Amnesty International

Introduction

Amnesty International (AI) has done some good investigations and reports over the years. This has won them widespread support.  However, less well recognized, Amnesty International has also carried out faulty investigations contributing to bloody and disastrous actions. One prominent example is in Iraq, where AI “corroborated” the false story that Iraqi soldiers were stealing incubators from Kuwait, leaving babies to die on the cold floor. The deception was planned and carried out in Washington DC to influence the public and Congress.  A more recent example is from 2011 where false accusations were being made about Libya and its leader as Western and Gulf powers sought to overthrow the Gaddafi government. AI leaders joined the campaign claiming that Gaddafi was using “mercenaries” to threaten and kill peacefully protesting civilians. The propaganda was successful in muting criticism. Going far beyond a UN Security Council resolution to “protect civilians”, NATO launched sustained air attacks and toppled the Libyan government leading to chaos, violence and a flood of refugees. AI later refuted the “mercenary” accusations but the damage was done.

The Sensational New Amnesty International Report

On 7 February Amnesty International released a new report titled “Human Slaughterhouse: Mass Hangings and Extermination at Saydnaya Prison”. It has received huge uncritical review in mainstream and liberal media.

Like the Iraq/Kuwait incubator story and the Libyan ‘mercenary’ story, the “Human Slaughterhouse” report is coming at a critical time. The consequences of the AI report are to accuse and convict the Syrian government of horrible atrocities against civilians.  AI explicitly calls for the international community to take “action”.

As will be shown below, the AI report is biased and partial. To the extent that it is resulting in a widespread kangaroo conviction of the Syrian government, the AI release can be called a “Kangaroo Report”. 

Problems with the Report

1) The Amnesty International report on Syria violates their own research standards.  As documented by Prof Tim Hayward here, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Salil Shetty, claims that Amnesty does its research ‘in a very systematic, primary, way where we collect evidence with our own staff on the ground. And every aspect of our data collection is based on corroboration and cross-checking from all parties, even if there are, you know, many parties in any situation because of all of the issues we deal with are quite contested. So it’s very important to get different points of view and constantly cross check and verify the facts.’ As documented below, the Amnesty report fails on all counts: they rely on third parties, they did not gather different points of view and they did not cross-check.

2) The report conclusions are not based on primary sources, material evidence or their own staff; they are solely based on the claims of anonymous individuals, mostly in southern Turkey from where the war on Syria is coordinated. 

3) Amnesty gathered witnesses and testimonies from only one side of the conflict: the Western and Gulf supported opposition. For example, AI consulted with the Syrian Network for Human Rights which is known to seek NATO intervention in Syria. AI “liased” with the Commission for International Justice and Accountability. This organization is funded by the West to press criminal charges against the Syrian leadership. These are obviously not neutral, independent or nonpartisan organizations. If AI was doing what the Secretary General claims they do, they would have consulted with organizations within or outside Syria to hear different accounts of life at Saydnaya Prison.  Since the AI report has been released, the AngryArab has published the account of a Syrian dissident, Nizar Nayyouf, who was imprisoned at Saydnaya. He contradicts many statements in the Amnesty International report. This is the type of cross-checking which Amnesty International failed to do for this important study.

4) Amnesty’s accusation that executions were “extrajudicial” is exaggerated or false. By Amnesty’s own description, each prisoner appeared briefly before a judge and each execution was authorized by a high government leader. We do not know if the judge looked at documentation or other information regarding each prisoner. One could argue that the process was superficial but it’s clear there was some kind of judicial process.

5) Amnesty’s suggestion that all Saydnaya prisoners are convicted is false.  Amnesty quotes one of their witnesses who says about the court: “The judge will ask the name of the detainee and whether he committed the crime. Whether the answer is yes or no, he will be convicted.” This assertion is contradicted by a former Saydnaya prisoner who is now a refugee in Sweden. In this news report the former prisoner says the judge “asked him how many soldiers he had killed. When he said none, the judge spared him.” This is evidence that there is a judicial process of some sort and there are acquittals.

6) The Amnesty report includes satellite photographs with captions which are meaningless or erroneous. For example, as pointed out by Syrian dissident Nizar Nayyouf, the photo on page 30 showing a Martyrs Cemetery is “silly beyond silly”. The photo and caption show the cemetery doubled in size. However, this does not prove hangings of prisoners who would never be buried in a “martyrs cemetery” reserved for Syrian army soldiers. On the contrary, it confirms the fact which Amnesty International otherwise ignores:  Syrian soldiers have died in large numbers.

7) The Amnesty report falsely claims, based on data provided by one of the groups seeking NATO intervention, “The victims are overwhelmingly ordinary civilians who are thought to oppose the government.”  While it’s surely true that innocent civilians are sometimes wrongly arrested, as happens in all countries, the suggestion that Saydnaya prison is filled with 95% “ordinary civilians” is preposterous. Amnesty International can make this claim with a straight face because they have effectively “disappeared” the reality of Syria. Essential facts which are completely missing from the Amnesty report include:

1. Western powers and Gulf monarchies have put up billions of dollars annually since 2011 to fund, train, weaponize, provide salaries and propaganda in support of a violent campaign to overthrow the Syrian government;
2. tens of thousands of foreign fanatics have invaded Syria;
3. tens of thousands of Syrians have been radicalized and paid by Wahabi monarchies in the Gulf to overthrow the government;
4. over 100 THOUSAND Syrian Army and National Defense soldiers have been killed defending their country. Most of this is public information yet ignored by Amnesty International and other media in the West. They have done a massive distortion and cover-up of reality.

8) Without providing evidence, Amnesty International accuses the highest Sunni religious leader in Syria, Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, of authorizing the execution of “ordinary civilians”. The Grand Mufti is a personal victim: his son was murdered by terrorists near Aleppo. Yet he has consistently called for reconciliation. Following the assassination of his son, Grand Mufti Hassoun gave an eloquent speech expressing forgiveness for the murderers and calling for an end to the violence. What does it say about Amnesty International that they make these kind of specific personal accusations, against people who have personally suffered, yet provide zero evidence?

9) Amnesty uses sensational and emotional accusations in place of factual evidence. The title of the report is  “Human Slaughterhouse”. What goes with a “slaughterhouse”?  Why of course ….. a “meat fridge”!  The report uses the expression “meat fridge” seven separate times, presumably in an attempt to buttress the association.  Even the opening quotation is hyperbolic: “Saydnaya is the end of life - the end of humanity”.  This report is in sharp contrast with fact-based objective research and investigation; it is closer to perception management and manipulation. 

10) Amnesty International accusations that the Syrian government is carrying out a policy of “extermination” are contradicted by the fact that the vast majority of Syrians prefer to live in government controlled areas. When the “rebels” were finally driven out of East Aleppo in December 2016, 90% of civilians rushed into government controlled areas. In recent days, civilians from Latakia province who had been imprisoned by terrorists for the past 3 years have been liberated in a prisoner exchange. The following video shows the Syrian President and first lady meeting with some of the civilians and gives a sense of the joy.

