Syria rebels release execution video
2013-01-03 14:02
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Syria
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Beirut - An internet video posted by Syrian rebels appears
to show fighters loyal to President Bashar Assad stabbing two men to death and
stoning them with concrete blocks in a summary execution lasting several
minutes.
Assad's forces and rebels have both been accused of
atrocities in Syria's 21-month-old uprising-turned-civil war.
The UN says the authorities and their allied militia have
been more culpable.
Reuters could not verify the provenance of the footage or
the identity of the perpetrators and their victims.
The video was posted on Tuesday but it was not clear
where or when it was filmed.
However, it does clearly show a summary execution and
torture, apparently being carried out by government supporters.
At one point, one of the perpetrators says: "For
God's eyes and your Lord, O Bashar," an Arabic incantation suggesting
actions being carried out in the leader's name.
The video was posted on YouTube by the media office of
the Damascus-based rebel First Brigade, which said it had been taken from a
captured member of the shabbiha, a pro-government militia made up mainly of
members of Assad's minority Alawite sect.
International media have often used videos provided daily
by rebels even though it is difficult and frequently impossible to verify their
contents. The government tightly restricts media access in Syria, where 28
journalists were killed last year.
The video
The graphic video of killings begins with a group of
captive men huddled against a wall in a room filled with broken masonry. Most
wear jeans and t-shirts pulled up over their heads, covering their faces.
Five armed men in camouflage uniforms and holding assault
rifles stand behind them, one of whom turns to the camera to grin and wave.
Several captives are led out the room, leaving two men huddled against the
wall.
A tall, bearded soldier with dark sunglasses and a black
Nike baseball cap lightly slashes at the men's backs with a knife.
Two others hand their guns to their comrades and
unsheathe knives.
One of them, a shorter man with a beige cap, turns to the
camera and waves his knife with a flourish. The soldiers slash and then start
to stab the captives, who shake and groan.
A close-up shows cuts through one victim's blue sweater
to his bare skin. Blood starts to flow down his back. The other victim falls to
the ground.
The soldiers show off for the camera, smiling for
close-up shots and slicing at the men's backs. They start stabbing the men more
deeply and violently in the back and side. The captives fall to the ground.
One of the stabbed men is still moving when a soldier
throws a large piece of broken masonry on his head. Others follow suit until
the men are almost completely covered in concrete bricks, now stained with
their blood.
The soldiers walk away and one slaps his hands together
to remove the dust.
An estimated 45 000 people have been killed during the
conflict in Syria.
(Here is a link to the video. Warning: graphic content)
