The news out of Syria today was as horrific as ever. After six full months the horror stories only get worse. The government of Bashar Assad clings to its claims that "armed gangs" are responsible for the turmoil and the violence in the troubled country. In the most recent case of human rights violations a young activists body was claimed by her family from a hospital in Homs. In what Amnesty International has called the "most disturbing case" to date, 19 year old activist Zainab Alhusni's body was decapitated and dismembered. She left her house left month in Homs to get some groceries, she never returned. A few weeks went by and her family received calls from the government security agencies demanding they turn over her brother Mohammed, also an activist, in exchange for Zainabs release. Mohammed was killed by security forces during a crackdown on demonstrators in Homs on September 10TH. When the family was notified by the hospital that it was OK to pick up Mohammed's body they were informed of "another as of yet unclaimed body" with the name Alhusni. Her death is the first known death of a female activist in while in custody of Syrian authorities. Demonstrators carried signs proclaiming "They killed the Rose Zainab".
In another case, the beating of a Syrian-American musician's mother and father came to light today. The musician had written and performed a song "about a free Syria" at an anti government rally in Washington DC. That was two months ago, and the musician's parents are now in the US. The father is a 72 year old doctor. The mother was beaten so bad that her teeth were severely damaged. They were told that the "beating was a lesson" to their son. The family watched via the Internet as their home was torn down and demolished by pro regime thugs for going public with the story.
On a more ridiculous note, the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem addressed the UN GA calling "Syria a model for peaceful coexistence in the Middle East", while telling the US not to meddle in "its internal affairs." On a positive note, the hacktivist group Anonymous hacked into Syrian government computers defacing several sites and demanding the release of all activist in custody.
