadani:
More than 200 military vehicles, buses of Assad armed thugs and cars of security forces surrounded the western area of Zabadani; ongoing a campaign of raids from Barada street and spread of army and security forces from al-Seelan street to the western area.
1527 GMT: The LCCS report a large escalation of the violence in Idlib province, specifically in Jabal el Zawiya and two nearby towns (map):
The number of martyrs in Ebdeta and Ebleen towns who were shot by security forces has reached to 12 so far. The regime's army destroyed more than 10 homes after raiding the two adjacent towns amid intense shelling. The martyrs are: Hassan Mohammas Kheir Al-Homoud, Omar Mustafa Al-Homoud, Mohammad Homoud Shehaiber, Samir Ahmad Al-Asa'ad, Ahmad Mohammad Hassan Shehaibar, Najeeb Mohammad Shehaibar, Hassan Khalid Shehaibar, Mahmoud Khalid Al-Khateeb, Waleed Abdul Hameed Fadil, Khalid Ahmad Al-Homoud, Ali Mustafa Shehaibar and four un-identified corpses.
1519 GMT: Bahraini activist Zainab alKhawaja has been released from prison, according to the BBC. Zainab was arrested one week ago while trying to lead protesters to the Pearl Roundabout, the former location of the Pearl Monument which the authorities tore down last spring when it became a symbol of the opposition.
The BBC offers little in the way of detail about Zainab's release, but does pick up on protests that occurred yesterday in Bahrain:
On Monday, about 100 people tried unsuccessfully to reach Pearl Roundabout from the village of Sitra, south of Manama, activists said.
The march took place after a funeral for a protester who accidentally set himself alight while pouring petrol onto burning tyres, they added.
In a separate incident at another funeral in Sitra - this time reportedly for an elderly man who died after his house was hit by tear gas - a young man was left in a critical condition after being hit by a tear-gas canister.
1513 GMT: James Miller reporting in from the road...
The latest update from the Local Coordinating Committees of Syria, an activist group that collects and attempts to internally verify their information, states that they have confirmed the deaths of 31 people so far today...
Including 4 children, 3 women and 3 defected soldiers. In Homs city only, there were 23 martyrs (16 in Baba Amr neighborhood, 6 in Qasir and 1 in Bayada neighborhood). Also, 5 martyrs in Idlib, 2 in Douma and Mesraba in Damascus suburbs.
The international focus will once again be drawn to Homs, specifically the Baba Amr district, for obvious reasons. Sources indicate that, beyond the shelling, a humanitarian crisis in Homs is developing that could claim the lives of money by itself. However, for today, the shelling is once again the immediate threat.
Beyond this development, however, there are signs that the regime forces have redoubled their efforts to strike at Idlib province over the last few days. The LCCS reports:
Idlib: Jabal Al-Zawiyah: The regime's army is raiding Ebdeta town with 15 tanks and one Zill car. Several martyrs have fallen and until now the residents couldn't pull them out of the streets due to the intense shooting by security forces.
There were other clashes reported across Idlib earlier today.
Aleppo has also seen renewed protests. The first video below shows a large protest today on the campus of aleppo University, and the next video shows police firing teargas on the campus..
1330 GMT: Saudi Arabia's Minister of Interior issued a statement on Monday that its security forces would use "an iron fist" to end violence in the Eastern Province, where most of the country's Shi'a Muslim minority live.
The Ministry said, "It is the state's right to confront those that confront it first...and the Saudi Arabian security forces will confront such situations...with determination and force and with an iron fist."
The Ministry said the statement was a response to a sermon last week in the Qatif area that criticised the regime's handling of the situation.
There have been recurrent protests in the Eastern Province over the past year, calling in particular for the release of political detainees and generally demanding political, legal, and economic rights.
1030 GMT: Activists have posted the names of seven of the 16 people, including two children, whom they claim have been killed today in the Baba Amr section of Homs in Syria.
0942 GMT: Cherif Bassiouni, the head of last year's Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, has congratulated the Bahrain International Circuit on its announcement of this year's Formula 1 Grand Prix "under the heading of 'unity'".
0937 GMT: More graphic footage from the assault on the Baba Amr section of Homs in Syria --- the final breaths of a dying child.
Al Jazeera Mubasher (Live) is broadcasting from Baba Amr.
0933 GMT: Bahrain's pro-regime Daily Tribune headlines, "Tear Gas Not A Petty Issue!": "Veterinarians in the Kingdom have advised pet owners to avoid exposing their pets to tear gas as it can prove to be fatal."