11) The Amnesty report is accompanied by a 3 minute cartoon which gives the false narrative that Syrian civilians who protest peacefully are imprisoned and executed. The cartoon is titled “Saydnaya Prison: Human Slaughterhouse”. Apparently Amnesty International is in denial of the fact that there are many tens of thousands of violent extremists in Syria. They set off car bombs, launch mortars and otherwise attack civilian areas every day. While there are mistakes from time to time, and also cases of corruption and bribery, it makes no sense that Syrian security or prison authorities would be wasting time and resources with non-violent civilians when there are tens of thousands of foreign sponsored actual terrorists in the country. The AI accusation is also contradicted by the fact that there are many opposition parties in Syria. They compete for seats in the National Assembly and campaign openly for public support from both the right and left of the Baath Party.

12) The Amnesty claim that Syrian authorities brutally repress peaceful protest is also contradicted by the Syrian reconciliation process. For the past several years armed opposition militants have been encouraged to lay down their weapons and peacefully rejoin society. This is largely unreported in western media because it contradicts the false stereotype presented by Amnesty International and western media in general. A recent example is reported here.

13) The Amnesty report cites the “Caesar” photographs as supporting evidence but ignores the fact that nearly half the photographs show the opposite of what was claimed. The widely publicized “Caesar photographs” was a Qatari funded hoax designed to sabotage the 2014 Geneva negotiations as documented here .

14) The Amnesty report makes many accusations against the Syrian government but ignores the violation of Syrian sovereignty being committed by western and Gulf countries. It is a curious fact that big NGOs such as Amnesty International focus on violations of “human rights law” and “humanitarian law” but ignore the crime of aggression, also called the crime against peace.  According to the Nuremberg Tribunal, this is “the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.” Former Nicaraguan Foreign Minister and former President of the U.N. General Assembly, Father Miguel D’Escoto, is someone who should know. He says, “What the U.S. government is doing in Syria is tantamount to a war of aggression, which, according to the Nuremberg Tribunal, is the worst possible crime a State can commit against another State.” Amnesty International ignores this.

Background and Context

The co-author of this Amnesty International report is Nicolette Waldman (Boehland). She was uncritically interviewed on DemocracyNow on 9 February. The background and previous work of Waldman shows the inter-connections between influential Washington “think tanks” and the billionaire foundation funded Non Governmental Organizations that claim to be independent but are clearly not. Waldman previously worked for the “Center for Civilians in Conflict”. This organization is directed by leaders from George Soros’ Open Society, Human Rights Watch, Blackrock Solutions and the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). CNAS may be the most significant indication of political orientation since it is led by Michele Flournoy, who was predicted to become Secretary of Defense if Hillary Clinton had won the election. CNAS has been a leading force behind neo-conservatives plan to escalate war in Syria. While past work or associations do not always define new or future work, in this case the sensational and evidence-free accusations seem to align with neoconservative political goals.

Conclusion

Amnesty International has previously published false information or “corroboration” which justified western aggression against Iraq and Libya. This seems to be the same role they are playing now in Syria.

The Amnesty International report is a combination of accusations based on hearsay and sensationalism. Partially because of Amnesty’s undeserved reputation for independence and accuracy, the report has been picked up and broadcast widely.  Liberal and supposedly progressive media outlets have dutifully echoed the dubious accusations. In reality this report amounts to a Kangaroo court with the victim being the Syrian government and people who have borne the brunt of the foreign sponsored aggression. If this report sparks an escalation of the conflict, which Amnesty International seems to call for, it will be a big step backwards not forward ….just like in Iraq and Libya.

This well explained debunking comes from from Syriana Analysis

This story originally published 8 Feb 2017 at American Everyman with the long title: The Farce that is Amnesty International’s ” Human Slaughterhouse ” Study: It is, Quite Literally, Fake News Gone Viral. There was massive mainstream news yesterday (8 Feb 2017) of Amnesty International's report of 13,000 prisoneres hanged by the Assad Government during Obama's US regime. The next day, however, the story has been relegated to the back pages and some publications have actually pulled their aritcles. This is because there is zero evidence for the report, which, if you actually read it, claims nothing specific at all. Read Scott Creighton's article inside to know more. [Candobetter.net editor: We have included at the end of the article the request for donations from the original publication site, because this was integral to the original article.]

UPDATE: Check out al Jazeera story which features one of the sources of Nicolette’s report. He is a Free Syrian Army terrorist who did two years in the prison AND WAS RELEASED. Wait a minute… I thought they were exterminating everyone? What gives? (check out video at 1:10 mark)

I wonder who’s kids they grabbed for this PR shoot.

—

Everyone from CNN to al Jazeera covered the Amnesty International report of the 13,000 prisoners hanged by the Assad government during President Obama’s “moderate” terrorist regime change operation in Syria yesterday. They titled the report “Human Slaughterhouse” so the concentration-challenged American public wouldn’t have to read much further than the title to get their water-cooler talking points for the day at the office. Fox covered it. The Guardian covered it. ABC, USA Today, Telegraph, BBC, Red State, Breitbart, Business Insider you get the picture, right?

All day yesterday, Amnesty International was trending on Twitter. Thousands of people left comments reflecting their outrage at Assad “the monster” and various news organizations published the baseless comments as news. It was a megaphone project that worked perfectly… for a little while.

You’ll notice the story has been relegated to the back pages today and some publications  have actually pulled their articles on it. There’s a reason for that. The AI report is complete and total bunk. It’s baseless, technically flawed and as they accurately reported over at Moon of Alabama, it wouldn’t stand up in even the most rigged kangaroo court on the planet.

Do you want to know many of those 13,000 victims of “torture, hanging and extermination” that AI has actual evidence of?

Zero.

It’s not 13,000 which is the high range of their “estimate” which everyone is touting on various regime change backing “news” outlets.

It’s not 5,000 which is the low range of that “estimate”

It’s not 375 that were provided by the western-backed, regime hating, openly lying Syrian Network for Human Rights.

It’s not even the “additional” 36 names that were provided to AI by “witnesses”

It’s zero.

It is total,complete, absolute fake news and there is no other possible way to look at it.

Here is what Amnesty International says about the “documented deaths” in their report. It is found in section 4.3.4 on page 40 of their study. It is the entirety of the documentation of deaths in this report and therefore the entirety of the factual basis they offer.

“Amnesty International’s research, along with the research of the UN Commission of Inquiry, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, suggests that tens of thousands of detainees have died in Saydnaya and other government-run detention centres since 2011 as a result of the extermination policies discussed above. Because the Syrian authorities have withheld information on the names and whereabouts of the individuals they have in their custody as well as the names of those who have died in the detention centres it operates, the exact number of deaths in Saydnaya is impossible to specify. However, the Syrian Network for Human Rights has verified and shared with Amnesty International the names of#ff0000;"> 375 individuals who have died in Saydnaya as a result of torture and other ill-treatment between March 2011 and October 2016. Of these, 317 were civilians at the time of their arrest, 39 were members of the Syrian military and 19 were members of non-state armed groups.170 In the course of the research for this report, Amnesty International obtained the names of #ff0000;">36 additional individuals who died as a result of torture and other ill-treatment in Saydnaya. These names were provided to Amnesty International by former detainees who witnessed the deaths in their cells.171

170 Email correspondence with Chairman of the Syrian Network for Human Rights on 25 November 2016.

171 These names are on file with Amnesty International.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights is something akin to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and they have about as much credibility with regards to what is really happening in Syria.

