Four Media Activists Killed, One Injured, and Nine Arrested and Abducted, toll of September 2017 The Syrian Regime Trumps all other Parties in Killing Media Activists Friday, October 6, 2017 1 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org The Syrian Network for Human Rights, founded in June 2011, is a non-governmental, non-profit independent organization that is a primary source for the United Nations on all death toll-related statistics in Syria Report Contents I. Introduction II. Executive Summary III. Details IV. Recommendations I. Introduction Media activism in Syria is continuously deteriorating in light of the lack of attention by many international media organizations to what is happening in Syria and the notable decline in media coverage over the last year compared with previous years. SNHR publishes a monthly report documenting the violations against media activists who play a prominent role in the civil movement and the armed conflict. It should be noted that a journalist is a civilian according to the international humanitarian law regardless of his nationality. Any attack deliberately directed against a journalist is considered a war crime. However, when a media activist gets close to action-heavy zones, he is responsible for his own actions where targeting him in such case would be seen as collateral damage. Also, he would lose the right to protection if he was involved in military operations. We believe that media activists must be respected whether they have identifi- cation papers as media workers or don’t considering the many difficulties they encounter to acquire these papers. Fadel Abdul Ghany, chairman of SNHR, says: “Media activism is especially important because it often sheds light on a string of various crimes that are taking place on a daily basis. Therefore, we record the violations perpetrated by conflicting parties in our monthly reports on violations against media activists.” 1 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org The fourth round of negotiations was held in Astana city, Kazakhstan’s capital, on 3 and 4 of May 2017. Russian, Turkish, and Iranian representatives attended as the sponsoring states of Ankara Ceasefire Agreement. The three states agreed on establishing four de-escalation zones, wherein the agreement is to commence on May 6, 2017. The agreement outlined four major areas for the de-escalation in Idlib governorate and the surrounding areas (parts of Aleppo, Hama, and Latakia governorates), northern Homs governorate, Eastern Ghouta, and parts of Daraa and al Quneitra governorates in the southern parts of Syria. It was pro- vided that a special committee would accurately assign the borders of said zones at a later date. The agreement provided for a cessation of combat operations, passage of humani- tarian aids, and for IDPs to go back to their areas. Following an extensive round of talks between Russia, USA, and Jordan that commenced in May 2017 in Amman, Jordan’s capital, the American and Russian presidents announced, on the sidelines of the 2017 G20 summit in Hamburg, that a ceasefire agreement has been reached in southwestern Syria – Daraa, Quneitra, and Suwayda governorates. The agree- ment went into force at 12:00 on Sunday July 9, 2017, and provided for the passage of humanitarian aids in addition to a ceasefire between the conflicting parties (Syrian regime forces and their allies on one side, and armed opposition factions on the other side). Also, the agreement specifies that maintaining security in this region is the Russian forces’ re- sponsibility in coordination with the Americans and Jordanians. In addition, there have been a number of other local agreements in July and August 2017, such as Eastern Ghouta agreement between armed opposition factions, on one side, and officials from the Russian side, while a similar agreement was struck with the opposition in northern suburbs of Homs. However, the texts of these agreements haven’t been made public on Russian government’s websites, and the same for armed opposition factions who didn’t publicize these agreements, except for Failaq al Rahman who published the text of the agreement on their official website. At the end of the agreement, according to the copy on Failaq al Rahman’s website, a signature by a Russian sponsor was shown but without an explicit name, which was a grave mistake, as apparently all of this helps the sponsoring Russian side to easily dissolve from these agreements with no subsequent political or legal obligations and repercussions. On Saturday, July 22, 2017, Russian Ministry of Defense announced that a de-escalation agreement has been signed in Eastern Ghouta following a round of talks between Russian military officials, on one side, and Jaish al Islam faction, on the other side, in Egypt’s capital Cairo. The agreement was to come into effect at 12:00 of the same day. On Wednesday, 2 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org August 16, 2017, a Failaq al Rahman representative and a Russian representative signed an agreement in Geneva city that established Failaq al Rahman’s inclusion in the de-esca- lation zone in Eastern Ghouta. The agreement was to come into effect at 21:00 of Friday, August 18, 2017. On Monday, July 31, 2017, another de-escalation agreement was signed in Egypt’s capital Cairo for northern Homs suburbs and southern Hama suburbs following a round of talks between armed opposition factions in the area and the Syrian regime represented by the Russian government as a sponsoring party, as the agreement was to commence at 12:00 on Thursday, August 3, 2017. Following the agreement’s commencement, two meetings were held between a committee representing the military and civilian activities in northern suburbs of Homs and southern suburbs of Hama, on one side, and a Russian representa- tive, on the other side, in a tent that was built for the meeting in a neutral area - near the al Dar al Kabira crossing in al Dar al Kabira village, northern