{"id":275,"date":"2011-06-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/?p=275","title":{"rendered":"Syrian soldier ordered to fire on peaceful protesters"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nSyrian soldier ‘ordered to fire’ on peaceful protesters<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\n9 June 2011\n<\/p>\n

\nA former member of the Syrian Republican Guard has told
\nAmnesty International that he and other soldiers were ordered to open fire on
\nunarmed protesters holding a pro-reform demonstration in Harasta, near
\nDamascus, in April.\n<\/p>\n

\nWalid ‘Abd al-Karim al-Qash’ami has been told that he is now
\nunder sentence of death in Syria because he refused to shoot and joined the
\nprotesters after witnessing  <\/span>soldiers
\nkill three children, a young man and woman.\n<\/p>\n

\nSpeaking by phone from the country where he is now taking
\nrefuge, the 21-year-old said he was among 250 soldiers sent to quell a protest
\nat Harasta on Saturday, 23 April.\n<\/p>\n

\nTheir officers told them they were to confront a “violent
\ngang” but what they found were around 2,000 unarmed protesters, including
\nchildren and women. Many of the men were bare-chested to show that they carried
\nno weapons. Many of the protesters were carrying roses.\n<\/p>\n

\n“I was shocked when I saw the security services and the army
\nactually shooting at unarmed protesters who were chanting “Silmieh, Silmieh”
\n(Peaceful, Peaceful) and “Nafdiki Ya Dera’a” (Our lives in return for you,
\nDera’a). When I heard those slogans, I just could not shoot at them, especially
\nas I am from Dera’a and they were risking their lives for my city.”\n<\/p>\n

\nThe soldiers were armed with Kalashnikov rifles and had been
\ngiven metal identity cards usually used only in war time and ordered to change
\ninto black "Combat Terrorism Unit" uniforms.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe protesters were in a street or alley leading to the
\ntown’s main roundabout. Security forces had sealed off one end of it and were
\nalready shooting at protesters when Walid al-Qash’ami’s unit arrived.\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/span>While standing in
\nline with other soldiers, Walid al-Qash’ami witnessed the killing of three
\nchildren and a young man and woman.\n<\/p>\n

\n"One of the children was shot in the head by an officer
\nwho was standing right in front of me. I heard the officer say that he shot the
\nkid because he was annoyed with his constant crying."\n<\/p>\n

\nWalid al-Qash’ami and five other soldiers refused to shoot
\nat the protesters. They threw down their weapons and ran for their lives
\ntowards the protesters.  <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/span>“As soon as we
\napproached the protesters, the men stepped in between us and the other soldiers
\nwhile the women closed in on us and took us to nearby houses."\n<\/p>\n

\nThe defecting soldiers were then helped to escape from
\nHarrasta.\n<\/p>\n

\n“I could not return to Dera’a as it was under siege. So I
\nmoved from town to town dressed as a woman wearing a Niqab.”\n<\/p>\n

\nWhile on the run, Walid al-Qash’ami received phone calls
\nfrom a relative who is a colonel in the security forces who urged him to hand
\nhimself in.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe colonel’s wife also called him, he says, and said the
\nauthorities would pay him a large sum of money if he gave himself up but he
\nrefused to do so or withdraw his allegations. “I did not do this for money or
\nfame, I did it for the truth," he told Amnesty International.\n<\/p>\n

\nHe decided to get out of Syria when his relative in the
\nsecurity forces told his family that a Military Court in Damascus had sentenced
\nhim to death in his absence.\n<\/p>\n

\n“Before I left I recorded my testimony on You Tube, to be
\nbroadcasted in case I was caught or killed.”\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/span>He managed to leave
\nSyria and is now taking refuge with other Syrians who fled from Dera’a, the
\nsouthern Syrian town that has been one of the centres of protest.\n<\/p>\n

\nMilitary service is compulsory in Syria. Desertion incurs
\nsevere penalties up to life imprisonment or death.\n<\/p>\n

\nWalid ‘Abd al-Karim al-Qash’ami is the second Syrian soldier
\nto have told Amnesty International that he deserted the ranks and fled when
\nordered to shoot at unarmed protesters.\n<\/p>\n

\nRead More\n<\/p>\n

\n‘We are not going to shoot you; we are with you’: a Syrian
\nsoldier speaks (Blog, 3 June 2011)\n<\/p>\n

\nhttp:\/\/livewire.amnesty.org\/2011\/06\/03\/%E2%80%98we-are-not-going-to-shoot-you-we-are-with-you%E2%80%99-a-syrian-soldier-speaks\/langswitch_lang\/az\/<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nhttp:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/news-and-updates\/syrian-soldier-ordered-fire-peaceful-protesters-2011-06-09<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nSyrian soldier ‘ordered to fire’ on peaceful protesters<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nA former member of the Syrian Republican Guard has told
\nAmnesty International that he and other soldiers were ordered to open fire on
\nunarmed protesters holding a pro-reform demonstration in Harasta, near
\nDamascus, in April.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}