They are a UK-based “not-for-profit” that is focused on helping the Western-backed ‘coalition’ force a brutal regime change in Syria at any cost. As Steven Lendmen pointed out in Aug. of 2016 (a couple months before the SNHR provided AI with their “list”) the SNHR has a long history of making unsubstantiated claims about brutality in Syria and always their claims are focused on aiding the regime change operations in one way or another.

“Instead of reporting truthfully, SNHR falsely claimed “Russian forces have killed no less than 2704 civilians including 746 children and 514 women” from September 30 last year through end of July.

Its assertions aren’t based on credible documentation, Western-sponsored propaganda alone. Saying “(t)he Russian regime has terrorized and massacred the Syrian people and surpassed the extremist group ISIS,” then adding “(w)e have to be brave enough to acknowledge this truth (sic)” is simply crude propaganda anyone paying attention understands instantly.

Ghani is a poor liar. SOHR’s Rami Abdulrahman does a better job of reporting misinformation and Big Lies. Maybe they should get together and compare notes.

Their purpose is similar. Demonize Syria and Russia. Support US-led imperial aggression. Blame its high crimes on Assad and Putin.” Lendman, Aug. 2016

If you go here, you can watch the chairman of SNHR give a presentation before the UN in 2013 which he accused Assad of everything from ordering institutional rape of women to the Lindberg baby kidnapping. He was literally screeching for regime change. He was saying that peace “at the cost of justice” would lead to more instability not less. Meaning, no deal between opposition and Assad government could be tolerated without removing and executing Assad and other members of the legitimate government back then. The chairman, Fadel Abdul Ghani, set up a Youtube channel back in 2013 in which he featured a number of poorly made fake propaganda videos.

This video is one of the first on his ridiculous channel. It features a bunch of Obama’s “moderate” terrorists taking a break from shelling civilians population centers to make a propaganda video where they grab local kids and pretend to weep like they are their fathers. Apparently these Salafist monsters didn’t understand back then of the power of the image of the mother holding their dead child. Either that, or the other terrorists were too busy raping the women to stick one or two in the video.

SNHR is apparently the precursor of the White Helmets al-Qaeda production company.

Taking ANYTHING this organization offers as “evidence” and basing a report such as this on that alone, is beyond irresponsible. It’s almost criminal. The history of this liar Ghani speaks for itself. The fact that the organization is located in the UK and probably receives funding from organizations that support the regime change program makes anything they offer all that more tainted in terms of evidence.

In short, the 375 names emailed to AI for their “extensively researched study” is bunk. And their using it in this report makes it “fake news” pure and simple.

And what about those 36 others reported by “witnesses”?

So, let me get this straight… some released “moderate” terrorists say, without providing evidence of course, that they know of 36 other “moderate” terrorists who were executed by the Syrian government for launching homemade Hell Cannon mortars into population centers and killing and raping civilians during their time in Syria… and yet, remarkably, AI doesn’t wonder why these particular terrorists were allowed to leave and tell their story?

Does anyone else notice a stark contradiction in the “extermination of the opposition” story here?

Does anyone else notice the fact that these guys who were released had at one time been dedicated to the regime change operation and that MOTIVE might just still be part of their agenda?

Would such testimony be permissible in court? Would it be laughed out of court if allowed by a rational jury of 12?

So now what are we at? We have gone from 13,000 “exterminated” “activists” to 5,000 to 375 to 36 and now we are left with what?

Zero.

See how the math works with that one?

For a good explanation of how AI fraudulently came up with their extrapolations which provided them the massive numbers of inmate hangings, based entirely on hearsay “evidence” (they literally took a lie, extrapolated it as a baseline norm, and then multiplied the lie over the course of the 5 years… I’m not kidding, that is what they did) you need to read Moon of Alabama’s work on the bullshit study. It’s well worth the time and while you are there, check out the informed comments as well.

If you go to Russian Insider you will find a pretty good critique of the “mass graves” images AI included in their study.

Does anybody remember this?

That was one of the many fake photos of Iraqis WMDs they used to try to get the UN Security Council to agree to our illegal war of aggression against Iraq. It failed. The image was a fraud. Much like AI’s pics of “mass graves”

This whole story is I call a foundation lie. When they came up with this idea, they knew it was bound to be torn apart on the merits by the few conscientious journalists still working these days, but they went forward with it anyway knowing the complicit media would ask no questions, do no independent investigation of their sources or their methods and megaphone their conclusions without pause.

The purpose of crafting such disinformation is that in the future, talking heads and politicos will be able to now say “Assad must go because he hanged 13,000 peaceful activists” and if someone dares challenge them on the lie, they can refer them to all those fraudulent MSM outlet articles posted yesterday without having to worry about the fact that the study itself is entirely baseless. That kind of discussion would take longer than the 45 seconds they have allotted for the segment.

From there, they can call for things like “safe zones”, humanitarian bombing campaigns and even “boots on the ground”

If you want recent examples of other foundation lies, there was the one about Gaddafi killing thousands of his own people, Assad using chemical weapons or even Saddam’s WMD story, which even today is being revisited by the revisionists trying to white wash the Bush administration’s crimes against humanity.

But the foundation lie is key. It pops up, it can’t stand the light of day… and ultimately it’s purpose is to serve as that tiny tidbit of disinformation rumbling around in the back of someone’s head so that when a war-monger brings it up in the near future, all he has to do is mention it and the audience accepts it at face value.

Upon these lies, the structure of future war-crimes is based.

It’s not enough to run around with a “No War for Lies” sign a year from now while Trump is bombing Syria into the stone age. These kinds of efforts they produce must be attacked and dismantled when they surface. Google will certainly prevent searches for the real truth about the 13,000 in the future, as they already do today regarding the truth of things like faked aerial photos of Iraqi chemical weapon sites. We understand that and move on regardless.

This is not going to be the last time AI produces politically based disinformation. In fact, right now, front and center of their website, they are still promoting the stopping of what they call Trump’s “Muslim Ban” even though most complicit MSM outlets have already given up on that line of destabilization.

When you find good, well researched work on disinformation campaigns like this one, share it widely. Make a point to do so. That’s what ultimately stopped Obama from acting on the “redline” violation his “moderate” terrorists in Syria crafted for him with the chemical weapon use in Syria (his mercs did it). When the internet journalists exposed the fraudulence of that event en masse, he couldn’t respond the way they wanted him to because it was already well known and circulating through the internet that the Syrian government didn’t do it.

Yet that foundation lie continues to be used today as well.

Moon of Alabama’s work on this “study” should go viral. Everyone should read it and make IT the topic of discussion at the water cooler today.

It’s not enough to run around on the streets waving signs while bombs are dropping in foreign countries.