0903 GMT: Claimed footage of those wounded in today's regime shelling of the Baba Amr section of Homs in Syria (Warning: Graphic). Activists are claiming more than 250 shells hit the area this morning, killing at least 12 people:
0900 GMT: A boy stands with a giant Bahraini flag, inscribed "We Will Return [to Pearl Roundabout]", in front of approaching police vehicles in Aldaih on Monday:
0855 GMT: The New York Times reports:
The Egyptian prosecution’s summary of the case against at least 16 Americans and others from five democracy and human rights groups focuses largely on the testimony of their accusers, with evidence primarily limited to proof that their organizations used American and other foreign funds for payrolls and rent.
The prosecution’s dossier also shows leaps of logic in a case that has imperiled a decades-old alliance with Washington and threatened Egypt with the loss of $1.5 billion in aid. The case, for example, cites documents seized in December from one group, the International Republican Institute, that included Wikipedia maps of Egypt showing the country divided into four parts. While Egypt is typically described as comprising four regions — upper and lower Egypt, greater Cairo and the Suez Canal and Sinai region — the prosecution suggested that the maps showed a plan to dismember the country.
The summary, compiled by the Office of the Investigating Judge of Egypt’s Ministry of Justice, sets the stage for the group trial, scheduled to begin on Sunday.
0805 GMT: A Live Stream has been broadcasting sounds and the smoke of this morning's shelling of the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs in Syria. Activists claim that at least 10 people have been killed, with up to 200 shells falling in an hour.
0755 GMT: Activists claim that Syrian security forces fired on demonstrators early Tuesday in a section of Damascus, injuring four people.
An activist told Reuters, "There were hundreds of demonstrators at the main square of Hajar al-Aswad, and suddenly buses of security police and shabiha [plainclothes officers] turned up and started firing into the crowd.”
0727 GMT: A website, Bedoon Rights, has been launched to present and defend the rights of Kuwait's stateless community.
0723 GMT: The BBC profiles Monday's local elections in Misurata, the first Libyan vote after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi.
There are 219 candidates, all independents, for 28 seats in the country's third-largest city.
0715 GMT: In Bahrain, security forces pursue protesters making a run for Pearl Roundabout, the symbolic centre of resistance to the regime, on Monday. Scores of men, women, and youth have tried to reach the Roundabout, also known as Martyrs Square, since Saturday:
0705 GMT: Today is Yemen's "one-man" Presidential election to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has departed after more than 12 months of protests against his 33-year rule.
Vice President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, who has been the acting leader since Saleh stepped down last autumn and subsequently left for the US, is the only candidate approved by Parliament.
The Guardian profiles Hadi, while Inna Lazareva notes the Yemeni activists who want to charge the next President with crimes against humanity.
John Brennan, the Obama Administration's head of counter-terrorism, said on Monday that the US will increase assistance to Yemen if the new Government restructures military forces, stems official corruption, and implements electoral reforms.
Brennan had just completed a two-day visit to Yemen.
0625 GMT: We open this morning monitoring reports of increased shelling of the besieged Syrian city of Homs in the 18th day of a regime offensive. Meanwhile, Author Jonathan Littell posts this report:
In Bashar al-Assad's Syria, it is not just forbidden to speak, demonstrate, and protest: it is also forbidden both to give medical treatment, and to receive treatment yourself. Since the beginning of the uprising, the regime has been waging a merciless war against any individual or institution capable of bringing medical aid to the victims of repression. "It's very dangerous to be a doctor or a pharmacist," a pharmacist from the Baba Amro neighbourhood of Homs tells me. Medical personnel are imprisoned – like the nurse in the nearby district of al-Qusayr, arrested the day after he showed me around his hidden emergency-care centre, its carpets covered with plastic tarpaulins to protect them from blood – or killed, like Abdur Rahim Amir, the only doctor in that centre, murdered in cold blood in November by military security, while he sought to treat civilians wounded during the army's assault on Rastan to the north. Or tortured.
In Baba Amro, a nurse from the Homs National Hospital, imprisoned in September, describes the tortures he was subjected to by miming them: he was beaten with a club, blindfolded, whipped, suffered electric shocks, and hanged from the wall by a single wrist, on tiptoe, for four or five hours – a common practice that has its own name, ash-shabah. "I was lucky, they didn't treat me so badly," he insists. "They didn't break my bones." Sometimes, the regime's forces just insult them. A Red Crescent nurse, in her ambulance, was stopped at a checkpoint: "We shoot them, and you save them!" the soldiers berated them.
The two city hospitals, the civilian (called the "National") and the military one, are under the thumb of the security forces, and their rooms and basements have been turned into torture chambers. The private clinics, last resort for the wounded of the insurrection, are subjected to permanent assault. In one, in the heart of the old city, two nurses show me the impact of bullets in the windows, walls and beds, fired by the army from the nearby citadel. Aside from these two nurses, the clinic is empty. "We can only accept emergency cases and we don't keep anyone for more than a few hours. The security forces come here regularly and arrest everyone they find. The doctors have had to sign a pledge not to take care of demonstrators."
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