Syria: the latest, Thursday, August 25, 2011

The U.S. has just imposed new sanctions against Syria and news outlets are reporting that MasterCard and VISA credit cards are no longer valid in the country. Associated Press quoted the company as saying, “Visa is required by law to comply with the US Department of the Treasury financial sanctions against Syria. As a result, Visa has suspended its payment card activity in Syria under the recently expanded sanctions.” On top of this, the U.S. Treasury Department recently sanctioned the state-owned Commercial Bank of Syria. This freezes any of its assets in the U.S. and bans American businesses from doing business with the entity.

If the reports of the crackdown on protesting citizens isn’t enough, a new story which is going to not paint a good picture of the current regime has come out. Ali Farzat, Syria’s best known political cartoonist, was picked up at 4 a.m on Thursday morning off a street in Damascus and dragged into a 4×4 by armed masked men. They beat him, broke his hands then dumped him by the roadside. Apparently they told him this was a warning.

No one knows who these thugs were but since Farzat has been critical of the Assad regime as of late, it is strongly suspected his assailants were connected to the government. The BBC wrote: In one of his latest cartoons, Ali Farzat shows President Assad sweatily clutching a suitcase while he tries to hitch a lift with the Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, who is furiously driving a getaway car.

The BBC article goes on to say that Farzat has produced a number of such critical cartoons over the past few months and this attack is a clear signal that his criticism of the Assad regime has hit home. Dissent is not to be tolerated.

Cancelling the State of Emergency by Ali Farzat

The above cartoon shows Assad whitewashing the shadow of a thug. In other words, the thug remains free to continue his business and the cancelling of the state of emergency is merely a public relations ploy as the regime intends on continuing to suppress the protests.

Human Rights Watch

This international non-governmental organisation has published an article “Syria’s Human Rights Crisis: Myths and Realities” (Aug 24/2011) detailing their take on what’s happening in the country.

Myth: Syria has stopped all military and policing operations.

Reality: At least 49 people have died in operations by Syrian forces since August 17, 2011.

Myth: Syrian forces need to use lethal force to repel attacks by armed groups.

Reality: While a small number of protesters have used force, there is no organized armed opposition, and the overwhelming majority of those killed have been peaceful.

Myth: Armed gangs have killed hundreds of members of the Syrian security forces.

Reality: There are credible accounts that many of the Syrian forces who have died were killed by other members of the security forces.

Myth: Syrian security forces used excessive force early in this crisis, but the situation has improved.

Reality: While hundreds of deaths did occur in the first month of the crisis, attacks on peaceful protesters have continued at an alarming rate.

Myth: Syria is investigating the attacks on protesters through a judicial committee established in March.

Reality: Not a single case has been initiated against those responsible for use of excessive force against protesters.

Myth: Syria is undertaking significant reforms that will resolve the current crisis, if given time.

Reality: The reforms promised by President al-Assad are entirely undermined by the ongoing crackdown by Syrian security forces.

Uploaded by RussiaToday on Aug 25, 2011

Staged Syria: Can amateur videos be trusted?

The U.S. and some EU countries are calling for an arms embargo and wider sanctions to be imposed against Syria following the crackdown there. But Russia and China are opposed to the plan, with Moscow saying countries should be encouraging dialogue in Syria, not punishing it. With reports from the country scarce and hard to verify, the way it’s perceived from the outside is decidedly one-sided, as Maria Finoshina reports.

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on Aug 24, 2011

Latest developments in Syria (Aug 24/11)

Al Jazeera’s Nisreen el-Shamayleh has the latest on Syria. She reports from Ramtha on the Syria-Jordan border.

Uploaded by ibnlive on Aug 23, 2011

Scared Syrian President Assad promises reforms

Residents come out to show loyalty to Bashar al Assad, but they also feel the pressure that the Syrian government is feeling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWya9P_bsGw

Ali Farzat: Political Cartoons of an Arab Master

This web site has a collection of drawings by this catoonist. Interestingly enough, he doesn’t use language, just images. This makes the message universal.

References

Wikipedia: Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, and Washington.

Wikipedia: Ali Farzat

Ali Farzat (b. Hama, 22 June 1951), is a renowned Syrian political cartoonist. He has published more than 15,000 caricatures between Syrian, Arab and international newspapers. He serves as the head of the Arab Cartoonists’ Association.

Google image search: ali farzat

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