It’s not enough to come back years later and say “oh look. the claims were baseless after all”

We have to undermine the foundations of these war-crimes BEFORE they happen by chipping away at the fake news as it is crafted. That is the only way to stop them.

—

Please help keep AE up and running if you can.

I really could use any help you can afford. Things are getting pretty bad

Thank you all so much

(For my mailing address, please email me at [email protected])

Tribesmen loyal to the Houthi Ansarullah movement attend a gathering in Yemen’s capital, Sana'a, April 17, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

The otherwise informative_{#fnYemen1" id="txtYemen1"> 1} Russian English language web-site Sputnik International has published on 18/5/16 a 'news' report Houthi Rebels Carry Out Wave of Arrests in Yemen, Use Torture. (A copy of the article is included below as an #amnestySmearsHouthis">appendix.) As the title suggests, it claims that the same Houthi rebels, who have been fighting an invasion of Yemen by Saudi Arabia since March 2015, "have carried out a brutal campaign against their political opponents, arbitrary arresting people, using tortures and kidnappings."

The article cites a report Yemen: Spree of arbitrary arrests, disappearances and torture by Huthi forces (18/5/16) by the supposed human rights organisation Amnesty International. The Amnesty report has also been cited in Amnesty accuses Yemen rebels of 'brutal' campaign against foes (18/5/16) | Yahoo.

Amnesty International is the same organisation which claimed less than a week ago that "the scale of war crimes by [Syrian] government forces is far greater [than that of the terrorists invaders](my emphasis) "._{#fnYemen2" id="txtYemen2"> 2}

The cited Amnesty International article fails to mention the extensive war crimes by the invading Saudi Arabian armed forces against civilians, including the use of cluster bombs – a weapon banned by international law. (However, the Sputnik article itself briefly stated, "A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been carrying out airstrikes on Houthi positions at Hadi's request since March 2015, causing hundreds of victims among civilian population.")

Given Amnesty's smear of the Syrian government and given Amnesty's past history of having provided pretexts for Western government invasions of Iraq and Libya, the publication of this article shows extremely poor judgement on the part of Sputnik's editors.

For factual information about Yemen, visit the Iranian PressTV's section Saudi Aggression Against Yemen and most other alternative news sources.

#amnestySmearsHouthis" id="amnestySmearsHouthis">Appendix: copy of Sputnik article which cites Amnesty claims of Houthi rebel atrocities

Houthi Rebels Carry Out Wave of Arrests in Yemen, Use Torture

Yemen's Houthi rebels have waged an anti-opposition campaign: they are against the usage tortures and kidnappings, a human rights watchdog said in a new report on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Yemen's Houthi rebels, the country's main opposition force, have carried out a brutal campaign against their political opponents, arbitrary arresting people, using tortures and kidnappings, a human rights watchdog said in a new report on Wednesday.

People stand around damages made by a Saudi-led airstrike on a bridge in Sanaa, Yemen, Wednesday, March 23, 2016. Yemen has been left fragmented by war pitting Shiite Houthi rebels and military units loyal to a former president against a US-backed, Saudi-led coalition supporting the internationally recognized government.

Houthi Rebels Advocate Disarmament, Formation of Unity Gov't in Yemen

The report by Amnesty International is based on 60 cases of arbitrary detention in several Yemeni cities under Houthi control, including the capital of Sanaa, conducted between December 2014 and March 2016.

"Huthi forces have presided over a brutal and deliberate campaign targeting their political opponents and other critics since December 2014. Hundreds of people have been rounded up and held without charge or trial, and in some cases they have been forcibly disappeared in flagrant violation of international law," James Lynch, the deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Amnesty International, was quoted as saying in the report.

Enforced disappearance is an abhorrent crime that cannot be justified under any circumstances, Lynch stressed.

Shiite rebel fighters, known as Houthis, hold their weapons during a tribal gathering to show support for the Houthi movement in Sanaa, Yemen.

Yemen has been engulfed in an 18-month military conflict between the government, headed by President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, and the Houthi rebels, which have been supported by army units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

A coalition led by Saudi Arabia has been carrying out airstrikes on Houthi positions at Hadi's request since March 2015, causing hundreds of victims among civilian population.

The latest round of the UN-mediated talks in Kuwait, attempting to reconcile the Houthi rebels with Yemeni government Hadi, started on April 21.

Footnote[s]

#fnYemen1" id="fnYemen1">1. #txtYemen1">⇑ As of 20 May 2015, all other stories about Yemen on Sputnik News are, unlike the story discussed above, sympathetic to the Houthi rebels. However, some of these stories, whilst not hostile to the Houthi rebels, unfortunately, seem to uncritically accept pronouncements of the United States' government of its intentions and its subsequent actions. Two such stories are US Military Team Heads to Yemen to Help in the Fight Against al-Qaeda (7/5/16) and Pentagon: US Kills 10 Al-Qaeda Affiliates in Yemen (7/5/16). Another earlier Sputnik story, which reveals the criminality of the United States' actions towards Yemen is US Blasted for Providing Saudis Cluster Bombs Used Against Yemeni Civilians (7/5/16). However, two days after it was published, the above story remains the most Sputnik's most recently published story about Yemen. We trust that Sputnik will soon resume balanced and truthful reporting of the Yemen conflict.

#fnYemen2" id="fnYemen2">2. #txtYemen2">⇑ This claim, was hidden inside the article Syria: Armed opposition groups committing war crimes in Aleppo city (14/5/16). As the title implies, the article was ostensibly to denounce the war crimes of the terrorist insurgents around Aleppo. Given that the depravity of the insurgents is now too well understood, thanks to evidence provided by Syria, Russia, various impartial observers and the alternate newsmedia, Amnesty could hardly allow itself to be seen to be concealing the evidence of their crimes. So, instead, Amnesty, as have governments hostile to Syria, adopted the ploy of seeming to be outraged by the crimes of those fighting for the overthrow of the Syrian government, whilst claiming that the Syrian government is even worse than the insurgents. For more information see our article Amnesty smear: "Russian and Syrian government forces ... have deliberately and systematically bombed hospitals ..."

The article, Amnesty International: Syria: Armed Opposition Groups Committing War Crimes in Aleppo City, originally published here on 14 May 2016, has been made an appendix. At face value, the article appeared to confirm what candobetter and other news sources (as opposed to the msm) have been writing about the terrorist invaders. However, concealed within the article is the claim that "the scale of war crimes by government forces is far greater" i.e. precisely the same narrative that is clearly intended by the Western msm to justify the expansion of the current war, ostensibly against Islamic State, into a war to remove the allegedly even more brutal 'regime' of President Bashar al-Assad.

On 3 March 2016, more than two months ago now, the supposed human rights organisation Amnesty International 'reported':

Russian and Syrian government forces appear to have deliberately and systematically targeted hospitals and other medical facilities over the last three months to pave the way for ground forces to advance on northern Aleppo, an examination of airstrikes by Amnesty International has found.

Even as Syria's fragile ceasefire deal was being hammered out, Syrian government forces and their allies intensified their attacks on medical facilities.

"Syrian and Russian forces have been deliberately attacking health facilities in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. But what is truly egregious is that wiping out hospitals appears to have become part of their military strategy," said Tirana Hassan, Crisis Response Director at Amnesty International.

