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- Joining us in the studio Anwar Malek, one of the AL monitors team to Syria, who’s just left the mission today.
Mr. Anwar why did you withdraw from the AL Monitors team?
Very briefly, because I found myself serving the regime And that I don’t belong to an independent monitor team that watch the situation on the ground
- How is that? - I’m serving the regime because I’m giving it further opportunity for more killing and I’m unable to stop that killing
It’s practicing the same activities more sordidl.
It’s even killing its supporters to convince the Arab monitors that they are doing their job duly and to gain their sympathy
I found that I myself will become a Shabeeh gangster one day, that’s why I’ve quit
What did you witness? what situations led you to quit?
Most importantly, the human feelings, I’ve lived for more than 15 days in Homs.
I visited Baba Amr, al-Khalediyah, al-Sultanyah, Bab al-Siba; I’ve been to all these areas. I’ve seen shameful scenes
Burnt bodies that undergone torture, skinned bodies, children murdered, every now and then we would see someone shot by a sniper
I’ve seen all of that.. I just can’t give up my humanity in such cases, or pretend independence or neutrality in such cases
I found myself face to face with a real human tragedy that no human being having a bit of conscience can continue such a task.
But what we heard from the head of the mission was totally different!! He said that things weren’t as bad as you are saying right now.
I believe the head of mission wants to be moderate so not to upset the authority or any other party
He uses such wards so not to upset anybody
He always discourages us from speaking to the media so not to say something that would upset a certain party and hence hinder our work.
But the situation is tragic and Baba Amr and all other areas in Homs that I’ve been to for a while must be announced a disaster zone by all means
Houses are destroyed after being bombarded by heavy weapons. All signs show that heavy weapons are still there.
But the report of the monitors mission submitted to the Arab League mentioned two key issues
It said that heavy weapons are withdrawn from cities, and another one that admits smuggling weapons into Syria
Personally, I couldn’t find any evidence of smuggling arms.. all these stories were told by the governors and officials in authority
That’s why I don’t depend on anything that comes from the authority which I don’t see with my own eyes
- Have you visited any detention facilities? - Yes, I visited the Political Security Department
And I found people in definitely deplorable and tragic state. They are undergoing torture and starvation, systematic starvation where they are only given one snack a day
Although those who underwent severe conditions were secretly transported to other areas, such as military zones or facilities that we know nothing about
And there have been soldiers and maybe intelligence officers presented to us as being prisoners
- How did you notice that? - I have some experience with prisons. When someone lives in such a place, his odor would be similar to that of the cell.
Some of those people smelled of women perfume, where did that smell come from?
But, when you were inside Syria we heard about freeing some detainees, and there were positive gestures in this regard, how do you explain that?
This is a play by the regime where before they announce releasing detainees, they abduct people at random from the streets
And they would put them for 4 or 5 days in miserable detention until they look terrible, after that we would be summoned to watch this play, pretending that the regime is releasing detainees
Whereas real detainees who we asked about based on lists delivered to us by the opposition, no one has been released.
In an exchange operation, only 3 men and two women were released in exchange of withdrawing a military checkpoint
I was in Homs, no military vehicle has been withdrawn, except for some vehicles which were surrounded by the free Syrian army. And the regime found that withdrawing them would be in its interest, otherwise they would be dead
In a barracks there I found some soldiers’ bodies who were executed, because they were shot from behind
And so many testimonies confirmed that they were executed because they wanted to flee and defect
Mr. Anwar, this is the first time the Arab League undertakes such a mission in an Arab country.
There are some confessions that monitors team also needs training to be able to complete its mission
Actually, there were successive revolutions, and now the monitors mission is extended because as al-Dabbi said
“the monitoring mission requires months and maybe years according to the circumstances” what do you think about that?
I think this goes against the truth because the monitors are well known expertise in their countries and have their own experience
What about your experience? Is it militarily?
I have both a military and human rights background, and I’m a writer and have written several books
ÇI say that the monitors have an experience. But the problem is how would the work of the monitor continue while the gunfire is not stopping?
How would the monitors watch the regime while it is using all means to delude us. Street names are being changed.
When we get into a place police personnel in civilian clothes would be brought to pretend being in a pro-Assad demonstration,
while they are bearing arms to prevent protesters from approaching us
If we want to get to a hot spot we will be shot at to be frightened
They also spread rumors that we would be kidnapped if we went to opposition areas
All these things are done by the regime to gain time and flood us with marginal problems that have nothing to do with the protocol
But we have seen you on TV, via internet sneaked videos, with people talking to you freely about their problems.
Then we used to talk to them and they would tell us that they didn’t face any harassment
These videos were taken in Baba Amr; that’s an area where the authority can’t get into because it’s protected by the free army
And all citizens there are with the free army. And authority can’t enter that area.
But those who spoke to us, I dare them if they can leave to any other place. They are surrounded in Baba Amr, and they were the only ones who speak with their faces unveiled
Whereas others from areas where tanks and troops are present they just can’t approach us
Because we can’t protect them at all, and we have no authority whatsoever with the regime
You wrote on your page on facebook from Syria, why did you take the risk?
Because I had enough, I experienced the falsehood, the lies and the fabrications
I saw dead bodies; I saw what can’t keep my mouth shut anymore.
So I decided to speak while I was still inside, because it’s not a brave act to speak until I get out. So I announced my stance while I was there and I suspended my work in the mission
And I underwent a lot of harassment and even an assassination attempt yesterday,
when we were intentionally shot at, because going from Homs to Damascus usually is not from the road we took But they took us from that road because they had an already fixed plan
Thank you Anwar Malek, a member of the Arab League Monitors team who withdrew 4 days ago and just arrived today