UN observers today entered the village of Mazraat al-Qubeir to verify
reports of mass killings in the village. After hours of coordination
with local authorities and communities in the area, the observers were
able to access the village at 3:30 local time. Mazraat
al-Qubier was empty of its own residents and thus the observers were
not able to talk to anyone who witnessed Wednesday's horrific tragedy. Upon
the arrival of UN observers villagers from a neighbouring town came and
spoke of what they heard and the relatives they lost.
Bmp tracks were visible in the vicinity. Some homes were damaged by rockets from bmps, grenades and a range of caliber weapons. Inside some of the houses, the walls and floors were splatted with blood. Fire was still burning outside houses and there was a strong stench of burnt flesh in the air.
The
circumstances surrounding this crime are still unclear. The number and
names of those killed are still not confirmed. The observers are still
working to ascertain the facts.
The observers were not able to
enter Mazraat al-Qubeir yesterday despite multiple attempts throughout
the whole day. Their mission was obstructed by three factors: • They are being stopped at Syrian Army checkpoints and in some cases turned back. • Some of our patrols are being stopped by civilians in the area. •
We are receiving information from residents of the area that the safety
of our observers is at risk if we enter village of Mazraat al-Qubeir.
SHOTLIST: 1. Various shots, UNSMIS military observers approaching Syria Al-Kubeir village 2. Close up of UNISMIS observer driving next to a shelled house 3. Close up walls of shelled house with holes and bullets marks 4. Wide, burning smoke outside house 5. Wide, wide hole from shelled house with UNSMIS military observers on the background 6. Wide , various UNSMIS military observers walking inside Al-Kubeir village 7. Med, Inside house , unidentified men showing mattress spattered with blood and bullet holes next on the walls 8. Close up of blood stained mattress 9. Med, Unidentified man holding sheet with some human flesh remains 10. Med, Blood stained floor 11. Close up pool of blood 13. Med, Unidentified man pointing at picture frame of man inside house , then breaks down crying. 14. Wide, shelled house 15. Med, UNSMIS civilian staff going through rubble 16. (Soundbite )(Arabic) Man: "Young
children, infants, my brother,his wife and seven children, the eldest
only in 6th grade all dead. I will show you the blood. They burnt his
house." 17. Wide, of shelled village 18. Med, close up UN personnel gathering evidence on the ground
Qat is a natural amphetamine cultivated in the Horn of Africa. Its leaves are chewed by millions of people around the world, nurturing a business worth billions that connects the Kenyan and Ethiopian highlands to lands as far as the UK, the United States and China.
Labelled as a ‘drug of abuse’ by the World Health
Organisation, Qat has been banned in most European countries for charges
over funding international terrorism. Nonetheless, the qat
trade provides livelihood to millions.
What a huge debt this nation owes to its
"troublemakers." From Thomas Paine to Martin Luther King, Jr., they
have forced us to focus on problems we would prefer to downplay or
ignore. Yet it is often only with hindsight that we can distinguish
those troublemakers who brought us to our senses from those who were
simply troublemakers. Prudence, and respect for the constitutional
rights to free speech and free association, therefore dictate that the
legal system cut all non-violent protesters a fair amount of slack.
These observations are prompted by the
instant lawsuit, in which a putative class of some 700 or so “Occupy
Wall Street” protesters contend they were unlawfully arrested while
crossing the Brooklyn Bridge on October 1, 2011. More narrowly, the
pending motion to dismiss the suit raises the issue of whether a
reasonable observer would conclude that the police who arrested the
protesters had led the protesters to believe that they could lawfully
march on the Brooklyn Bridge’s vehicular roadway.
US District Court Southern District of New York Judge Jed Rakoff Via