Category Archives: Syria

Fears over the Deteriorating Health Condition of Detained Syrian Blogger Hussein Ghrer

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The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression published the following statement today on detained friend and fellow blogger Hussein Ghrer:

The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression expresses concern over Syrian blogger Hussein Ghrer’s disappearance, given that all communication with him has been cut off since the evening of Monday 24/10/2011. No information about him has come to light since that time.

The Center notes that the detained blogger suffers from hypertensive vascular disease and cardiac mitral valve prolapse. For that reason, the Center fears his health is deteriorating, a factor that may pose a direct threat to his life in case he is not taking his medications on a regular basis.

The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression considers the disappearance of blogger Hussein Ghrer a clear case of enforced disappearance, a systematic practice by the Syrian security services under the state of emergency declared in the country since 1963, despite a formal end to the law under the legislative Decree No. 161 dated 04/21/2011.

Syrian blogger Hussein Ghrer, born 04/11/1979, is a computer engineering graduate and works as a programmer. He is a married father of two children who blogs at www.ghrer.net. Many of his blog entries and articles are on freedom issues and Syrian or Arab public affairs. Below are some examples, all in Arabic:

1. Between the National Dialogue in Syria and the Detention of Blogger Anas Maarawi.

2. Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt, Lebanon, Palestine, history and citizenship after 2011

3. Vote against the Violence, and for Citizenship

4. Towards a culture of law: Legislative Decree No. 37 related to crimes of honor, a step forward, but?

5. Towards a culture of law: the Constitution (1)

6. Towards a legal culture: the new labor law -workers Union Shows Concerns but the Ministry Appeals

Syrian blogger Hussein Ghrer was one of the first to blog in solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples against Israel’s wars. He also participated in the “Syrian bloggers for the occupied Golan” campaign.

The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression demands the Syrian authorities to disclose the fate of the Syrian blogger Hussein Greer and release him immediately, or to submit him to a public court that meets the conditions of a fair trial, if a legal justification is available.

The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression considers Ghrer’s forced isolation from the outside world and the concealment of his fate and whereabouts which prevent him from accessing necessary medical, humanitarian, and legal assistance to be a clear violation of the Syrian Constitution and the International Declaration that both guarantee protection to all persons from enforced disappearance. Such systematic policies committed by Syrian authorizes contradicts its obligations towards the state of human rights and the treaties it has signed and ratified.

Syrian Bloggers’ Statement on the Detention of their Fellow Blogger Hussein Ghrer

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Silence doesn´t serve us after today. We don´t want a country where we get imprisoned for uttering a word. We want a country that embraces and welcomes words.
This is the last thing Syrian blogger Hussein Ghrer demanded on his blog, and here we are today blogging with sadness on the news of Hussein´s detention, without knowing why, and where he is now.

Hussein is 30 years old, he is married and has two kids. He participated in several campaigns in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers during the Zionist invasion of Gaza and blogged about the war against Lebanon in 2006. He was well-known for his work with the “Syrian bloggers for the occupied Gholan” and for his solidarity with the victims of “Honor crimes” in the country.Fear of freedom and hatred against all liberties are responsible for Hussein´s detention. Words are Hussein´s weapons, and ours too. We want these weapons to break the silence. We command you to raise your voice for Hussein´s freedom and all prisoners of conscience in Syrian cells.

We demand the immediate disclosure of the fate of our friend and fellow blogger Hussein Ghrer and the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience, since their detention is against the law and universal human rights. We also demand the end of persecution against freedom of speech, because blind force, no matter how strong it is, will stay blind, and will stumble until it falls for good.

Campaign’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FreeHussein
Hashtag on twitter #FreeHussein.

بيان المدونين السوريين حول اعتقال الزميل والصديق حسين غرير

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“لم يعد الصمت ينفع بعد اليوم، لا نريد وطناً نسجن فيه لقول كلمة، بل وطناً يتسع لكل الكلمات. ” آخر ما طالب به المدون السوري حسين غرير على مدونته, وها نحن اليوم ندوّن بأسى خبر اعتقال زميلنا حسين، من دون معرفة أسباب الاعتقال أو المكان الذي اقتيد إليه.