suburbs of Homs governorate. The meeting was held to further discuss the provisions of Cairo’s de-escalation agreement, as some armed opposition factions weren’t fully in agreement with the de-escalation. Most notably, the two most recent agreements provided for a full cessation of hostilities be- tween the conflicting parties in the relevant areas -with the exclusion of the areas in which ISIS and Hay’at Tahrir al Sham are present- and for humanitarian aids to enter these areas and for detainees to be released as per the demands of each party as to which detainees are to be released. Since the agreements’ commencement in the included areas, we have noticed a relatively good drop in the rates of killing in relation to the past months since March 2011. Nonethe- less, breaches didn’t stop, mainly by the Syrian regime, who is seemingly the party that would be most affected should the ceasefire go on, and in particular extrajudicial killing crimes and, more horrendously, deaths due to torture. This strongly asserts that there is a ceasefire of some sort on the table, but the crimes that the international community -espe- cially the sponsoring parties- won’t see are still going on as nothing had happened. With the end of the sixth round of talks in the Kazakhstani capital, Astana, which were held over the course of two days (September 14-15, 2017), a de-escalation zone was established in Idlib governorate and the surrounding areas, as military forces were to be deployed (Rus- sian, Turkish, and Iranian) to monitor the agreement, with the passage of humanitarian aids. 3 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org On September 19, Syrian-Russian alliance started a heavy offensive against Idlib governo- rate in response to Hay’at Tahrir al Sham’s “Ya Ebadallah Uthbotou” battle. Supported by some opposition faction (The Islamic Turkistani Party, Jaish al Izza, and Jaish al Nukhba), Hay’at Tahrir al Sham started this battle in northeastern Hama governorate, as they took over some villages, but Syrian regime forces, backed by Russian forces, managed to re- seize the same areas on the same day. We have released a report documenting the most notable violations of the first week of that offensive. Subsequently, these forces expanded the offensive to include the suburbs of Aleppo and Hama governorates and Eastern Ghouta in Damascus suburbs. In September, SNHR recorded that Syrian regime forces have resumed killing media activ- ists as a policy, after a two-month stall, as Syrian regime forces topped all other parties by killing two media activists, while Russian forces returned to killing media activists after five months, where one media activist was killed by Russian forces in Idlib governorate. Hay’at Taharir al Sham, on the other hand, continues its policies of oppressing and arresting media activists in their areas of control for the third month in a row. Furthermore, we recorded an unprecedented rise in 2017 in the toll of media activists who were arrested by Self-Manage- ment forces. SNHR emphasizes that serious and quick steps must be taken to save media activism in Syria, and renews its condemnation of all violations against the freedom of media activism regardless of the perpetrators. The freedom of media must be respected and the workers in the media field must be protected and particularly considered. All individuals involved in violations against journalists and media activists must be held accountable. The interna- tional community, represented by the Security Council, must act upon its responsibilities in order to protect civilians and media activists in Syria. 4 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org Methodology According to SNHR’s methodology, a civilian journalist is anyone who plays a notable role in reporting and publishing news. He is not necessarily impartial as a journalist should be. In case a civilian journalist carried a weapon and was directly engaged in offensive military operations, he is no longer deemed a citizen journalist whereas it is possible that he would be referred to as a civilian journalist again provided he retires completely from military action. The report might include incidents that we believe do not constitute violations of the interna- tional humanitarian law. We include it, however, to record it among the incidents that result- ed in casualties even though it was within the boundaries that the international humanitarian law allows for. SNHR incorporates a high-level documentation standard that draws upon direct accounts from survivors, victims’ families, and local media activists, as this report includes five ac- counts. We have explained the purpose of these interviews for the witnesses who gave us permission to use the information they provided in this report without offering or giving them any incentives. Also, SNHR has tried as much as possible to spare them the agony of remembering the violations. We also gave guarantees to conceal the identities of any witnesses who preferred to use an alias. Additionally, we have analyzed and verified the pictures and videos and some of the medical records we received. We have copies of all the pictures and videos this report contains in a secret online database, as well as backup copies on hard drives. Nonetheless, we can’t claim to having documented all cases, in light of the ban and pursuit by Syrian regime forces and some of the other armed groups. Please see the methodology adopted by SNHR in documenting victims. In light of the security and logistic difficulties to access all the areas where violations take place, it is worth noting that these statistics and incidents are only the bare minimum of the actual magnitude of crimes and violations that happened. 