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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Video Shows Syrian Tank Crushing Body of Dissident |
| 2012-06-02 |
| [An Nahar] In a graphic video posted to YouTube on Friday by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Syrian tank is seen running over the body of a dissident fighter. A group of four tanks and an open truck carrying approximately 10 soldiers are seen parked on a dirt road while others in uniform and one man in plain clothes casually mill around the area. A soldier on one of the tanks films as his vehicle begins to move, panning down to the dead body of a dissident on the road between the tanks, his body completely disfigured and bloody, and his head already split open. The tank proceeds to run over the body as the soldiers in the truck observe the scene. A soldier, who appears to be the one filming the scene, then faces the camera, his face stern, saying nothing. He points the camera to the gun of the tank and then to the man in plain clothes, who slaps hands with another soldier as they walk away from the tank. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told Agence La Belle France Presse by phone that the man shown on the ground, along with a second crushed body not pictured, were confirmed to be dissidents. The footage was taken March 14 at a checkpoint in Al-Bara village in northwest Idlib province, according to the Britannia-based watchdog. In a statement released with the video, the Observatory says the footage "confirms the horror and brutality that regime forces use against Syrian dissidents, even after their deaths." The Observatory "condemns in the strongest terms the heinous treatment of the corpses of the deaders and demands that the Syrian authorities respect the bodies of the dead, be they protesters or fighters, and hand them over to their relatives for a proper burial." It also called for the prosecution of those committing such "acts of insanity, for which humanity should be ashamed." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Funny, I just watched Idiocracy today - not that that is a landmark movie in any way, but it's fitting. |
| Posted by: newc 2012-06-02 01:00 |