Latest news with #FadelAbdulGhany
L'Orient-Le Jour
a day ago
- Politics
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Video of Syria hospital killing revives calls for independent Sweida probe
Syrian rights activists renewed their calls for an independent investigation into violence last month in Druze-majority Sweida province after footage emerged Sunday appearing to show government forces killing a volunteer medic in a hospital. The week of bloodshed began on July 13 with clashes between local Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes, but the violence rapidly escalated as it drew in outside forces, eventually killing some 1,400 people, many of them Druze civilians, according to a war monitor. Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions. Brutal videos have previously circulated on social media, with some appearing to show civilians killed at the hands of armed men in military or security forces uniforms. Local news outlet Suwayda 24 on Sunday published what it said was surveillance footage from the main hospital in Sweida city on July 16, showing a group of people who appear to be staff crouched on the floor in a corridor. Several armed men are seen standing in front of the group, most wearing military garb and one dressed in an interior ministry uniform. A brief scuffle breaks out with a man who Suwayda 24 identified as "one of the volunteers with the medical team" at the hospital. The forces then shoot the man, whose body is dragged off, leaving a smear of blood. The Syrian authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. One 30-year-old man who appears in the video told AFP by telephone that he had responded to the hospital's call for volunteers and confirmed that "the incident occurred on July 16." A doctor at the hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed to AFP that the video was taken inside the facility. 'Shocking' execution The observatory also published the footage, calling it a "shocking field execution" carried out by "members of the defence and interior ministries." It urged accountability and "an independent, impartial international commission of inquiry" into the violence in Sweida. Fadel Abdul Ghany, head of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, urged authorities to act immediately and called on an existing U.N. body tasked with looking into rights abuses in Syria to "investigate the violations committed by all parties involved in Sweida." In a statement on X, he said a committee announced by the authorities last month to investigate the Sweida violence "lacks credibility." Mohammad al-Abdallah, executive director of the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, said U.N. investigators "must enter Sweida immediately," noting medical personnel should be protected under international law. Others also took to social media to call for accountability, including Samih Choukaer, a prominent Syrian Druze musician who strongly opposed now-ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad. "In a country that respects itself, every video documenting these crimes is in itself enough to bring down a government," he wrote.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Syria hospital killing video sparks demands for Sweida violence probe
BEIRUT: Syrian rights activists have intensified demands for an independent probe into last month's violence in Sweida province after new footage surfaced showing government forces allegedly killing a volunteer medic inside a hospital. The video published by local outlet Suwayda 24 appears to show armed men in military uniforms shooting a medical volunteer during the July bloodshed that claimed around 1,400 lives. A witness who appears in the footage confirmed to AFP the incident occurred on July 16 when he responded to the hospital's call for volunteers. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights described the footage as evidence of a 'shocking field execution' by security personnel. Fadel Abdul Ghany of the Syrian Network for Human Rights dismissed the government's investigative committee as lacking credibility. UN investigators must enter Sweida immediately to examine these violations, said Mohammad al-Abdallah of the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre. Prominent Druze musician Samih Choukaer condemned the killings on social media, stating such evidence would topple governments in respectable nations. Syrian authorities have not responded to requests for comment regarding the newly emerged footage. – AFP
