Assad tortures children

Hamza al-Khateeb used to love it when the rains came to his small corner of southern Syria, filling up the farmers' irrigation channels enough so that he and the other children could jump in and swim.

But the drought of the last few years had left the 13-year-old without the fun of his favourite pool.
Instead, he'd taken to raising homing pigeons, standing on the roof of his family's simple breeze-block home, craning his neck back to see the birds circling above the wide horizon of fields, where wheat and tomatoes were grown from the tough, scrubby soils.

Though not from a wealthy family himself, Hamza was always aware of others less fortunate than himself, said a cousin who spoke to Al Jazeera.

"He would often ask his parents for money to give to the poor. I remember once he wanted to give  someone 100 Syrian Pounds ($2), and his family said it was too much. But Hamza said, 'I have a bed and food while that guy has nothing.' And so he persuaded his parents to give the poor man the 100."

In the hands of President Bashar al-Assad's security forces, however, Hamza found no such compassion, his humanity degraded to nothing more than a lump of flesh to beat, burn, torture and defile, until the screaming stopped at last.

Arrested during a protest in Saida, 10km east of Daraa, on April 29, Hamza's body was returned to his family on Tuesday 24th May, horribly mutilated.

The child had spent nearly a month in the custody of Syrian security, and when they finally returned his corpse it bore the scars of brutal torture: Lacerations, bruises and burns to his feet, elbows, face and knees, consistent with the use of electric shock devices and of being whipped with cable, both techniques of torture documented by Human Rights Watch as being used in Syrian prisons during the bloody three-month crackdown on protestors.

Hamza's eyes were swollen and black and there were identical bullet wounds where he had apparently been shot through both arms, the bullets tearing a hole in his sides and lodging in his belly.

On Hamza's chest was a deep, dark burn mark. His neck was broken and his penis cut off.

"Where are the human rights committees? Where is the International Criminal Court?" asks the voice of the man inspecting Hamza's body on a video uploaded to YouTube.

"A month had passed by with his family not knowing where he was, or if or when he would be released. He was released to his family as a corpse. Upon examining his body, the signs of torture are very clear.

Has Bashar Al-Assad disappeared?

He is quoted daily in the national press, and his officials and mouthpieces are all over the place, telling the usual lies and making the usual assurances, but where is really?

He’s being referred to in the national newspapers on the daily basis, as has always been the case. He is reported to be meeting various delegations from all over the country, is often quoted making references to current events in the country, as he makes excuses for the violence perpetrated by his security officers. Still, no recent videos or images of him are available. Even footage from his appearance last Friday to put flowers on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in commemoration of Martyr’s Day was shown to date back to 2010. So, where in the world is Bashar Al-Assad?

Some claim that he is the victim of a palace coup orchestrated by his brother Maher in cooperation with other army generals and security chiefs, and that Bashar is currently either under house arrest, dead, or in Tehran.

So, where in the world is Bashar Al-Assad? He is where he wants to be: running the show and hanging for dear life, with other members of the family (for this a family affair, as Rami Makhlouf clearly put it), to an ever shrinking straw. Now whether his First Lady is with him or in London, as some reports claim, is important only as an indication as to the Assads’ own sense of how serious the crisis is. But then we need look no farther the statements of Rami Makhlouf to know how troubled the Assads are at this stage: the family-based nature of decision-making has been laid bare for all to see, and the nature of their gambit “deal with us or make trouble for everybody” has been clearly enunciated. First, it was Bashar himself, now it is Rami, and in-between, the revelations about Maher and his involvement in Seydnaya Massacre, the entire family has by now gone full monty. There are no more fig leafs, and no more excuses. 

Indict the bastards!