Syria: Shootings, Arrests Follow Hama Protest
Hama is the latest city to fall victim to President Bashar
al-Asad’s security forces despite his promises that his government would
tolerate peaceful protests. Security forces have responded to protests with the
brutality that’s become familiar over the past several months.
Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights
Watch
At Least 16 Killed in Last 48 Hours
July 6th,
2011
(New York) – Syrian security forces responded to a large
peaceful protest on July 1, 2011, in Syria’s central city of Hama with a series
of deadly raids, killing at least 16 people in the last 48 hours, Human Rights
Watch said today. Security forces and pro-government armed groups, known
locally as shabiha, raided homes, opening fire several times, and set up
checkpoints encircling Hama, Syria’s fourth-largest city.
"Hama is the latest city to fall victim to President
Bashar al-Asad’s security forces despite his promises that his government would
tolerate peaceful protests," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director
at Human Rights Watch. "Security forces have responded to protests with
the brutality that’s become familiar over the past several months."
Security forces had been largely absent from Hama, a city of
800,000, since June 3, when they opened fire on anti-government protesters,
killing at least 60 people, according to media reports. In the following weeks,
Hama residents took to the streets for regular protests that participants and
media reports consistently reported as peaceful.
The marches culminated in a massive demonstration in al-Assi
square on July 1, which drew tens of thousands of protesters – hundreds of
thousands by some estimates. Syrian activists hailed it as the largest protest
in Syria since the uprising began in mid-March. The protest was peaceful and
unimpeded by government forces, according to witnesses, media reports, and
videos reviewed by Human Rights Watch.
The next day, however, President al-Asad fired the governor
of Hama, Ahmad Khaled Abdel Aziz, and security forces began a campaign of
arrests, local residents and human rights activists told Human Rights Watch. A
human rights lawyer, Razan Zeitouneh, told Human Rights Watch that security
forces entered the outskirts of the city on July 2 and began arresting people,
prompting residents to set tires on fire to prevent security forces from
entering their streets. One resident described his neighborhood’s response:
We had a system prepared for when the security forces came
to arrest people. When we saw them coming, we would bang pots and pans to alert
everyone else so the young men in the neighborhood could leave their homes and
escape. After a few hours, security forces caught on to the system, so they
started throwing teargas and stun grenades so people would be too scared to
leave their homes and run away. Security forces then arrest people in bulk and
load them into big cars; we don’t know where they’re taking them. They’re
targeting men between 10 and 45 years old.
The following day, in the early hours of July 3, security
forces deployed in large numbers in the city, witnesses told Human Rights
Watch, setting up checkpoints at the city entrances at 4 a.m. One resident said
he heard gunfire starting at 2 a.m., then saw the military deploy at 5 a.m.
Residents told Human Rights Watch that arrests subsequently
took place in the Hama neighborhoods of `Ain Louza, Gharab al-Mashtal, Janoub
al-Mal`ab, al-Jaraajmah, al-Gharayah, al-Hadr, and al-`Alaliyat. Witnesses said
that most of the security forces carrying out arrests were wearing military
clothing, but there were also men dressed in civilian clothes armed with
rifles.
"The forces
would surround a building with a big number of cars, then go inside to arrest
their targets," one witness told Human Rights Watch. "They also drove
tanks through the streets to scare us by reminding us of the 1982
massacre." In February 1982, Syrian army commandos brutally crushed an
anti-government rebellion in Hama, destroying entire neighborhoods and killing
an estimated 10,000 people.
Another resident, who said he personally knew of at least 20
people who had been arrested, described what happened in his neighborhood,
al-Mahatta, in the early hours of July 3:
When people heard the commotion [of security forces
approaching], they ran outside and started chanting "Allah akbar,"
using megaphones to wake up everyone else. More and more people then came
outside and started burning tires to block the roads. There was a small
confrontation between those people and the security forces, who started
shooting at the people. The people fought back by throwing stones.
Residents told Human Rights Watch that security forces
opened fire in certain areas during the raids, killing at least 16 people and
wounding dozens more. The National Organization for Human Rights, a Syrian
human rights group, published a list of 22 killed.
On July 4, security forces shot `Amer Khalouf, 13, from Kazo
village just west of Hama, while he stood in the street with other boys, said a
local resident. Security forces also shot Naser al-Shami on al-Marabet Street
while he stood with a group of young men who were watching their neighborhood,
and residents took him to a local hospital, said a doctor and local activists
interviewed by Human Rights Watch. They reported that al-Shami subsequently
died from his injuries. A witness who was at the Hourani hospital at the end of
the afternoon on July 4 reported that he saw nine wounded people who appeared
to be in critical condition.
The arrest campaign and the shooting intensified on July 5,
residents told Human Rights Watch. They provided Human Rights Watch with the
names of 14 residents killed that day: Muhammad Bitar, Imad Khallouf, Ali
al-Nahar, Hassan Sarakbi, Baha’ Hablousi, Jamal Dalati, Khaled Dalati, Muhammad
al-Qasem, `Imad Khalouf, Baha’ Fayez al-Nahar, Ahmad Bitar, Fuad Mukhalalati,
Abdel Salam Ibrahim al-`Ar`our, and Muhammad Sueid. All died from bullet
wounds, based on the testimony and videos of their bodies posted on YouTube,
though the exact circumstances of their deaths remain unclear.
A Hourani hospital official told Human Rights Watch that the
hospital received the bodies of four people on July 5 and treated 60 people
with gunshot wounds, 7 of whom remained in critical condition. The Syrian army
surrounded the Hourani hospital on July 5 scaring many of those who had
assembled around the hospital, but did not enter the facility or arrest any of
the wounded there.
"Syria’s security forces still believe they can shoot
their own people into submission," Whitson said. "But their bloody
tactics only serve to deepen the gap between citizens and the institutions that
are supposed to protect them."
Among those arrested on July 3 were Mohammed Sayed al-Sayed,
from al-Baath neighborhood; Amr al-Aqrah, from al-Sejouah; Nadim Hassan
al-Qar’aour, from al-Sejouah; Hashim al-Aqrah; and Hossan Lebaniyah. A family
member of Mohammed Sayed al-Sayed told Human Rights Watch that security forces
arrested 35 young men in al-Hadr neighborhood at 5 a.m. on July 3, some from
their homes and some from al-Manakh mosque, and arrested three women in
al-Salumiyah neighborhood. Women were also assaulted and beaten in al-Arbayin
neighborhood, this person said.
Those arrested on July 4 and 5 include Ashraf Daood, Hamzi
Hawa, Hazem Ajneed, Tarek al-Judu`, Ezz al-Deen Malas, `Amer al-Shami, Hamdo
al-Judu`, Faraj al-Judu`, Sam al-Achkar, Abdel Azeez Handawi, Muhammad Telkawi,
Mu`ad Zaydan, Ziad Zaydan, Abdel Aziz Zaydan.