5 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org II. Executive Summary A. Most notable violations against media activist in 2017 SNHR has recorded the killing of 36 media activists between the start of 2017 and October of the same year. B. most notable violations against media activists in September 2017 Violations against media activists during the month of September 2017 are distributed as follows: - Acts of killing: SNHR documented the killing of four media activists at the hands of the parties to the conflict, 6 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org as follows: • Syrian regime forces: two media activists • Russian forces: one media activist • Armed opposition factions: one media activist - Injuries: we recorded that one media activist were injured by Russian forces. - Arrest, abduction, and release: we recorded 17 cases, as follows: - Extremist Islamic groups: Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (an alliance composed of Fateh al Sham Front and a number of armed opposition factions): we recorded four cases of arrest, where one of the detained media activists was released later. - Armed opposition factions: released one media activist - Self-Management forces (primarily consisting of the Democratic Union Party – a branch for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party): we recorded four cases of arrest, where two of the arrest- ed media activists were released later. - Other parties: we recorded one abduction case where the abductee was released. III. Details A. Violations by Syrian regime forces - Acts of killing Adnan Qasem al Akrad Tuesday, September 12, 2017, Adnan was killed by a Syrian regime sniper who shot him in the head, as he was preparing a report documenting the violations to the truce by Syrian regime forces in al Manshiya neighbor- hood, Daraa al Balad area, Daraa city. The neighbor- hood was under the control of armed opposition factions at the time of the incident. Adnan, a photographer for Ferqa 18, an armed opposi- tion faction, from Tareeq al Sad neighborhood, Daraa al Adnan al Akrad Mahata area, Daraa city, born in 1991, has a high school diploma, single. 7 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org SNHR contacted the media activist Abu Mahmoud al Hourani, a friend of Adnan’s, via WhatsApp. Abu Mahmoud told us: “As Adnan was in al Manshiya neighborhood preparing the violations to the truce by Syrian regime forces, he was shot by a Syrian regime sniper. He was immediately rushed to Eissa Hajjaj Hospital in Tareeq al Sad neighbor- hood, where he died.” Anas Mahmoud al Najjar Monday, September 25, 2017, he was killed by shrapnel from a shell fired by a Syrian re- gime forces tank that landed near him, as he was covering the clashes between Syrian regime forces and armed opposition factions on the battlefront of Housh al Dwahra, east of Damascus suburbs governorate. Anas, photographer for Jaish al Islam, an armed opposition faction, from al Belaliya village, east of Damascus suburbs governorate, born in 1996, has an intermediate education cer- tificate, single. B. Russian forces - Acts of Killing Mu’awiya Ibrahim al Shbeib Saturday, September 23, 2017, Mu’awiya was killed in a bombing by fixed-wing warplanes we believe are Russian that fired 14 missiles at least a training center for Failaq al Sham, an armed opposition faction. Mu’awiya was cover- ing the graduation ceremony for a combat training course held by Failaq al Sham in Mardikh village, eastern suburbs of Idlib governorate. The village was under the control of armed opposition factions at the time of the incident. Mu’awiya, a photographer for Failaq al Sham, an armed opposition faction, and the media office of Mardikh village, Mu’awiya al Shbeib from Mardikh village, born in 1997, has a high school di- ploma, single. Media activist Mohammad Ibrahim al Shabib told us a few details regarding his relative Mu’away’s killing via Facebook: “Mu’awiya was at a training center for Failaq al Sham in Mardikh village, cov- ering a graduation ceremony for a combat training course held by Failaq al Sham. Russian warplanes launched approximately 16 missiles at the center, as Mu’awiya was killed along with tens of fighters. Because of the huge de- struction in the center, we weren’t able to pull out his dead body until the next day.” 8 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org - Injuries Laith Ahmad al Abdullah Saturday, September 23, 2017, Laith’s shoulder was dis- located, and he sustained a number of bruises all over his body, as fixed-wing warplanes we believe are Russian fired a missile near the rescue teams who were pulling out victims who were killed in a previous bombing that target- ed a training center for Failaq al Sham in Mardikh village, eastern suburbs of Idlib governorate, which his under the control of armed opposition factions. Laith, a photographer for the civil defense center in Sara- qeb city, from Saraqeb city, eastern suburbs of Idlib gover- Laith al Abdullah norate, born in 1978, has a high school diploma, married. SNHR contacted Laith, via Facebook, who told us: “Mardikh village, in Idlib governorate suburbs, was targeted in a number of airstrikes by Russian forces. As I was working with a team from the civil defense center of Saraqeb city on documenting the bombing and aiding the wounded, the area was targeted with a thermobaric missile, and my shoul- der was dislocated in the bombing, in addition to sustain minor bruises all over my body. The airstrike killed two of the injured we were trying to pull out as well. The bombing heavily destroyed the civil defense vehicle and our search and rescue equipment.” C. Extremist Islamic groups - Hay’at Tahrir al Sham (an alliance composed of Fateh al Sham Front and a number of armed opposition factions) - Arrest and release Ali Marsad Saturday, September 2, 2017, Ali was arrested by mem- bers of Hay’at Tahrir al Sham who raided his place of res- idence in al Atareb city and seized his media equipment, before taking to one of their detention centers. He was released on Saturday, September 5, 2017. Ali Marsad, a reporter for Halab News Agency, from al Atareb city, western suburbs of Aleppo governorate. Ali Marsad 9 snhr [email protected] www.sn4hr.org