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A Willingness to Kill: Repression in Syria

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Jeffrey White - The Syrian regime is willfully attacking unarmed people with forces, tactics, and weapons meant to be employed on a modern battlefield - methods that fit the definition of war crimes. Syrian intelligence and security services are employed directly against the political opposition and demonstrators, engaging in arrests and shootings alike. In addition, parts of nine divisions of the Syrian army have been identified as having taken part in repression operations. Another group is the shabbiha, pro-regime thugs who work directly with security forces and have been used, for instance, to take over hospitals and deny medical attention to wounded demonstrators. The scale and scope of operations, the participation of multiple agencies of the Syrian government, and the planning, command, and logistics efforts involved all indicate that the operations are guided, coordinated, and executed by the highest levels of the regime. The writer is a defense fellow at the Washington Institute.
2011-08-17 00:00:00
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