"The latest string of attacks on health facilities north of Aleppo appears to be part of a pattern of attacks on medics and hospitals, a strategy that has destroyed scores of medical facilities and killed hundreds of doctors and nurses since the start of the conflict."

The organization has gathered compelling evidence of at least six deliberate attacks on hospitals, medical centres and clinics in the northern part of the Aleppo Countryside governorate in the past 12 weeks. The attacks, which killed at least three civilians including a medical worker, and injured 44 more, continue a pattern of targeting health facilities in various parts of Syria which amounts to war crimes.

...

The press release also made more claims against the Syrian government, Syrian Army and Russian military forces including:

• The Syrian government was attempting "to empty an entire town or village of residents by targeting hospitals and infrastructure to facilitate the ground invasion";

• A doctor from Anadan said: "Hospitals, water and electricity are always the first to be attacked. Once that happens people no longer have services to survive ...";

• "Hospitals in opposition-controlled areas around Aleppo became a primary target for the Russian and Syrian government forces. This eliminated a vital lifeline for the civilians living in those embattled areas, leaving them no choice but to flee," said Tirana Hassan.

• There were no military vehicles, checkpoints, fighters or front lines near the hospitals that were attacked and that the hospitals were exclusively serving their humanitarian function;

• At least 27 hospitals, including eight in Aleppo governorate, have been targeted by Russian and Syrian government forces since September 2015. A total of four medical staff workers and 45 civilians were killed in these 14 attacks;

The above story is now difficult to find on the Amnesty International web-site as they no doubt fear that people who read it are likely to learn that it has no more factual basis than Amnesty's previous claims that invading Iraqis cast prematurely born babies out of incubators onto the floors of Kuwaiti hospitals in 1990 or their claims against the Libyan government in 2011.

The other report by Shamnesty, sorry, Amnesty International, republished in the #shamnestyAppendix">Appendix below, repeats the same lie peddled by the mainstream and phony alternate media since the armed conflict began in March 2011: "the scale of war crimes by government forces is far greater".

This begs the question, if both the regime and the rebels are slaughtering the same Syrian civilians, then why can't they just stop shooting each other and just work together?

Anyone who has properly informed herself/himself about the Syrian conflict from our Syria pages and other alternate newsmedia linked to from those pages, would know that the Syrian Arab Army has, in fact, been defending the people of Syria and itself from precisely the same forces that Amnesty International claims, in this press release, to oppose, that is tens of thousands of invaders, from all corners of the globe paid for and armed by the United States, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and their allies.

So far 80,000 soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army have lost their lives fighting this invasion._{#fnSubj_1" id="txtSubj_1"> 1}

If Amnesty International truly cared about the welfare of the civilians of which it writes in the above press release, it would not have smeared the government of Syria and its heroic army. Instead it would be pointing its finger firmly at all those countries who have been arming, paying and giving passage and sanctuary the terrorists, including the United States, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and France.

#shamnestyAppendix" id="shamnestyAppendix"> Appendix: Original article consisting of Shamnesty Media Release

This media release includes the claim that "the scale of war crimes by government forces is far greater."

Amnesty International: Syria: Armed Opposition Groups Committing War Crimes in Aleppo City

"Amnesty International is calling on the Gulf states, Turkey and others believed to be providing support to armed groups in Syria to immediately block the transfer of arms to armed groups, including logistical and financial support for such transfers ...." This article comes from a press release from Amnesty International, which usually takes the 'rebel' side, but which here seems unable to close its eyes to the brutality of the so-called 'rebels', although Amnesty continues to hedge its bets and toe the US/NATO line by implying that the Gulf States, Turkey and others supporting armed groups might continue to supply, "those groups that meet stringent reliability tests which demonstrate that they can act consistently with full respect for international human rights and humanitarian law should be considered for future supply." What groups might they be? we ask. We are publishing this press release here because it is unlikely to be prominently reported in any NATO sympathising mainstream press, despite the importance of this awful news. The theory (not voiced here) is that the ceasefire in Syria and the withdrawal of Russia has been exploited by the rebels against the Syrian Arab Army (government army) maintenance of ceasefire, to the disadvantage of Syrians.

[Amnesty International: Friday, May 13, 2016 - 11:00am:WASHINGTON] Armed groups surrounding the Sheikh Maqsoud district of Aleppo city have repeatedly carried out indiscriminate attacks that have struck civilian homes, streets, markets and mosques, killing and injuring civilians and displaying a shameful disregard for human life, said Amnesty International.

The organization has gathered strong evidence of serious violations from eyewitnesses, and obtained the names of at least 83 civilians, including 30 children, who were killed by attacks in Sheikh Maqsoud between February and April 2016. More than 700 civilians were also injured, according to the local field hospital. Video evidence seen by Amnesty International shows artillery shelling, rocket and mortar attacks carried out by the Fatah Halab (Aleppo Conquest) coalition of armed groups in the area, targeting the Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) controlling the area.

"The relentless pummelling of Sheikh Maqsoud has devastated the lives of civilians in the area. A wide array of armed groups from the Fatah Halab coalition has launched what appear to be repeated indiscriminate attacks that may amount to war crimes," said Magdalena Mughrabi, interim Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty International.

There are around 30,000 civilians living in Sheikh Maqsoud which is a predominately Kurdish part of Aleppo city. The area is controlled by YPG forces and surrounded from the northern, eastern and western fronts by opposition armed groups who have targeted it from all three sides. Syrian government forces control areas south of Sheikh Maqsoud. In 2014, YPG forces started fighting against the armed group calling itself the Islamic State (IS). In recent months however tensions have increased with opposition armed groups, particularly in the Aleppo area. Attacks by armed groups have killed at least 62 YPG fighters, according to the Families of the Martyrs Association.

In recent days the very fragile cessation of hostilities across Syria agreed to in Geneva in February was extended to areas around Sheikh Maqsoud in the Aleppo Countryside governorate. However, attacks on Sheikh Maqsoud have continued unabated over the past few months.

Mounting evidence of indiscriminate attacks

Satellite imagery, obtained by Amnesty International and corroborated by testimony from residents, shows destroyed and badly damaged houses in a residential street in the western part of Sheikh Maqsoud, more than 800 metres away from the frontline.

Mohamad lost seven members of his family when his home in Sheikh Maqsoud was struck by an improvised ‘Hamim' rocket launched by an armed group on 5 April 2016. Those killed included his 18-month-old daughter, his two sons, aged 15 and 10, and an eight-year-old nephew. He and two of his other young nephews sustained shrapnel wounds and were critically injured. His home is 800 metres away from the frontline.

"There are no [military] checkpoints near my house. It is a residential street and there are even people displaced by fighting or who fled airstrikes in Aleppo city living on the same street," he told Amnesty International.

Two days earlier Mohamad's neighbour's house was hit by a mortar which killed two children.

Another resident of Sheikh Maqsoud told Amnesty International that the shelling intensified in February and that people spent days in their homes unable to leave. She described how her home was attacked in April by what she believed was a weapon fitted with a gas canister.

