leaveobashar:

An illustrated account of the 1949 coup—possibly CIA-assisted—that plunged the country into decades of political turmoil.

Thanks @Brown_moses

leaveobashar:

**617 confirmed killed under torture / More than 400 child casualties**

 

Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on Syria’s popular uprising has now claimed at least 6,237 victims and seen a further 69,000 people detained over the course of the last nine months, the global campaigning organisation Avaaz can confirm today.

These shocking new figures means that no one has been left untouched with 1 in every 300 Syrians have either killed or detained in the country since the uprising began.

Working with a team of 58 human rights monitors in Syria, in addition to partner organisations on the ground, the global campaign organisation Avaaz has verified the deaths of 6,237 people in Syria between March 15 to December 9 of this year.  

Of the 69,000 detained since March, over 37,000 people remain in detention and some 32,000 people have been released, many of them bearing scars from torture and violence.

Ricken Patel, Executive Director of Avaaz, said: “With more than 6,000 dead and almost 70,000 detained in Assad’s brutal prisons, no one can now turn a blind eye to the horror-show in Syria. Russia has gone too far — delaying international action and arming Assad’s death squads. 1 in every 300 Syrians has either been killed or imprisoned. The world faces a choice: it stands by while the Syrian regime continues to slaughter people  or it steps up the pressure to force Assad out.”

Clashes between regime forces and armed revolutionaries has lead to at least 917 deaths over Syria’s 9-month uprising, with the city of Homs having seen almost 40% of all deaths and together with Daraa and Hama witnessing the large bulk of civilian casualties.

The figures reveal the alarming conditions under which prisoners are held — Avaaz has verified the deaths of 617 people under torture, including 39 children. Only two people died in detention without having been tortured.

Avaaz’s research, which is consulted on by the UN for its own death toll, adheres to a strict verification process. Each death is confirmed by three independent sources, including a family member of the deceased and the imam who performed the funeral procession.

kateoplis:

His wife said his request for conscientious objector status was turned down because he is an atheist.

“If Michael had been dishonest and said he was a committed Christian, and because of his faith he could not be part of war on moral grounds, perhaps this would have been over in an instant. So is the navy saying you cannot have a conscience if you are secular?”