The brutal methods used in a devastating Syrian security operation in the western town of Tell Kalakh may constitute crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said today in a new report (6 July). 

 

 

The 22-page report, Crackdown in Syria: terror in Tell Kalakh, documents deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention that took place in May when Syrian army and security forces mounted a broad security sweep against residents of the town near the Lebanese border. 

 

The operation began on 14 May when the army and security forces entered Tell Kalakh following a demonstration calling for the downfall of the regime. At least one person, 24-year-old Ali al-Basha, was killed on that first day, apparently by snipers, and even the ambulance carrying his body came under fire. As many tried to leave, Syrian forces fired on fleeing families. 

 

The following days saw scores of male residents, including some aged over 60 and boys aged less than 18 years, rounded up and detained. Most of those detained were tortured, some even as they were being arrested, according to accounts. In one incident, soldiers transporting detainees counted how many they had arrested by stabbing lit cigarettes on the backs of their necks. 

 

Every family from Tell Kalakh that Amnesty met in Lebanon said they had at least one relative in detention. Amnesty, which has not been allowed to enter Syria, compiled the report from interviews carried out in Lebanon and by phone with more than 50 people in May and June. 

 

Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Philip Luther said:

 

 

 

 

Detainees told Amnesty that Military Security, one of the security forces which detrained people, used the shabah (ghost) method, where the detainee is forced into a stress position for long periods and beaten, in these cases by being tied by the wrists to a bar high enough off the ground to force the detainee to stand on the tip of their toes. 

 

Twenty year-old “Mahmoud”, who was arrested on 16 May and released after nearly a month in detention, was held for around five days at the Military Security detention facility in Homs. He told Amnesty: “Each day [was] the same story. They tied me up in the shabah position and applied electricity to my body and testicles. Sometimes I screamed very loudly and begged the interrogator to stop. He didn’t care.”

 

At least nine people died in custody after being arrested during the security operation in Tell Kalakh, according to witnesses. Eight of these men - some of whom had been active in demonstrations - were shot at and wounded as they were ordered out of a house, and were then taken away by soldiers. 

 

It was only around two weeks later that relatives were told to go to a military hospital to identify the bodies of the eight men. Witnesses said the bodies had marks on them which suggested torture, including cuts to the chest, long vertical slashes on the thighs and what seemed to be gunshot wounds on the back of the legs. 

 

A forensic pathologist analysed a photograph of one of the men - Abd al-Rahman Abu Libdeh - for Amnesty and concluded that he seemed to have sustained violent injuries to the face, shoulders and neck while still alive. Some of the family members who went to identify the bodies of their sons said they were forced to sign a document stating that their sons were killed by armed gangs. 

 

Amnesty knows that a number of people arrested during the security operation in Tell Kalakh still remain in detention, including a 17-year-old boy. The organisation called on the Syrian authorities to release all those arbitrarily arrested and those detained for taking part in peaceful demonstrations or expressing views of dissent.

 

Amnesty considers that crimes committed in Tell Kalakh amount to crimes against humanity as they appear to be part of a widespread, as well as systematic, attack against the civilian population. The organisation reiterated its call on the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. It also urged the Syrian authorities to provide unimpeded access to UN investigators currently looking into the human rights situation in Syria.