*The date of the incident – 07.09.2012
The village of Deir Al Asafer, which is 12km of Damascus, has a population of 7000 people and is 4,600 acres wide. Most of its residents work in the agricultural sector, whilst 75% of the village consists of an agricultural area.
It’s a military plan which the army conducts against any city, neighbourohood or town. They do this to stop the spread of fright and humiliation. The first step begins with besieging the area, then shelling it for several hours or even days. Once this is done, killing of innocents, the cause of damage to homes and shops and theft are carried out by Assad forces, including a campaign of arrests against 10s of the free Syrian people.
*Details of the massacre:
Assad troops began the siege of Deir Al Asafeer village on 02.09.2012. The subsequent results were intense shelling; artillery and mortar shells were used excessively and helicopters continued to fire missiles, particularly targeting homes of residents. The intense shelling continued for 2 days, until 04.09.2012. It is reported by the people of the area that at least 250 mortar and rocket shells were used. In addition to this, Assad warplanes shelled the area with barrels and heavy weaponry. The siege on the village continued as there was a complete power cut, as electricity transformers were affected by the rockets and mortars. Water supplies and phone lines were also cut and there was a severe lack of medical service as clinics and pharmacies were closed in the village.
Assad troops stormed the village and carried out campaigns of raids and burning of farms and orchards.
On the second and third day, Assad troops and Assad forces once again searched homes, farms and orchards. In addition to this, they went on to setting fires to these farms and orchards, as well as cars and homes. The continued to vandalise and loot shops. Assad forces went into the large Mosque – Omar Ben Al Khatab, where they threw garbage, caused destruction and stole some of the furniture found in the mosque. Disrespectful anti-Islam comments were written on the walls of the mosque. Assad troops carried out executions of people in the fields of the village, as well as people in the village. One victim, Abdulhadi Khatab, 15 years old suffered from Down syndrome. This regime kills indiscriminately.
On 06.09.2012, Assad thugs, from all the surrounding villages loyal to the regime, entered the village. In addition to this, more than 30 tanks and a number of bulldozers entered the town, where they began to shovel some orchards and destroying a Romanian channel, that goes back to the Romanian era. It must also be reported that they continued to cause destruction to homes and trees, too.
We, in the Syrian network for Human Rights, were able to document this event through eyewitness accounts and residents of the villages.
One can contact an eyewitness of this massacre, Abu Ayham – and he is a resident of the village. He can be contacted via the following skype name:
der.alasafer.rev
*This massacre has also been documented with videos. Below are the names of the victims:
1-Ahmad Taha
2-Mustafa Al Shayib
3-Deyab Qetat
4-Samer Belal
5-Ahmad Khatab
6-Hama Al Khateb
7-Ayoub Al Khateb (the father of Hamza Al Khateb)
8-Hamza Ezaldeen
9-Deyaa Al Haj Sa’eed
10-Mohammad Al Zamil
11-Abdulhadi Agha
12-Mohammad Jeneen
13-Sa’d Abdulrazaq
14-Khalid Al Ghrefani
15-Abdulsalam Al Khaleli, from Dar’aa
16-Sultan Al Hasan, from Beszena village
17-An Unidentified victim.
18-An unidentified victim.
Attachments
Videos of the victims:
*Ahmad Taha Abu Al Shaker – He was executed by Assad thugs, in Deir Al Asafeer.
*The victim, Samer Belal
*The victim, Hamza Ezelden
*An unidentified victim
*An unidentified victim
Videos showing the theft, vandalism and destruction of Assad forces:
*Deir Al Asafeer; Cars and private and public ownerships are set fire to by Assad forces
*Shops are destroyed and looted in the village
*The mosques, mistreated by Assad forces
Videos documenting the aftermath/effects of the shelling:
*Intense shelling on Deir Al Asafeer
*The aftermath of the shelling, caused by MiG warplanes.
*Farms are set fire to in the village, by Assad forces.
We, The Syrian Network of Human rights, seek to protect and defend human rights. We explicitly condemn this horrific massacre which is openly classified as a crime against Human Rights, along with the remaining massacres against the Syrian people – all of which have been committed by Assad forces. We hold the Syrian regime and the Commander in Chief of the Armed forces full and direct responsibility of the massacre. In addition to this, we also hold Russia, Iran and Hizbullah direct responsibility of the killing as they continue to provide the Syrian regime with weapons and money. We call for the United Nations and Security Council to take immediate action and speed to protect the Syrian people and to live up to their responsibilities. We urge them to accelerate their steps in referring all those involved in this massacre to the International Criminal Court.
Syrian Network for Human Rights – London
Website: www.syrianhr.org
Email: press@syrianhr.org
Skype: Syrianhr