حسين, ذو الثلاثين ربيعاً, متزوج وأب لطفلين, شارك في العديد من حملات التضامن مع الشعب الفلسطينيين في حرب الكيان الصهيوني على غزة, ودوّن عن حرب الكيان ضد لبنان في 2006 وكان من المنظمين البارزين لحملة “مدونون سوريون من أجل الجولان المحتل” منذ سنوات, كما كان أحد المشاركين في حملة اليوم العالمي للتضامن مع ضحايا جرائم الشرف.

رُهاب الحرّية والكره العميق للأحرار هو ما يجعلهم يعتقلون حسين، الكلمة هي سلاح حسين وسلاحنا، ونريدها أن تكون سلاح جميع أنصار الصوت مقابل الصمت. ندعوكم لرفع الكلمة وإعلاء الصوت من أجل حرّية حسين غرير وحرّية جميع معتقلي الرأي وأسرى الضمير في زنزانات سوريا.

نطالب السلطات السوريّة بالكشف عن مصير حسين وجميع أصدقائنا، عرفناهم شخصياً أم ﻻ، من أسرى الرأي والإفراج الفوري عنهم لما في اعتقالهم من مخالفة للقانون ولحقوق الإنسان، ونطالب أيضاً بوقف اﻻستقواء المخزي على أصحاب الرأي والكلمة. فالقوّة العمياء، مهما كبر حجمها، تبقى عمياء: تتعثر بنفسها وتسقط.

حملة المطالبة بحرية الزميل حسين غرير على الفيسبوك.

هاشتاغ حملة حسين #FreeHussein

Syrian Revolution Bookmarks #1

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1- Colonial Origins of the Syrian Security State

Published Tuesday, October 4, 2011 Al-Alkhbar English.

The role of radical lawyers in anti-colonial struggles of the 20th century is obvious and well known. It should thus not be a surprise that revolutionary agitation in Syria was not the work of rebellious peasants and army veterans, but rather the work of intellectuals of a new and radical generation, raised under colonial rule after the end of the Ottoman state. Just as legal structures legitimated French mandate rule, the mandate’s most sophisticated critics used legal arguments to attack the hypocrisy and violence of France’s empire.

2- The Dynamics of the Uprising in Syria

Published Oct 19 2011 on Jadaliyya by Syrian film critic Hassan Abbas.

The uprising embraced the principle of non- sectarianism and called for the preservation of national unity. However, the regime is using sectarian mobilization in a continuous attempt to create sectarian strife, to allow it to achieve the same goals that it is pursuing by divesting the protest movement of its peaceful character.

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“It’s True, I was Made for You”

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So for some reason, people think that my existence in conferences is useful in a way. The so-called “Arab Spring” is getting a lot of NGOs rich, and these NGOs must get “involved” in the revolutions that have swept the Arab-speaking region in 2011. Conferences love bloggers the most. The world still assumes that the revolution in Egypt was made by bloggers, and hence bloggers in Arab-speaking countries must be invited, because they must have some interesting role in their country, and not to mention how journalism always create “heroes” in every “crisis,” the Hollywood-style. I’ve said it many times on this blog and I am saying it again: “online activists are overrated,” and not just in Syria, but all over the MENA region. And the “social media + revolutions” is the stupidest and most irritating topic made by ignorant “experts.”

Anyways, I am now in Spain, attending some geeky conference were geeks talk about stuff I’ve heard so much about but still don’t get them. I am not here for the conference, I am here for Spain. Conferences give you a free ticket, food and a free bed (in Spain we are offered a free tent). This is my first time to Spain and it’s not going well so far for reasons I cannot talk about in a Syria ruled by the current criminal and monstrous regime. Nshalla in a free Syria (in few months so please wait up).

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Rumor Has It, This Revolution is Faceless

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While some on twitter trying to defend Angry Arab’s [shameful and disgusting] positions on the Syrian revolution (which I’ll be responding to soon on this blog), I was asked this question:

I love KABOBfest blog, and I do respect most of its writers, but this tweet above is offensive on two levels.

1- When the Tunisian revolution erupted, everyone here supported it, did it have “faces”? More importantly, must it? Isn’t the most amazing thing about regional revolutions is how it proved “opposition” folks are fucked as well as “intellectuals” and “experts”?

