More Violence in Syria Despite Arab League Monitors

Anchor Marco Werman talks to a human rights activist in the city of Hama, Syria, where the six more people were killed Thursday.

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Marco Werman: I’m Marco Werman and this is the world. A delegation from the Arab league continues to tour Syria. The observers are monitoring Syrian compliance with a plan to end a crackdown on an anti government uprising. But the presense of the monitors seems if anything to have increased the violence. Activist groups in Syria say government forces killed up to 40 people today. Six of them are said to have died in the city of Hama where Arab league monitors arrived this afternoon. Activist Manhal Abubacker (that’s not his real name)is in Hama. He says people there have been waiting for 3 days on the Arab league monitors.

Manhal Abubacker: “In those 3 days we tried to go and demonstrate and gather in the city center square but we have been faced by security forces who prevented us from getting into the city center using tear gas and live ammunition.”

Werman: Have you tried to communicate with any of the monitors from the Arab league?

Abubacker: That’s the problem we are having now, the communication with the Arab league commission, the regime knows their movement but we don’t. We can’t coordinate with them though we are afraid to met them because the regime is watching them all the time and we don’t have a coordination or communication with them.

Werman: How do you know the regime of President Assad is watching the monitors? I thought monitors we supposed to be completely objective and independent.

Abubacker: They are accompanied , the day they were a raging security forces. they are wacthing them all the time so they knew their movement but we don’t know.

Werman: It does seem though that some of the activists are speaking with the monitors. Apparently there was a video posted on the internet in which the head of the monitor team, the Sudanese general Mustafa al-Dabi, is stopping to speak with people and he’s talking with a man who accuses the regime of Assad of killing his brother. So it sounds like people are connecting with these monitors. But you seem to feel that it’s not enough.

Abubacker: That has happened in homes but that person who talked to them is most wanted now. So the problem we have now I told you we don’t have communication with the commission and if we are to meet them we would be all the time afraid because those monitors are not walking freely. I would be watched if I talked to them and I would be afraid about my life.

Werman: What would you want to tell the monitors assuming there is no minder from President Assad’s government in the room? What would you want to tell the monitors from the Arab league?

Abubacker: I would take him to the check points and would like to make him see the machine guns the tanks that are in the city. I would present him the names of many activists who have been detained till now and accused of terrorists. I would make him see the violation that the regime is making. I would present him how he killed children, how he killed kids. How the hospital of the kids are being invaded by the security forces and should be had, those loyal thugs of the regime. I would present him the documentation I have how they shooted on us, how they killed activists of the peaceful demonstrations. I would present him the facts I got but that would be after the killing would stop. I can’t go to the street if the killing is still there.

Weman: And Manhal what you could present as testimony is first person because you were in fact arrested by government forces in the past. Tell us what happened to you during detention.

Abubacker: I have been detained and arrested under the background of the demonstrations. They got me to the place, I don’t know where, but it was in the Damascus, they tortured me, they got out my nail, I stayed without food even without toilet a little amount of water. We were forced 3 person in a 10 sq meter room for sixty days. It was really really bad times, they torturing all the time, they insulted us, all the time beating us. That was my problem, I was conducting media and filming and sending those pictures and videos to the media so they were very very angry of me.

Werman: Manhal what are you hoping for now?

Abubacker: Well what we want now is to stop the killing and free the detainees and pull out the army. Then we want the peaceful demonstration to be held without being shot. We have lost many friends. I have lost my friend Wohar. Yesterday Wohar was holding his camera and filming while a sniper shot him in his chest. I hope that would end and the regime would be down.

Werman: We have been speaking with Syrian human rights activist Manhal Abubacker(that’s not his real name). Manhal thank you for speaking with us.

Abubacker: Thank you very much

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