"All I remember was the walls collapsing and hearing an explosion. We got injured – I had shrapnel in my hands and legs […] We live […] very far away from the frontline. There are no checkpoints close by or any other military points," she said.

Saad, a local pharmacist living in Sheikh Maqsoud, described 5 April 2016 as "the bloodiest day the neighbourhood had witnessed". Shelling from armed groups continued for nine hours straight, he said.

"We counted at least 15 Hamim rockets and more than 100 mortars. The shells were falling everywhere, it was indiscriminate," he said.

Among the weapons used by the armed groups are unguided projectiles which cannot be accurately aimed at specific targets such as mortars and home-made ‘Hamim' rockets, as well as other projectiles fitted with gas canisters which are known as "hell cannons". These weapons are inherently indiscriminate and should not be used in the vicinity of civilian areas.

"By firing imprecise explosive weapons into civilian neighbourhoods the armed groups attacking Sheikh Maqsoud are flagrantly flouting the principle of distinction between civilian and military targets, a cardinal rule of international humanitarian law," said Magdalena Mughrabi.

There are also allegations that members of armed groups attacking Sheikh Maqsoud may have used chemical weapons. A local doctor told Amnesty International that on 7 and 8 April he treated six civilians and two YPG fighters for symptoms including shortness of breath, numbness, red eyes and severe coughing fits. Several of the victims, he said, reported seeing yellow smoke as missiles impacted. A toxicologist consulted by Amnesty International, who viewed video-clips of the apparent attack and reviewed the doctor's testimony, said the patients' symptoms could be the effects of a chlorine attack. A subsequent statement purportedly issued by the leader of the Army of Islam armed group said that a field commander had deployed an "unauthorised weapon" on Sheikh Maqsoud and that he would be held to account.

International community must not tolerate abuses by armed groups

Two of the armed groups attacking YPG forces in Sheikh Maqsoud - Ahrar al Sham and Army of Islam - have sent their own representatives to the UN-brokered negotiations over the Syria conflict in Geneva. The other armed groups have approved other delegates to represent them at the talks.

"The international community must not turn a blind eye to the mounting evidence of war crimes by armed opposition groups in Syria.The fact that the scale of war crimes by government forces is far greater is no excuse for tolerating serious violations by the opposition," said Magdalena Mughrabi.

The terrifying accounts from civilians in Sheikh Maqsoud shed light on the horror of daily life in pockets of the city under constant attack by armed groups that are violating the laws of war with impunity.

"International backers of armed groups operating in Syria must ensure they are not fuelling abuses by transferring weapons that are being used or might be used by armed groups to commit or facilitate serious human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law," said Magdalena Mughrabi.

Amnesty International is calling on the Gulf states, Turkey and others believed to be providing support to armed groups in Syria to immediately block the transfer of arms to armed groups, including logistical and financial support for such transfers, where there is credible evidence that they have committed serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. Only those groups that meet stringent reliability tests which demonstrate that they can act consistently with full respect for international human rights and humanitarian law should be considered for future supply.

Deteriorating humanitarian conditions

As well as being subjected to indiscriminate shelling, civilians in Sheikh Maqsoud are effectively trapped in the area amid a deteriorating humanitarian situation. Continuing clashes have prevented aid from entering Sheikh Maqsoud and people from leaving. Government forces have only allowed civilians requiring medical attention out of the area on the side that they control and have also restricted the entry of medical supplies and food – with only vegetables and bread allowed in. According to residents, the pharmacies in Sheikh Maqsoud are empty, many have shut down.

"We barely have any food left in the neighbourhood," one resident said adding that aid supplies were running out rapidly.

"Sheikh Maqsoud is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis. It is critical that the Syrian government and armed groups urgently allow unfettered access for humanitarian aid and allow civilians who wish to leave the area to do so," said Magdalena Mughrabi.

Background

The armed groups carrying out indiscriminate attacks on the Sheikh Maqsoud area are part of the Fatah Halab military coalition which includes: Islamic Movement of Ahrar ash-Sham, Army of Islam, al-Shamia Front, Brigade of Sultan Murad, Sultan Fatih Battalions, Fa Istaqim Kama Omirt Battalions, Nour al-Deen Zinki Battalions, 13 Brigade, 16 Brigade, 1st Regiment (al-Foj al-Awal) and Abu Omara Battalions.

According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights at least 23 civilians were killed by YPG shelling and sniper attacks in opposition-held areas in Aleppo city between February and April 2016.

Footnote[s]

#fnSubj_1" id="fnSubj_1">1. #txtSubj_1">↑ Another estimate of of the number of Syria's military dead since 2011 is 60,000, which is somewhat less terrible than 80,000. This lower figure, which does not include the larger number of civilian dead, is still roughly the same as the number of Australians who died in that terrible inter-imperialist slaughter of the early twentieth century, otherwise known as the 'First World War'.

The Syrian Arab Army is fighting a war but not against anti government rebels as depicted in the mainstream media, rather its a dirty war against a merciless, depraved and bloodthirsty proxy army funded, armed and supported by the Empire interventionist alliance [US, Turkey, KSA, Jordan, NATO, Israel]. It is now well documented that Turkey is the main rat run, supplying weapons, supplies, chemical weapon ingredients and manpower often via the pseudo aid convoys. Serena Shim reported that WHO trucks were running arms and equipment to “rebels” shortly before she was killed in a mysterious car accident, after receiving death threats."HRW, Amnesty International and assorted Humanitarian offshoots are on a ceaseless crusade against the SAA use of barrel bombs.  Today, Ken Roth even compared the use of Barrel bombs to the destruction caused by the nuclear bomb used on Hiroshima.

[Article first published at https://thewallwillfall.wordpress.com/2015/08/09/syria-welcome-to-hell/]

Barrel bombs are also responsible for all refugees…not our Governments imperialist, murderous plundering of sovereign nations. Then the “delectable” Annie Sparrow [ Roth’s wife] is blaming all destruction in Idlib on the SAA, never a mention of US backed terrorist chemical weapons, hell cannons, mortars, suicide bombers, beheaders, racists and rapists.

The barrel bomb itself is a rudimentary missile, cheap to produce [around $ 200 per bomb depending upon level of TNT].  It has design faults in that the fins on the bomb are still not aerodynamically perfect, despite several changes.  The detonation depends upon the bomb falling vertically on to its nose to trigger the detonator.  It actually has a  relatively high failure rate but even undetonated they are relatively safe as it would take serious nose pressure to detonate. Its supposed advantage is that it can be launched from helicopters and the accusation is always that only the SAA use helicopters in Syrian airspace.  This has been proven untrue.  It has been well documented that Turkey supplied helicopter cover for terrorist forces.  “In the morning attack on Kassab, Syria on March 21, 2014 it was Turkish military helicopters which began the attack.  That morning 88 unarmed civilians were killed, and 13 of those beheaded.  The Turkish military assisted the FSA, Jibhat al Nusra, and Al Qaeda that morning with heavy canon fire and helicopter missiles shot at the Kassab police station.”

Barrel bomb.