This question @Kabobfest asked kind of missed the whole point of the new era we’re witnessing: it’s people’s time, no leader is needed.

It’s become evident in the Syrian consciousness now that not only the street is leading the revolution, but most importantly, activists and prominent intellectuals that are loved by the revolutionaries cannot contain the people’s movement. For example, Burhan Ghalious is very loved by the Syrian street, he’s cool and all, but if he went on TV and said “hey guys, I think we should stop and start talking to the regime instead.” Not only no one will listen to him, but pretty much it’ll mean he’s fucked for good, after Adonis and Angry Arab.

Who to support? The people. Period.

The person asking this question is living in another continent, politically and historically. Faces are not what people want nor what they’re looking for. They’re rather looking for a political discourse, which is a huge topic right now in Syria.

2-Another reason why this question is offensive: the person asking this question clearly hasn’t done his/her homework.

27 year-old martyr Adnan Al-Dayem

This revolution has so many faces, you’re just not looking close enough.

Few Thoughts on Syrian Twitter, Facebook and the Televised Media

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I am trying to get this blog kicking off. I don’t know if the things I said below make sense, but this is at least my impression on the mentioned topics.

Syrian Twitter

Twitter is rarely known inside Syria. It’s known here that most of the Syrian tweeps are tweeting from diaspora and not from Syria. I have noticed that most people, unfortunately, seek to see the Egyptian model applied on the rest of regional revolutions. But each country has its own interesting peculiarity.

In fact, and if you were following the revolution update right from the start, there has been a huge problem with getting real information out. That’s partly because Syrians online are not the same Syrians protesting offline. But that’s not always the case. For example, @AnonymousSyria and @EdwardeDark are both based in Aleppo. When there are unconfirmed reports published on twitter or Facebook on Aleppo, they’re the ones to usually confirm instantly whether the report is true or false. The case is the same in Homs with @Kinaniyat (even though he’s not in Homs) and with several tweeps based in Damascus. But with other areas like Daraa, Douma, Darayya, Idleb, Latakya, Hama and others, where electricity and communications are regularly cut, it’s hard to get the confirmation quickly and on twitter. One ought to call people by phone to confirm the rumors.

Several activists tried to solve this problem and created Local Coordination Committee. It was the most credible group on Facebook that gets the truth out, but recently its quality is not the same as before. There have been a few false reports and I think the problem is with the lack of volunteers and not dividing the work equally among all members. It’s nonetheless the best source of updates on Syria.

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Fellow Blogger and Friend Anas Maarawi Detained Since July 1st

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You follow Tunisian revolution news, you change your profile picture on Facebook. You start liking all these pages in support of the Tunisian revolution. You start having all these unfamiliar feelings, making new plans, walking in the streets as if you want to share a known secret: our time has begun.

You can reassure yourself now: It’s OK to forget those 5-year plans of immigration. Of starting from scratch somewhere new.

You can start a new beginning right now, at home.

We start calling each other, whispering, to meet and talk.

Then comes depression, mixed with hope, for all these meetings and talking are leading nowhere to what you imagined it would at times like these.

But you meet and talk nonetheless. You even start liking people you always hated, and hate people you always looked up to.

That’s what happened between me and Anas.

In the past few months me and Anas became friends. For those who remember the campaign against homosexuality, it’s what made both of us hate each other, very much.

Then I don’t know what happened, Anas added me on chat and we started talking, we talked a bit about sexuality, and I clarified few misconceptions about queer people, then we started talking about other stuff, stuff that both of us, agreed on.

He told me something I’ll never forget. He became close to my heart.

We went to meet the president’s advisor, Buthaina Shaaban, few weeks before the revolution erupted. He was the sweetest and calmest among us.

Anas is into technical stuff, he also likes Arjileh and malls (which I hate very much).

Anas was detained on Friday July the 1st from a demonstration. I want him back, I want him back to his family and friends, to the Syrian blogging sphere, to his Ardroid site, and to my chat list.

Join our call to free our friend Anas on Facebook here.

Free Anas campaign blog here.

Hashtag on twitter is #FreeAnas.