Swiss journalist escapes Hama after 10 days!
This isn’t usually what I write about, but this is just amazing and I want to share it. It is written by Gaëtan Vannay. It is a translation by a friend from Radio Swiss Broadcast Corporation’s website:
There are also nine amazing photos he took, which I will reference at the end.
I have since added other posts about Western journalists sneaking into Syria. You can find them here (coming soon).
ARTICLE:
While the Syrian authorities are refusing visas for all media, Gaëtan Vanney, the head of the international rubric, was able to enter the country clandestinely and to spend 10 days at Hama, a city/town located in the center of the country, which has become the heart of the battle against the regime of Bashar Al Assad. Today Hama is totally controlled by the army and cut off from the world. GaëtanVannay is the only foreign journalist who has been able to get on location. [My comment: Anthony Shadid and Moises Saman did, too, but not for that duration and it was in mid-July] He reports the realities of the battle on location.
Sunday morning at 4:30, the “Allah Ouakbar” began to resound throughout the entire ton. This is the cry of alarm of the guards who watch the entries to the town. The mosques took over with, in the background, fire (i.e., shots fired) by the regime’s security force. The inhabitants, those who have been wanting to defend the town, came out onto the street. They were armed, to be sure, with sticks, knives, Molotov cocktails.
The tanks broke through the first provisional barricades that had been set up with construction materials to protect the town. These vehicles advanced, accompanied by security forces — the same forces which are there to protect the regime. They fired in an indiscriminate manner on everything that moved. The casualties amounted to 100 to 120 dead on this one Sunday. The tanks positioned themselves in strategic places in order to shoot at homes and at everything that passed in their target range.
Peaceful protests
Previously, I spent 10 days on location and I could only report peaceful protests. Every evening, some hundreds of people, indeed a 1000, would get together. There were also protests on Friday, after prayer, where several tens of thousands of protesters would get together. They were always festive, and new songs against the regime appeared every day. I never saw a single weapon during these protests. There was no aggression whatsoever. On the contrary, I witnessed a lot of mutual aid and a strong organization that was able to let such protests happen in a calm manner.
The oldest people calmed the youngest. I saw a real desire to lead a peaceful revolution. The rest of the time, life carried on in the most normal way in the world of Hama. Despite the tanks and the security forces that surrounded the town.
Misinformation
The Syrian authorities are using mass misinformation in order to justify their actions. The regime has created a state of “armed bands” that are terrorizing the population in order to justify its actions from last Sunday. Indeed, the only weapons that I saw are those carried by the security forces. The state television too showed images of men in plain clothes shooting on the populace, in a town that was identified as Hama. I haven’t seen such a thing in 10 days on location. Some weapons appeared on Sunday, during the action by the tanks, but the people who went out on the street to protect the town asked that they not be used. I saw this with my own eyes.
In the town, the police regime is very present. I was not able to interview anyone at any time. It is out of the question to use a microphone or a camera. At Al-Rastam, I myself was photographed by the security forces who had been observing me from a building and they stopped the car in which I was traveling. When we spotted them, I had already gotten out, but my driver was interrogated.
Gaëtan Vannay/pc @gaetanvannay
On the article’s page on the right, click on Photos/Le témoignage de Gaëtan Vannay en images and look at the images. (French translation of captions by Google Translate)
1. Sunday, July 31, 2011: in the streets of Hama, the barricades mounted by the inhabitants of Hama will not withstand the tanks and soldiers of the security forces.
2. Sunday, July 31, 2011: Molotov cocktails to fight against the entry of tanks into the city.
3/4. Sunday, July 31, 2011, in the Aude[?]: tanks entered the city. On the barricades, the tires are burning.
5. Friday, July 31, 2011: the demonstration after Friday prayers, before the tanks in Hama.
6/7. Friday, July 29, 2011: Tens of thousands protest peacefully, the regime of Bashar al-Assad on the central square of Hama after the prayer.
8. Slogans against Bashar Assad, for freedom and human rights. (A friend’s translation of the signs): “Whoever’s popularity fails, his system fails. No parties until the system fails.” “Where are the human rights?” “LEAVE! [with Bashar’s photo]” “No to dictators!” Also (thanks @septimius_sever): “you who build a garden and water it with blood…cause all you to grow poisonous roses”
9. The system must go. On the walls of Hama, slogans against Bashar Assad clearly displayed. (A friend’s translation of the signs): “Our only demand: the Regime should fall” “Leave Syria! Without you Syria is more beautiful”
Please help me correct any translation issues.
There are a number of audio reports that Gaëtan did. If you can transcribe those into English, I’ll post them.
Brian Morris @brmorris
Since I posted this, here are some media reports about Gaëtan’s visit to Hama:
Al Jazeera interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0Euag_8CuU
New York Times: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/in-syria-live-fire-and-dueling-narratives/
The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/05/syria-hama-massacre-outrage
Al Jazeera website*: http://english.aljazeera.net/video/middleeast/2011/08/201184164827951693.html
*This was posted before this page was published.
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