It must be remembered that the SAA is fighting a war but not against anti government rebels as depicted in the mainstream media, rather its a dirty war against a merciless, depraved and bloodthirsty proxy army funded, armed and supported by the Empire interventionist alliance [US, Turkey, KSA, Jordan, NATO, Israel].  It is now well documented that Turkey is the main rat run, supplying weapons, supplies, chemical weapon ingredients and manpower often via the pseudo aid convoys.  Serena Shim reported that WHO trucks were running arms and equipment to “rebels” shortly before she was killed in a mysterious car accident, after receiving death threats.

In war, civilian life is lost, it is unavoidable and particularly when terrorists embed themselves into civilian areas, converting civilians into human shields.  Of course this is never mentioned by the Ken Roths and Annie Sparrows.  Neither is it mentioned that the SAA make every feasible effort to evacuate densely populated civilian areas prior to targeting terrorist cells.

Another aspect of this warfare that is consummately ignored are the terrorist mortars and hell cannons that cause extensive structural damage and massacre civilians with a range of up to one mile.  How is it that these HRW “witnesses” on the ground [presumably under a barrage of missiles from both SAA and “rebels”] can categorically state what is causing damage and loss of life.  The unreliable barrel bomb or the ground based and mobile hell cannon units that fire upon civilian areas indiscriminately or even the terrorist dug tunnels, packed with explosives and detonated as a diversion before they attack SAA/NDF positions.

Terrorist forces packing gas canisters with explosives to arm their Hell Cannons

Read Eva Bartlett’s account of terrorist mortar attacks:  The Terrorism We Support in Syria: A First-hand Account of the Use of Mortars against Civilians

This is a first hand account from an Aleppo resident under fire from terrorist mortars and shells.

 ” The people are crying and terrified by the “moderate peaceful opposition”. But we can’t bomb them because the “international community” will blame the Syrian army of using their unprecedented super ultra weapon that is way stronger than a nuclear bomb: Barrel bombs!

The terrorists are using mortars, explosive bullets, cooking-gas cylinders bombs and water-warming long cylinders bombs, filled up with explosives and shrapnel and nails, in what they call “Hell Canon”. (google these weapons or see their YouTube clips. The cooking-gas cylinder is made of steel, and it weighs around 25 kg. Imagine it thrown by a canon to hit civilians? And imagine knowing that it’s full with explosives?… Yet, the media is busy with the legendary weapon of “barrel bombs”! They came to spread “freedom” among Syrians! How dare they say that Syrian army shouldn’t fight them back?

For the first time last night, we smelled gunpowder. The shelling was so extreme to smell gunpowder in the air.

Results were nothing but new innocent victims. I mean, the terrorists failed in gaining new land, or occupying new buildings or quarters. They lost many of their “zombies”, but they don’t count, because they have no families or friends to weep on them like the case with civilians.

I apologize that I’m very upset, mostly not from the attackers and whoever is supporting them in Turkey over here (and Israel and Jordan in the south); but mainly from the liars in that conference in Britain or at the UN , who keep lying and lying, piles and tons of lies, about “freedom” and “barrel bombs” and live in their perfumed and ironed suites and ties, happy with their Ph.D. degrees in stupidity and fooling the world, having no problem in obtaining clean water, electricity, warm food, and the rest of services that we are suffering over here to obtain part of them. Those people travel in 1st class airlines, and live in 5 stars hotels, and ready to come on tv channels to weep upon the “Syrian people” and blame the “regime” while giving a blind eye upon all the terrorists they are funding and supporting. I wish these people, whether they were Arabs or Westerns, Muslims or Christians, Syrians or others… I wish them Hell! And to taste and suffer the same pain they caused to innocent people.

Syrian army had defended the city, and all the lies on the media claiming the terrorists victories are nothing but rumours and gossip.

President Bashar al-Assad had gifted Aleppo yesterday with about $15.5 million as an urgent aid to the city.”

Hell cannon Aleppo

The Hell cannon is a “wildly inaccurate” weapon even according to the Empire one man propaganda band, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.  In Aleppo the SAA is marooned in the centre of the Old Citadel and is fired upon by “rebel” positions scattered throughout the city.  These inaccurate weapons are known to have caused massive damage to ancient Aleppo edifices but have also torn into civilian areas and ripped civilian limbs and bodies into shreds.

Hell cannon Aleppo

“Aleppo city has shrunk to a fifth of its original size, and became so crowded with refugees that fled their areas after they fell into terrorist hands. I walk everyday in the city. I see children, young girls without limbs because of a terrorist mortar  or shrapnel  that targets them randomly and causes  terrible wounds and horrific memories that will never leave them. The girl who lost one leg is standing on her good leg and selling bread, while the little boy who lost one arm is selling chewing gum. Those are the “injured” people who are mentioned fleetingly in the news, just numbers in one line of a report, after each attack from the terrorists. “Injured” doesn’t mean scratched or having a bleeding finger; it means someone lost his eyes or her limbs.”

There is, undeniably, a need to report upon all mortalities as a result of this devastating proxy conflict. However the glaring bias towards the demonization of the legitimate national fighting force, battling a vicious, brutal and mercenary enemy is a despicable insult to the intelligence & courage of the Syrian people and a deliberate obscurantism of truth and the extent of the duplicity and hypocrisy of our own governments.

Responsibility for the refugee crisis, the horrific deaths, rapes and kidnapping of civilians across the Middle East may be laid squarely at their blood soaked feet.

Radio Interview: Rick Sterling: Problems in Amnesty International & Human Rights Watch About Syria. Rick Sterling is the author of Eight problems with Amnesty International’s Report on Aleppo Syria and this interview by Brendan Stone gets him to explain his position in depth. If you thought it was too hard to figure out what is happening in the Middle East and what exactly America is doing there, this interview will clear up a lot.

The interview was on a show with the title, "Unusual Sources, on radio4al.net, which indexes a lot of other good topics. The interviewer was Brendan Stone.

Rick Sterling is a retired electronics / aerospace engineer. He has supported struggles against imperialism and for justice in Africa, Latin America and the Middle East since the early 1970?s and is currently on the boards of #000000;">Mt Diablo Peace Center in Walnut Creek and the #000000;">Task Force on the Americas in Marin.

Editor's introduction: Whilst Amnesty International attracts many well-intentioned people, young and old, the organisation has a disturbing record of taking sides and pushing propaganda that actually benefits the US/NATO war machines and their take-over bids in the Middle East. This side-taking has damped down international critical analysis that might have saved Iraq and Libya from total destruction and which might still save millions of innocent Syrians from having their civilisation erased from the map. Rick Sterling's article, which sets out Amnesty International's record in the Middle East, is a lesson to those who don't look carefully into brand labels, because unfortunately, Amnesty International looks more and more a brand label - but what is it actually selling? Your careful reading of the article inside could make a difference to world peace, currently teetering in the Middle East. - Candobetter.net Editor.

First published at http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/05/eight-problems-with-amnestys-report-on-aleppo-syria/ on May 14th, 2015

A new film, "Compliance," examines "the human desire to follow and obey authority."

