Dominic Browne reports on the brave citizen-reporting from inside Syria which is brining the crimes of Assad's regime to the world's attention.
The Syrian regime, having banned foreign journalists from the country, continues to carry out the brutal repression of its people – even claiming they are close to victory.
The atrocities are, as a result, going under-reported. Domestic bloggers and brave citizen-reporters are becoming indispensable in bringing these human rights violations the international attention they deserve.
The footage below shows tanks taking up positions on the ouskirts of the city of Daraa:
Left Foot Forward has previously reported on the plight of the people of Daraa.
Meanwhile on this channel, you can see footage purportedly showing security forces breaking up a small-scale protest with arrests and assaults, and all the latest footage coming out of the country.
The Syrian Revolution Digest blog, written by Anmar Abdulhamid – a Syrian who lives in exile in America due to his anti-regime activities – has links to many videos, reportedly showing those on the frontline of the protest movement.
He writes:
Perhaps when the Presidential Advisor Bouthaini Shaaban speaks of “gaining the upper-hand” and of “containing the crisis” in the country, she’s simply referring to the recent success of the Assads in tightening their grip on the flow of information from Syria. But the demonstrable truth is that the Assads control doesn’t extend far beyond the shadows of their tanks and security officers.
True, they took control of Deraa City, but they still don’t feel confident enough to allow UN humanitarian mission to pay a visit to the beleaguered place. Meanwhile, all other towns and villages in the Horan province (the Deraa Governorate) remain in a defiant mood with people holding daily protests calling for toppling the regime, and refuting official lies about armed gangs and infiltrators.”
And this video shows a group of protesters reading statements saying they have not invited the security forces to their community and their are no armed ganags, in direct contrast to the official line of the regime:
At this stage in the uprising international pressure and scutiny must not let up. President Bashar al-Assad and his corrupt regime are unlikely to be forced into surrender by sanctions alone. They know they are fighting possibly the biggest existential threat to their regime they have ever seen, and appear to have no humanitarian conscience when it comes to surpressing it.
However, if the people of Syria know that the international community are right behind them, and as the sheer volume of the protests does not let up, a united international stand may be able to tip the balance of power in favour of the people.
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5 Responses to “Syria: Footage from the frontline”
The Pryer
RT @leftfootfwd: Syria: Footage from the frontline: http://bit.ly/jwstnT by @dbr1981
chris star
Syria: Footage from the frontline
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paulstpancras
RT @leftfootfwd: Syria: Footage from the frontline: http://bit.ly/jwstnT by @dbr1981
Logos81
List of Demands by March 15 in Dar’a, Syria
· Bringing the regime down
· Cancellation of the emergency law
· Permission to form parties
· Dissolving the parliament and the government
· Revise the constitution to be consistent with democracy and civil rule
· Define the presidential term and the number of terms
· Immediate presidential and parliamentary elections
· Raise salaries and set a minimum wage
· Find immediate work opportunities
· Get rid of corruption and bribes and deliver up corrupt individuals for trial
· Clean judiciary and accountability for corrupt judges
· Lowering taxes and fees
· Getting rid of the pre-planned sectarianism in the circles of authority
· The mission of the Army and Armed forces is to protect the borders of the nation and not to repress citizens
· Deliver up for trial all of those who participated in killing or ordering the opening of fire on demonstrators in the 15 March revolution
· Freeing the prisoners of conscience and political prisoners and everyone arrested in the peaceful demonstrations
· Return of the displaced to Syria
· Freedom of opinion and expression and to establish forums
· Freedom of the press and the Internet
· Right of citizenship to everyone
· Distribution of returns from oil and communications to the people equally
· Permitting judicial authority to be completely independent
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[…] Dominic Browne wrote on Left Foot Forward that: “…if the people of Syria know that the international community […]