Activists: US-born Syrian blogger arrested

[UndertheOcean]

Source: AP

BEIRUT (AP) — Activists say a U.S.-born Syrian blogger has been arrested at the Syrian-Jordanian border while on her way to attend a workshop for advocates of press freedoms in the Arab world.
A statement issued by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression said Razan Ghazzawi was arrested by police and immigration officials at the border. She was on her way to Amman to attend the conference as a representative of the center.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network confirmed her arrest Sunday.
Ghazzawi is a human rights advocate and had been documenting violations and arrests in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad in March.
She is one of the few Syrian activists who blogged under her real name.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/activists-us-born-syrian-blogger-arrested-191937917.html

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As a reminder , this is what happens to most who are arrested in Syria :

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x2425552

And the tragedy continues , I am fully convinced that most Syrians prefer death now rather than returning to the status quo.

[tabatha]

1. It is an all out massacre.

"Reports on Facebook of a determined attempt by the Syrian security forces to destroy winter clothing and blankets "URGENT: Very serious distress call "Please, please, help us spread extensively so that the call can happen to organizations of human rights, the media, to our brothers of the National Council to all organizations and agencies and ...humanitarian rights, our hero Free Army; ... Here's a call from the family of Hama, Homs, Idleb, Al Ma'ari and from the most villages and rural areas occupied by the army .. the cold is driven to kill and kill their children. the thugs and army forces are trained to destroy the blankets and warm clothing to prevent people to meet, and burn them. Some wrap their children newsprint and cardboard. the situation is extremely serious, anyone who managed to get rid of cold see the touch of a disability. We ask you to raise more quick relief organizations."

"Horrifying scene as snipers fire at a car in the town of Bab Amro in Homs. Two children are trapped in the vehicle and a man goes in for the rescue. Many residents of Homs claim that they cannot leave their homes because snipers shoot at anything that moves. Over the last 9 months, the Assad regime in Syria has committed countless crimes against humanity on civilians."

"The conflict in Syria is forcing many families to leave the country in search of safety.
Families who live along the relatively porous Lebanese-Syrian border have fled from their homes, while others injured in the fighting have been receiving medical attention.
Activists say the the Syrian army tried to scare people to prevent them from leaving the country."

All from AJE blogs.

[tabatha]

2. Follow here

http://mar15.info/

[No Elephants]

3. Very cruel irony. Will we protest?

[UndertheOcean]

4. By "we" you mean the US State Department... well :

1) She is not Anglo-Saxon.
2) She moved back to Syria.
3) She is not wealthy.
4) She is progressive.


Maybe I am being too cynical , but I have a feeling the US government won't make a big fuss.

[Arctic Dave]

5. Sorry to hear about her arrest but what is described sounds like what the government authorities

did to OWS.

I hope doesn't try to kid herself that what happens in the US is much better.

[UndertheOcean]

6. Horrendous Torture (water boarding sounds like fun compared to it) , indefinite detention

detainees returned to their families mutilated in body bags , really ? all that happens in the US.

How delusional can you get , IF you are serious.

[TheWraith]

8. +1.

Some people are just unalterably invested in the belief that if the US isn't the worst thing in the entire world, it has to be close.

[Arctic Dave]

11. Sounds like Iraq.

Anyway, I meant to post to someone else.

[tabatha]

7. Have you seen this in the US?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJFd3DfctWE&feature=youtu.be

Nora0315 FreeSyria.
Horrifying. Bodies of 2 men found in #Homs today. Both were detained & showed extreme signs of torture (graphic) youtu.be/iJFd3DfctWE #Syria

Nora0315 FreeSyria.
40 fallen heroes in #Syria today.. 40 lives taken away by Assad.. 40 families destroyed. #SyrianHeroes

Nora0315 FreeSyria.
Horrendous images out of #Syria over the last 9 months. Infants massacred. People’s heads blown apart. Mass graves found. #AssadAbuses


http://twitter.com/#!/search/Nora0315

Yep, it is the same.

[Arctic Dave]

10. Have an armed group threaten to take over the US government and see what happens.

Second, that is not what I was commenting about. I commented about the destruction of property by the government.

What you posted sounds like what we did in Iraq. So yeah, our government is MORE then capable of doing that.

[tabatha]

12. The US has done that to peaceful protesters in the US?

(I was not talking about Iraq. I agree about the atrocities in Iraq.)

And the Syrians were not armed at the outset - they were peaceful protesters who had no weapons.
And the crap was happening to CHILDREN. CHILDREN were tortured and returned to their parents.

[Arctic Dave]

13. And neither is the OWS protest. Look at their treatment.

Imagine if they were to arm themselves or even resist in the least.

[alp227]

9. That's what going undercover is for,

like this other woman journalist (I thought that the one in OP was on PBS NewsHour, turned out a different one) did, see the .

[pampango]

14. Committee to Protect Journalists: Syria detains blogger, press freedom advocate

http://www.cpj.org/2011/12/syria-detains-blogger-press-freedom-advocate.php

The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the detention of journalist and press freedom campaigner Razan Ghazzawi and calls on Syrian authorities to immediately release her. CPJ also urges the government to end the routine harassment and detention of journalists and to make public the names of all detained journalists and any crimes they may be charged with.

Ghazzawi, who also works for the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), was en route to a conference on press freedom in Amman when Syrian border police detained her at the border late on Sunday, according to news reports. The U.S.-born Ghazzawi, 30, devoted much of her online writings to documenting the detention of bloggers and writers in Syria during the 10-month uprising.

"Having for months engaged in routine incarceration and abuse of journalists, Syrian authorities have now detained Razan Ghazzawi in a flagrant attempt to silence the criticism of that very same practice," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North Africa program coordinator. "The government's assertions of imminent media reforms amount to nothing as long as it continues to use detentions as a crude means of censorship."

In August, Syria approved a new media law that purportedly bans the arrest of journalists and defends freedom of expression. At the time, CPJ noted that the new law, lacking any meaningful enforcement mechanisms, amounted to little more than platitudes about media pluralism--a public relations stunt. Since March, CPJ has reported on the detention of numerous journalists. Many were held without authorities disclosing their charges, whereabouts, or condition. After being held under duress for extended periods, many were released without charge. CPJ continues to investigate several of these cases.