Propaganda is important in the inculcation of trust in authority.The Pussy Riot case shows the power of Washington's propaganda even inside Russia itself and reveals that Washington's propaganda has suborned important human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Chatham House, and Amnesty International.

Pussy Riot is described in the western media as a punk rock group, but seems in fact to be a group known as Voina (War) that performs lewd or scandalous unannounced public performances such as the one in the Russian cathedral, a sexual orgy in a museum, and events such as these. (see also http://plucer.livejournal.com/265584.html).

Three of the cathedral performers were apprehended, indicted, tried, convicted of breaking a statutory law, and given two-year prison sentences. The Voice of Russia recently broadcast a discussion of the case from its London studio. Representatives from Human Rights Watch and Chatham House argued that the case was really a free speech case and that the women were political prisoners for criticizing Russian President Putin.

This claim was disingenuous. In the blasphemous performance in the Russian cathedral, Putin was not mentioned. The references to Putin were added to the video posted on the Internet after the event in order to turn a crime into a political protest.

The human rights representatives also argued that the women's conviction could only happen in Putin's Russia. However, the program host pointed out that in fact most European countries have similar laws as Russia's and that a number of European offenders have been arrested and punished even more severely.  Indeed, I recently read a news report from Germany that a copycat group of women had staged a similar protest in support of Pussy Riot and had been arrested. An analysis of these issues is available here: http://mercouris.wordpress.com .

The human rights representatives seemed to believe that Putin had failed the democratic test by failing to stop the prosecution. But a country either has the rule of law or doesn't have the rule of law. If Putin overrides the law, it means Putin is the law.

Whether Washington had a hand in the Pussy Riot event via the Russian protest groups it funds, Hitlery Clinton was quick to make propaganda.  Free expression was threatened in Russia, she said.

Washington used the Pussy Riot case to pay Putin back for opposing Washington's destruction of Syria.  The overlooked legal issue is Washington's interference in internal Russian affairs. The close alignment of human rights organizations with Washington's propaganda hurts the credibility of human rights advocacy.  If human rights groups are seen as auxiliaries of Washington's propaganda, their moral authority evaporates.

The prevalence of the English language, due to the British domination of the world in the 18th and 19th centuries and American domination in the 20th and first decade of the 21st century, makes it easy for Washington to control the explanations. Other languages simply do not have the reach to compete.

Washington also has the advantage of having worn the White Hat in the Cold War. The peoples who were constituent parts of the Soviet empire and even many Russians themselves still see Washington as the wearer of the White Hat. Washington has used this advantage to finance "color revolutions" that have moved countries from the Russian sphere of influence into Washington's sphere of influence.

Tony Cartalucci concludes that "Amnesty International is US State Department Propaganda."  http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32257.htm

Cartalucci notes that  Amnesty's executive director is former State Department official Suzanne Nossel, who conflates "human rights advocacy" with US global hegemony.

Amnesty does seem like an amplifier for Washington's propaganda. Amnesty's latest email to members (August 27) is: "As if the recent trial and sentencing of three members of Pussy Riot wasn't shameful enough, now Russian police are hunting down others in the band. Make no mistake about it: Russian authorities are relentless. Just how far are the Russian authorities willing to go to silence voices of dissent? Tell the Russian government to stop hunting Pussy Riot!"

Amnesty International's August 23 email to its members, "Wake Up World," is completely one-sided and puts all blame for violence on the Syrian government, not on al Qaeda and other outside groups that Washington has armed and unleashed on the Syrian people. Amnesty is only concerned with getting visual images damning to the Syrian government before the public: "We are working to get this damning footage into the hands of journalists around the world. Support our work and help ensure that our first-hand video is seen by influential members of the media."

At least Pussy Riot got a trial. That's more than US Marine, Brandon Raub, a veteran of two tours of combat duty, got. Raub posted on Facebook his opinion that he had been misused by Washington in behalf of an illegal agenda. Local police, FBI, and Secret Service descended upon his home, dragged him out, and on the authority of a social worker, committed him to a mental hospital for observation. http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/citizen-warrior/2012/aug/23/judge-orders-brandon-raub-released-hospital/.

I did not see any protests from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, or Chatham House.  Instead, a Virginia circuit court judge, W. Allan Sharrett, demanded Raub's immediate release, stating that there was no reason to detain and commit Raub except to punish him for exercising his free speech right.

Americans are increasingly punished for exercising free speech rights.  A number of videos of police violence against the occupy movement are available on youtube. They show the goon thug gestapo cops beating women, pepper spraying protestors sitting with their heads bowed, truncheons flashing as American heads are broken and protestors beat senseless are dragged off in handcuffs for peacefully exercising a constitutionally protected right.

There has been more protest over Pussy Riot than over the illegal detention and torture of Bradley Manning or the UK government's threat to invade the Embassy of Ecuador and to drag out WikiLeaks' Julian Assange.

When a Chinese dissident sought asylum in the US embassy in China, the Chinese government bowed to international law and permitted the dissident's safe passage to the US. But "freedom and democracy" Great Britain refuses free passage to Assange who has been granted asylum, and there is no protest from Clinton at the State Department.

In "China's Rise, America's Fall," Ron Unz makes a compelling argument that the Chinese government is more respectful of the rule of law and more responsive to the people it governs than is Washington. http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/chinas-rise-americas-fall/.

Today it is Russia and China, not the UK and Europe, that challenge Washington's claim that the US government is above international law and has the right to overthrow governments of which it disapproves.

The lawlessness that now characterizes the US and UK governments is a large threat to humanity's finest achievement--the rule of law--for which the British fought from the time of Alfred the Great in the ninth century to the Glorious Revolution of the 17th century.

Where are the protests over the Anglo-American destruction of the rule of law?

Why Aren't Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Chatham House on the case?

Paul Craig Roberts is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Paul Craig Roberts Subscribe to the Global Research E-Newsletter

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Amnesty International, which covered for NATO's 2011 invasion of Libya in which at least 30,000 died and another 50,000 were wounded, has also been covering for NATO's current proxy war against Syria with fabrications and distortions. Amnesty's lies can easily be seen by comparing their reports with the facts of the Syrian conflict such as which are to be found on alternate news sites such as Global Research, Veterans Today and landdestroyer.com and even a leading German newspaper.

The embedded Youtube report from the Syrian Girl shows how Amnesty and Avaaz are only demanding that the side to the conflict, which which happens to enjoy the support of the overwhelming majority of Syrians, including Christian Syrians, who face ethnic cleansing by the al-Qaeda Islamist fundamentalist insurgents, ceases violence.

Editorial comment: Another facet of the deceit against Syria, not addressed by the Syrian Girl in this broadcast, is that originating from ostensibly socialist organisations such as the British Workers Liberty group. That group supported NATO's invasion of Libya and is now campaigning for stronger NATO action against Syria. Nonetheless, this broadcast, embedded from Youtube, covers very succinctly and accurately the equivalent criminal damage that is being caused to Syria by phony human right groups.

See also: Michael Moore pushes NATO propaganda against Syria of 28 June, Young Syrian patriot fights corporate media lies against her homeland of 10 May.