A young woman was found beheaded and mutilated, apparently by Syrian security agents, underscoring what witnesses and the UN human rights office said was a fearsome new tactic of retaliating against protesters’ families to snuff out the six-month-old uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The slain 18-year-old, Zainab al-Hosni, is believed to be the first woman to die in Syrian custody since the uprising began in mid-March. Amnesty International said on Friday she had reportedly been detained by security agents to pressure her activist brother to turn himself in.
The violence serves as a grim reminder of how the Assad family has kept an iron grip on power in Syria for more than 40 years by brutally crushing every sign of dissent. The idea that the regime has eyes and ears everywhere resonates in a nation of 22 million where decades of autocratic rule have nurtured a culture of deep fear and paranoia.
Photo: Reuters
Witnesses and activists say retaliation against families of those involved in the uprising has ranged from threatening phone calls to beatings and even killings, as in the case of al-Hosni.
The UN human rights office said the harassment was even extending beyond Syria’s borders.
“Prominent human rights defenders, inside and outside the country, are reported to have been targeted,” UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in Geneva on Friday. “We are also concerned by reports of the targeting and attacking of families and sympathizers of the protesters by security forces.”
She offered no details and did not elaborate on the activists or their families being targeted outside the country.
The Syrian opposition movement has proved remarkably resilient despite a massive military assault using tanks, snipers and shadowy, pro-regime gunmen against demonstrators. According to UN estimates, more than 2,700 civilians have been killed in the crackdown since March and thousands more have been detained since protests began, riding on the wave of euphoria as popular uprisings toppled longtime dictators in Egypt and Tunisia.
Al-Hosni was from the central city of Homs, one of the hotbeds of the uprising. She was seized by men in plainclothes on July 27, apparently to pressure her brother Mohammed, who was organizing protests in the city, Amnesty said.
After her arrest, he was told by telephone that she would only be released if he stopped his activities, the New York-based group said. Her brother was eventually arrested earlier this month. On Sept. 13, his mother was summoned by security forces to pick up his body, which showed bruises, burns and gunshots, the group said.
At the same morgue, the mother happened to find her daughter’s body as well. The family said the teen had been decapitated, her arms cut off, and skin removed, according to Amnesty.
After Zainab’s burial last weekend, women held a protest in Homs, hailing her as the “flower of Syria” and chanting “Syria wants freedom” and “The people want the president’s ouster,” according to video footage posted on the Internet by local activists.
“They plucked the flower and she said, ‘After me, a bud will rise up.’ Rejoice in eternal paradise, Zainab,” a sign held by one of the women read.
The deaths of Zainab and her brother bring to 103 the number of people who have been reported killed in Syrian custody since the uprising began, Amnesty said.
Meanwhile, the EU agreed on Friday to widen sanctions against Syria by banning investment in the country’s oil sector. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said the new measure seeks to reinforce the ban on Syrian crude oil imports agreed on Sep. 2.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS