Georgië: demonstraties in Tbilisi: alweer onder leiding van VS op weg naar oorlog.....

(On the top right hand side of this page you can choose for a translation in the language of your choice in Google Translate)

In het hieronder opgenomen Substack artikel van Scott Ritter (een echte Oost-Europa deskundige en voormalig wapeninspecteur van de VN) geeft hij aan dat wanneer het westen zo doorgaat met het ophitsen van een deel van de bevolking in Georgië, de kans groot is dat dit land in oorlog zal worden gedompeld.....

De VS en haar slaafse NAVO-partners, inclusief de EU, proberen een 'zachte coup' uit te voeren in Georgië, zodat dit land zich zal afwenden van Rusland en haar lucratieve deals met dat land zal inruilen voor zogenaamde EU welstand >> ofwel het inleveren van heel veel soevereiniteit, plus een verarming van het grootste volksdeel.... 

Het meest smerige is wel dat de VS en de rest van het westen zullen eisen dat Georgië de gebieden Abchazië en Zuid-Ossetië weer onder eigen beheer zal brengen, iets wat Rusland niet zal toestaan, gezien de ervaringen uit 2008 toen het Georgische leger deze gebieden aanviel, gebieden die al vele generaties lang voornamelijk worden bewoond door etnische Russen..... Daarbij werden zelfs Russische troepen vermoord die de vrede moesten bewaren, het grootste deel van deze troepen werden in hun slaap vermoord.... 

Na deze barbaarse misdaad greep Rusland in en vernietigde het Georgische leger, daarover wordt door de reguliere westerse media en het overgrote deel van de westerse politici nog steeds gesteld dat dit een agressie-oorlog was van Rusland, eenzelfde enorme leugen als die over de Russische inval in Oekraïne..... Als het Rusland inderdaad te doen was geweest om gebiedsuitbreiding had het de hoofdstad Tbilisi ingenomen wat het zonder probleem had kunnen doen, maar niet deed, het Russische leger heeft alleen de door etnische Russen bewoonde gebieden veilig gesteld en doet dat tot op de dag van vandaag zoals je ongetwijfeld al had begrepen.  

Tbilisi (foto: Wikipedia)

Als met de oorlog in Oekraïne was ook het westen in 2008 de grote oorlogshitser op de achtergrond en gebood de Georgische regering om onderhandelingen over Abchazië en Zuid-Ossetië te stoppen en deze gebieden aan te vallen.... 

Middels wetgeving op buitenlandse inmenging, wil men het opjutten van de bevolking tegengaan. Het gaat om eenzelfde soort wetgeving als de VS heeft geïntroduceerd onder de noemer Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), een wet die dateert uit 1938. De VS en andere westerse landen jutten de boel op in Georgië, om zo de bevolking op te zetten tegen de vriendschappelijke banden die de grootste (democratische) partij van het land onderhoudt met Rusland, banden die zeer voordelig zijn voor het Georgische volk >> al zou het alleen maar om leveringen van gas gaan, geeft dit het land ongelofelijk veel voordeel op landen die gas importeren uit andere landen..... Dit opjutten tegen de zittende regering doet men via NGO's die worden gesubsidieerd door landen of organisaties uit het buitenland, waarbij de VS vooraan staat, maar dat zal de regelmatige lezer van dit blog waarschijnlijk niet verbazen.

Nogmaals: het is een zelfde weg die de  VS heeft gevolgd in Oekraïne, al heeft de VS middels terreurorganisatie CIA daar middels 5 miljard dollar in 2013 een opstand georganiseerd met de gelukte opzet om een coup te kunnen plegen tegen de democratisch gekozen president Janoekovytsj die dan ook in 2014 plaatsvond.... Janoekovytsj had een uitstekend handelsverdrag gesloten met Rusland, wat het land heel veel voordeel zou hebben opgeleverd, maar de VS en haar slaafse NAVO-partners wilden dat Oekraïne een zelfde soort verdrag met de EU sloot en zich bij die ondemocratische organisatie zou aansluiten, een deelname die de Oekraïense bevolking veel ellende zal bezorgen en dat gaat dan ook gebeuren als Oekraïne toetreedt tot de EU (wat overigens ook ons een bak belastinggeld zal kosten).....

Vannacht op CBC Radio 1 en vanmorgen in het NOS Radio1 Journaal (rond 8.24 u.) berichten over de demonstratie van gisteravond in de Georgische hoofdstad Tbilisi. Op Radio1 had men contact met de NOS correspondent voor Rusland Geert Groot Koerkamp, een 'geheel onafhankelijke journalist' (niet dus). Hij sprak met gespleten tong over de demonstratie in Tbilisi, zoals gezegd wetgeving tegen subsidiëring van NGO's die zich verzetten tegen banden met Rusland en deze zullen ontdoen van hun subsidiegelden.... De totaal anti-Russische correspondent Koerkamp stelde dat die voorgenomen wetgeving een groot gevaar vormt voor NGO's die afhankelijk zijn van buitenlandse subsidies..... Met geen woord sprak hij over dezelfde wetgeving in de VS (FARA) die in 2017 weer uit de kast werd getrokken door de Trump administratie, nee hem horend zou dit een Russische wetgeving zijn (terwijl Rusland eenzelfde wet aannam nadat de VS deze gebruikte tegen de mediaorganen RT en Sputnik....)

Koerkamp gaf een voorbeeld van wat de door hem gewenste NGO's willen bereiken in Georgië >> volgens hem onder andere het bevorderen van de democratie in het land.... ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Georgië is een democratie sukkel!! Hij bedoelde dan ook de democratie zo aanpassen dat partijen als Georgian Dream (de regerende en verreweg grootste politieke partij in dat land) niet meer mogen deelnemen aan verkiezingen, immers deze partij is een hele slag te groot voor de oppositie..... Het is al met de partij van de Oekraïense president Janoekovytsj die veel te groot was in het oog van de VS en die dan ook werd verboden na de coup van 2014, zoals alle oppositiepartijen werden verboden die achter goede banden met Rusland stonden..... 

Oekraïne is dan ook geen democratie meer, de meeste oppositiepartijen van voor 2014 zijn verboden, verkiezingen worden niet meer gehouden ofwel nu zit Zelensky zelfs helemaal zonder mandaat (al had hij dat in feite al niet gezien het verbod op veel politieke partijen), vakbonden zijn verboden, het is verboden om je mening te uiten als je kritiek hebt op dictator Zelensky en zijn corrupte boevenbende en het is verboden om te verklaren dat je achter de etnische Russen in het land staat en/of achter Rusland staat..... Nog even en ook Russisch en Hongaars spreken wordt verboden in Oekraïne, dat heeft de Zelensky junta al bekend gemaakt....

Lees het prefecte overzicht dat Scott Ritter geeft over Georgië en zegt het voort, daar de kans groot is dat dit land door het westen wordt gedwongen een volgende oorlog met Rusland uit te vechten.... En let op de zwaar gekleurde eenzijdige berichtgeving over Georgië in de westerse massamedia, maar trap in godsnaam niet nog eens in de zwaar anti-Russische propaganda, die nu al zover gaat dat men ook hier de bevolking waarschuwt voor een oorlog met dat land.... Een oorlog waar de NAVO-lidstaten met hun handelen om smeken en dat onder 'bezielende leiding' van de grootste terreurentiteit ter wereld >> de VS, het land dat alleen deze eeuw al verantwoordelijk is voor de moord op meer dan 5 miljoen mensen!!

(als je het Engels niet machtig bent, zet dan de tekst om in Nederlands met behulp van Google translate dat je rechts bovenaan deze pagina ziet staan, klik eerst in het menu op 'Engels', waarna je weer kan klikken op die vertaalapp, daarna zie je bovenaan in het menu 'Nederlands' staan >> klik daarop en de hele tekst staat vervolgens in het Nederlands, de vertaling is van een redelijk goede kwaliteit.)

Dream, Georgia…Dream

Scott Ritter

April 25, 2024.

Pro-European Union Georgians protest in Tbilisi (2023)

For the Georgian people, Georgia Dream’s second try at passing the foreign agent registration law proved the charm.

It is a battle of the “playbooks.”

On the one side you have the so-called “Russian playbook,” where an authoritarian government uses threats of violence and oppression to intimidate a population into passivity, denying the people any voice when it comes to the shaping of society and defining the soul of a nation.

On the other hand, there is the “American playbook,” where secret money buys misplaced loyalty, allowing fantasy-laced scenarios of wealth and prosperity to drown out the practical matters of sovereignty, where false promises of freedom shout down the voices who cry out in defense of traditional values.

Whose playbook is in play all depends on which side of the argument one resides.

Today, the streets of Tbilisi, the capital of the southern Caucasus nation of Georgia, are jammed with thousands of protesters lamenting the probable passage of a bill—"on transparency of foreign influence”—they call “the Russian law.”

Thirteen months ago, similar crowds of angry young Georgians, many of whom carried the blue and gold banner of the European Union alongside the red and white flag of the Republic of Georgia, pressured the Georgian Parliament to withdraw from consideration the initial draft of this law, which would require non-governmental organizations to declare the sources of their funding, and mandated that those organizations that took in more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign sources register as foreign agents.

Scott will discuss this article and answer audience questions on Ep. 154 of Ask the Inspector.

Similar Russian legislation passed in 2012 (and subsequently modified in 2019 and 2021) proved to be the death knell for US, UK, and EU-funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that had spent more than two decades trying to, according to their leaders, shape Russian civil society along western lines.

But the Russian government saw things differently. These same NGOs, the Russian government maintained, were involved in fomenting a soft-power coup by tearing down public confidence in government while simultaneously promoting so-called political opposition that, by receiving money and instructions from abroad, was less a product of Russian democracy, and more a tool of malign foreign interests.

The Russian legislation succeeded in its objective—with few exceptions, those political oppositionists who took foreign money were rooted out and expelled from Russian political life.

This was the “Russian law.”

For the leaders of the ruling Georgian political party, Georgia Dream, the failure to pass the foreign registration legislation represented more than a political setback—it opened the door for a renewed push by the US and EU to seize control of the Georgian socio-political agenda, paving the way for pro-EU/NATO political parties to defeat Georgia Dream in elections scheduled for October 2024.

In short, the US and EU were succeeding in accomplishing in Georgia—a soft-power coup—what they failed to accomplish in Russia.

Because Russia passed the “Russian law.”

The narrative painted by the pro-EU/NATO Georgians was one that blames Russia for all that ails Georgia today, and portrays the West (i.e., the US/EU/NATO) as Georgia’s saviors. But a quick review of the relevant history provides a completely different reality.

For most of the 20th Century Georgia enjoyed peace and prosperity as part of the Soviet Union, where Georgians lived in harmony with their Russian neighbors.

In 1991 Georgian nationalists led Georgia down a path of national suicide, prematurely declaring independence from the Soviet Union, and foregoing the normalization of relations with Russia in the false pursuit of western prosperity.

The West ignored Georgia.

In 1991-92 Georgian nationalists instigated a Civil War in South Ossetia which tore Georgia apart, leading to civil conflict and ethnic cleansing.

Russia intervened as a peacekeeper.

The West ignored Georgia.

In 1992-93 Georgian nationalists instigated a Civil War in Abkhazia which led to the loss of that territory, the deaths of tens of thousands, and more than 250,000 Georgians ethnically cleansed.

Russia offered to intervene to save Abkhazia. The Georgian government rebuked the Russian offer.

The West ignored Georgia.

In 1993 Georgian nationalists started a Civil War that threatened to tear Georgia apart.

Russia offered to intervene to save Georgia.

Georgia accepted the Russian offer.

Georgia was saved.

The West ignored Georgia.

In 2003 the West pushed Georgia to overthrow its government (the so-called “Rose Revolution”), tempting Georgia with promises of EU and NATO membership.

In 2003 the West had Georgia deploy troops to Iraq.

In 2004 the West had Georgia deploy troops to Afghanistan.

In both conflicts Georgian boys were killed and wounded fighting in a war that had nothing to do with Georgia, and everything to do with preserving western hegemony.

The Russians did nothing to Georgia.

In 2008 Russia was engaged in active negotiations with Georgia for the return of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

That same year the West ordered the Georgian government to stop negotiations, and instead use the Georgian army, which the West had helped build, to invade South Ossetia.

Georgia invaded, killing Russian peacekeepers in their sleep.

Russia counterattacked, destroying the Georgian army.

Russia stopped short of taking Tbilisi, which was left undefended.

The West did nothing to help Georgia.

In 2014 the West provoked a war with Russia in Ukraine.

The West promised to stand by Ukraine forever.

The West promised Ukraine EU and NATO membership.

In 2022 Russia counterattacked.

Ukraine is being destroyed.

There is no EU membership,

There is no NATO membership.

There is only death and destruction.

In 2024 the West is trying to buy Georgian politicians in an effort to open a second front against Russia.

The West offers EU membership.

The West offers NATO membership.

Russia offers peace and co-prosperity.

Georgia, the choice is yours:

A path of peace and prosperity that leads through Moscow.

Or a path of war and destruction that leads through Brussels.

Choose wisely.

It appears that the ruling Georgia Dream Party is heeding this advice. On April 17 the Georgian Parliament adopted the bill on transparency of foreign influence in its first reading with 83 votes in favor and none against. According to Georgian parliamentary procedure, the bill was sent to committee, where each paragraph will be considered, and the opportunity for debate and amendment provided. This process takes about two weeks, after which the bill will be brought up for reading again and voted on.

Parliamentary wisdom dictates that one doesn’t bring up a vote on a controversial issue unless the outcome is predetermined.

Georgia Dream has a super majority in the Georgian Parliament, meaning that it can override a Presidential veto (and one is expected).

The only way to prevent the bill on transparency of foreign influence from becoming law is if enough Georgian parliamentarians are intimidated by either the threat of violent protests at home, or political sanctions abroad.

The Georgian Prime Minister has made sure that there is sufficient police power present to hold in check the emotions of the opposition protestors.

And the threat of EU sanctions is mitigated by the reality that awaits Georgia Dream and the Georgian nation if they are not able to pass the foreign influence bill—a war with Russia, and all that entails.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze emphasized this reality in a statement made to the Georgian people about the importance of the foreign influence bill. “If the NGOs had achieved what they were actively trying to do between 2020 and 2022,” Kobakhidze said, “which was to change the Government through a revolution, today Georgia would have been in a worse situation than Ukraine, which means that both peace [in the country] and the European integration would have been left behind.”

Kobakhidze went on the explain that, “The bill is primarily aimed at protecting Georgia from Ukrainization, strengthening the sovereignty and ensuring [the country’s] stable development, which is a necessary condition for Georgia’s integration into the European Union. Avoiding Ukrainization is a necessary condition for Georgia’s integration into the European Union, and this is the main goal of this bill.”

The Ukrainian government decried Kobakhidze’s use of the term “Ukrainization,” but there simply isn’t a more apt word available to describe the fate of Georgia should the foreign influence bill fail to become law.

Opposition parties, such as Droa! (“It’s Time!”), have accepted money, in violation of the Georgian Constitution and Georgian law, from foreign sources—Elene Khoshtaria, the head of Droa!, which operates both as a political party and an NGO, recently admitted receiving money from the European Foundation for Democracy (EFD), an off-shoot of the US-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a State Department-supported NGO. The EFD is largely funded by State Department grants, grants from the FDD, and fundraising done by the FDD on behalf of the EFD. In short, the EFD is a money-laundering front for US government-directed funds used to promote regime change in the name of democracy.

If the FDD were operating in the United States as an adjunct of a foreign nation, it would be required to register under the US foreign agent registration act, or FARA.

But the demonstrators gathered outside the Georgian parliament do not decry the “American law,” which would be an apt description of the bill before the Georgian Parliament, but rather the “Russian law,” a fictional construct drawn from their own propagandistic imaginations.

The battle lines have been drawn. The future of the Georgian nation is on the line. Right now, the Georgian government appears to be committed to making this foreign registration legislation law. All that is needed now is for enough Georgian politicians to hold firm to their principles, which argue against Georgia taking the dark path toward “Ukrainization.”

Georgians need to avoid the nightmare of war, and instead dream of peace.

Dream, Georgia…dream.

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Voor de bezoekers die Engels niet kunnen lezen: voor de niet op dit blog gepubliceerde artikelen in het Engels onder de links, moet je zelf even een vertaalapp zoeken op het web (bij sommige browsers krijg je onmiddellijk een pop up met de vraag of het artikel moet worden vertaald), er zijn gratis apps van redelijke kwaliteit die dit kunnen (soms in 2 of of meer delen >> bij lange artikelen).

Visitors who can't read Dutch for the articles under the links other than from this blog: on the web you can find free translation apps with reasonable quality, which can do the job (sometimes you have to do it 2 or more times >> with lengthy articles). Some browsers give a pop up with the question if you want a translation.

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Zie ook: 'Duitsland op oorlogspad tegen Rusland: permanente Duitse basis in Baltisch gebied en pure oorlogshitserij van bondskanselier Scholz' En zie de berichten onder de links in dat artikel!! Verder ook met de redenen waarom Rusland Oekraïne is binnengevallen, redenen die men in het westen niet alleen verzwijgt maar in een aantal landen zelfs verbiedt, zoals in Frankrijk, Duitsland en Groot-Brittannië, waar journalisten die daarover hebben bericht worden vervolgd en geen gebruik meer kunnen maken van hun bankrekening (wat ons straks ook wacht met de digitale EU pas en de digitale euro, als we kritiek hebben op de regering, of op antidemocratische maatregelen zoals die tijdens de COVID-hysterie werden genomen....)....

'Georgië: de VS bezig met de herhaling van de Oekraïne truc' (13 maart 2023) De video's in dit bericht zijn intussen gecensureerd door YouTube >> tja je kan het westerse publiek natuurlijk niet de waarheid laten zien, veronderstel..... (het is alsof we al in een dictatuur leven....) 

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Wat betreft de oorlog in Oekraïne zie: 'Oekraïense leger misbruikt geestelijk gehandicapten als militairen: hoe lang nog blijft het westen deze fascistenstaat steunen' (9 april 2024) Zie ook de berichten onder de links in die blogpost!!

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Let op!! De ruimte om reacties weer te geven werkt niet altijd. Als je commentaar hebt en het lukt niet op de normale manier, doe dit dan via het mailadres trippleu@gmail.com, ik zal deze dan opnemen onderaan in het bewuste artikel, althans als je geen geweld predikt, voorts plaats ik jouw reactie ook al staat deze diametraal tegenover dat bericht. Alvast mijn dank voor jouw eventuele reactie, Willem.

Bolsonaro 8 maanden president: nu al 84% meer bosbranden in het Amazonewoud......

Bolsonaro stelde het al in zijn verkiezingscampagne, wat hem betreft worden de longen van de wereld vernietigd, ofwel vrijbaan voor commerciële activiteiten in het Amazonewoud.......

Fascist Bolsonaro is sinds 1 januari dit jaar aan het bewind en het aantal bosbranden in het Amazonewoud is in die tijd tijd gestegen tot 74.155, een stijging met 84%..... NASA stelt dat het aantal branden en de daarmee gepaard gaande CO2 uitstoot in 2016 hoger was, echter het 'bosbrandseizoen' in Brazilië is nog maar net begonnen....... Je behoeft geen wetenschapper te zijn om te bedenken dat dit samen met alle andere bosbranden wereldwijd, de klimaatverandering onevenredig hard aanjaagt, niet in de laatste plaats door het vrijkomen van CO2 en methaangas, waar de laatste één van de sterkste broeikasgassen op onze kleine aarde is.... Ook in Indonesië worden jaarlijks grote gebieden met oerwoud in brand gestoken.....* (om over de geproduceerde luchtvervuiling door die branden nog maar te zwijgen......)

BNR's 'buitenlanddeskundige', Bernard Hammelburg zei vanmorgen op die zender dat er niets veranderd is wat betreft het aantal bosbranden in Brazilië, volgens deze levende oliebol dus veel tamtam om niets......

Bolsonaro heeft het gore lef om te stellen dat ngo's de branden hebben aangestoken, terwijl hij zoals gezegd zelf al bij de verkiezingen aangaf het Amazonewoud open te willen stellen voor commerciële activiteiten, waarbij hij stelde dat het een zaak van Brazilië is en dat het geen probleem is als het grootste deel van het Amazonewoud in Brazilië zou verdwijnen.........

Uiteraard zijn de oorspronkelijke volkeren die in het Amazonewoud leven nu helemaal de klos, eerder werden ze al op fikse schaal uitgemoord door investeerders en boeren die stukken oerwoud kapten voor hout of in brand staken om daar bijvoorbeeld soja te telen.......

Benieuwd of Nederland Brazilië nog steeds steunt ondanks het fascistische bewind, het zou me alweer niet verbazen, immers: 'Geld geht über alles.......'

Vergeet voorts niet: 'Halve graad opwarming van de aarde zal 150 miljoen mensen het leven kosten......'

* Dit nog naast de enorme bos- en veenbranden in het Arctisch gebied, waar in Siberië enorme gebieden in brand staan, met rookvorming die bijna zo groot is als het totale EU gebied......

Zie ook:
'Amazonegebied in brand, Black Rock verdient daar vele miljoenen mee'

'Braziliaanse natuurbeschermer vermoord door illegale houthakkers'

'Boris Johnson (Britse premier) liegt keihard dat de branden in Amazonegebied hem aan het hart gaan'

'Het beschermen van de planeet is verworden tot een misdaad, veelal bestraft met moord'

'Niet eerder getoonde satellietfoto's laten zien dat grote delen van Arctisch gebied in brand staan >> klimaatkantelpunt gepasseerd'

'Grote Arctische gebieden in Siberië, Groenland, Canada en Alaska branden: klimaatkantelpunt nadert met rasse schreden'

''Methaangasboer' ontsnappend uit de Oost-Arctische Plaat kan de wereld zoals wij die kennen vernietigen'

'Aantal CO2 deeltjes in de atmosfeer op voor de mens nooit eerder vertoond hoog niveau'

'Cruiseschip Zuiderdam urenlang tegengehouden van afvaren door milieuactivisten'

'Australië geeft toestemming tot uitbaten enorm grote kolenmijn' (zie ook de links in dat bericht over het Grote Barrièrerif)

'Klimaatverandering: inwoners Bratsk (Siberië) stikken in de rook van bosbranden.......'

'Apocalyptisch smeltproces in (ant)arctisch gebied, na alweer een jaar dat tot de 3 warmste zal worden gerekend.......'

Amnesty claimt zonder bewijs 13.000 moorden middels massa executies in 'gevangenis Assad.........'

Amnesty International maakte vorige week bekend, dat in de gevangenissen 'van Assad' mensen zijn vermoord, middels massa executies. Echter het bewijs voor die zaken ontbreekt.....

Amnesty ontpopt zich de laatste jaren meer en meer als een organisatie, die het uiterst agressieve neokolonialisme van de VS (met de NAVO aan de hand), steunt....... AI is een organisatie die ook op subsidie van overheden draait, dan wel bevolkt wordt door aankomende politici of ex-politici, tja, wiens brood men eet of at.........

Waar was AI toen de 'gematigde', door het westen gesteunde terreurgroepen tekeer gingen op de straten en in de huizen van de bewoners in Oost-Aleppo?? Een terreur waarvan AI allang de getuigenissen had kunnen optekenen in Oost-Aleppo en de vluchtelingenkampen........

Afgelopen woensdag op Information Clearing House het volgende artikel over de beschuldigingen van Amnesty International, geschreven door Moon of Alabama (onder het artikel kan u klikken voor een 'Dutch' vertaling, dit neemt wel wat tijd in beslag):

Amnesty Claims Mass Executions In Syria, Provides Zero Proof

By Moon Of Alabama

February 07, 2017 "Information Clearing House" - "Moon Of Alabama" -A new Amnesty International report claims that the Syrian government hanged between 5,000 and 13,000 prisoners in a military prison in Syria. The evidence for that claim is flimsy, based on hearsay of anonymous people outside of Syria. The numbers themselves are extrapolations that no scientist or court would ever accept. It is tabloid reporting and fiction style writing from its title "Human Slaughterhouse" down to the last paragraph.

But the Amnesty report is still not propagandish enough for the anti-Syrian media. Inevitably only the highest number in the range Amnesty claims is quoted. For some even that is not yet enough. The Associate Press agency, copied by many outlets, headlines: Report: At least 13,000 hanged in Syrian prison since 2011:

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian authorities have killed at least 13,000 people since the start of the 2011 uprising in mass hangings at a prison north of Damascus known to detainees as "the slaughterhouse," Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday.

How does "at least 13,000" conforms to an already questionable report which claims "13,000" as the top number of a very wide range?

Here is a link to the report.

Before we look into some details this from the "Executive Summary":

From December 2015 to December 2016, Amnesty International researched the patterns, sequence and scale of violations carried out at Saydnaya Military Prison (Saydnaya). In the course of this investigation, the organization interviewed 31 men who were detained at Saydnaya, four prison officials or guards who previously worked at Saydnaya, three former Syrian judges, three doctors who worked at Tishreen Military Hospital, four Syrian lawyers, 17 international and national experts on detention in Syria and 22 family members of people who were or still are detained at Saydnaya.

On the basis of evidence from people who worked within the prison authorities at Saydnaya and witness testimony from detainees, Amnesty International estimates that between 5,000 and 13,000 people were extrajudicially executed at Saydnaya between September 2011 and December 2015.

There are several difficulties with this report.

1.           Most of the witnesses are identified as opposition figures and "former" officials who do not live in Syria. Some are said to have been remotely interviewed in Syria but it is not clear if those were living in government or insurgent held areas. Page 9:  

The majority of these interviews took place in person in southern Turkey. The remaining interviews were conducted by telephone or through other remote means with interviewees still in Syria, or with individuals based in Lebanon, Jordan, European countries and the USA.

It is well known that the Syrian insurgency is financed with several billion dollars per years from foreign state governments. It runs sophisticated propaganda operations. These witnesses all seem to have interests in condemning the Syrian government. Not once is an attempt made to provide a possibly divergent view. Amnesty found the persons it questioned by contacting international NGOs like itself and known foreign financed opposition (propaganda) groups:

These groups include Urnammu for Justice and Human Rights, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, and the Syrian Institute for Justice and Accountability.

2.         The numbers Amnesty provides are in a very wide range. None are documented in lists or similar exhibits. They are solely based on hearsay and guesstimates of two witnesses:

People who worked within the prison authorities at Saydnaya told Amnesty International that extrajudicial executions related to the crisis in Syria first began in September 2011. Since that time, the frequency with which they have been carried out has varied and increased. For the first four months, it was usual for between seven and 20 people to be executed every 10-15 days. For the following 11 months, between 20 and 50 people were executed once a week, usually on Monday nights. For the subsequent six months, groups of between 20 and 50 people were executed once or twice a week, usually on Monday and/or Wednesday nights. Witness testimony from detainees suggests that the executions were conducted at a similar – or even higher – rate at least until December 2015. Assuming that the death rate remained the same as the preceding period, Amnesty International estimates that between 5,000 and 13,000 people were extrajudicially executed at Saydnaya between September 2011 and December 2015.

From "between x and y", "once or twice a week", "suggests" and "assuming" the headline numbers are simply extrapolated in footnote 40 in a  back-of-the-envelope calculation; "If A were true then B would be X":

These estimates were based on the following calculations. If between seven and 20 were killed every 10-15 days from September to December 2011, the total figure would be between 56 people and 240 people for that period. If between 20 and 50 were killed every week between January and November 2012, the total figure would be between 880 and 2,200 for that period. If between 20 and 50 people were killed in 222 execution sessions (assuming the executions were carried out twice a week twice a month and once a week once a month) between December 2012 and December 2015, the total figure would be between 4,400 and 11,100 for that period. These calculations produce a minimum figure of 5,336, rounded down to the nearest thousand as 5,000, and 13,540, rounded down to the nearest thousand as 13,000.

3.         I will not go into the details of witness statements on which the report is build. They seem at least exaggerated and are not verifiable at all. In the end it is pure hearsay on which Amnesty sets it conclusions. One example from page 25:

“Hamid”, a former military officer when he was arrested in 2012, recalled the sounds he heard at night during an execution:
"There was a sound of something being pulled out – like a piece of wood, I’m not sure – and then you would hear the sound of them being strangled… If you put your ears on the floor, you could hear the sound of a kind of gurgling. This would last around 10 minutes… We were sleeping on top of the sound of people choking to death. This was normal for me then."

A court might accept 'sound of "I'm not sure" "kind of gurgling" noise through concrete' as proof that a shower was running somewhere. But as proof of executions?

Of all the witnesses Amnesty says it interviewed only two, a former prison official and a former judge, who describe actual executions (page 25). From the wording of their statements it is unclear if they have witnessed any hangings themselves or just describe something they have been told of.

4.       The numbers of people Amnesty claims were executed are - at best - a wild ass guess. How come that Amnesty can name only very few of those? On page 30 of its report it says:

Former detainees from the red building at Saydnaya provided Amnesty International with the names of 59 individuals who they witnessed being taken from their cells in the afternoon, being told that they were being transferred to civilian prisons in Syria. The evidence contained in this report strongly suggests that in fact, these individuals were extrajudicially executed.

and:

Former prison guards and a former prison official from Saydnaya also provided Amnesty International with the names of 36 detainees who had been extrajudicially executed in Saydnaya since 2011.

Those 95, some of whom may have been "executed" - or not, are the only ones Amnesty claims to be able to name. That is less than 1-2% of the reports central claim of 5,000 to 13,000 executed. All those witnesses could provide no more details of persons allegedly killed?

Amnesty acknowledges that its numbers are bogus. Under the headline "Documented Deaths" on page 40 it then adds additional names and numbers to those above but these are not from executions:

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 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. In the course of the research for this report, Amnesty International obtained the names of 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

The "Syrian Network for Human Rights" (SNHR) is a group in the UK probably connected to British foreign intelligence and with dubious monetary sources. It only says:

SNHR funds its work and activities through unconditional grants and donations from individuals and institutions.

Now that is true transparency.

SNHR is known for rather ridiculous claims about casualties caused by various sides of the conflict. It is not know what SNHR qualifies as civilians - do these include armed civil militia? But note that none of the mostly civilians SNHR claims to have died in the prison are said to have been executed. How is it possible that a organization frequently quoted in the media as detailed source of casualties in Syria has no record of the 5,000 to 13,000 Amnesty claims were executed?

5.        The report is padded up with before/after satellite pictures of enlarged graveyards in Syria. It claims that these expansions are a sign of mass graves of government opponents.  But there is zero evidence for that. Many people have died in Syria throughout the war on all sides of the conflict. The enlargement, for example, of the Martyrs Cemetery south of Damascus (p.29/30) is hardly a sign of mass killing of anti-government insurgents. Would those be honored as martyrs by the government side.

6.       The report talks of "extrajudicially executed" prisoners but then describes (military) court procedures and a necessary higher up approval of the judgement. One may not like the laws that govern the Syrian state but the courts and the procedures Amnesty describes seem to follow Syrian laws and legal processes. They are thereby - by definition - not extrajudicial 

7.        In its Executive Summary the Amnesty report says that "Death sentences are approved by the Grand Mufti of Syria and ...". But there is no evidence provided of "approval" by the Grand Mufti in the details of the report. On page 19 it claims, based on two former prison and court officials:

"The judgement is sent by military post to the Grand Mufti of Syria and to either the Minister of Defence or the Chief of Staff of the Army, who are deputized to sign for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and who specify the date of the execution".

It is very doubtful that the Syrian government would "deputize" or even inform the Grand Mufti in cases of military or criminal legal proceedings. Amnesty International may dislike the fact but Syria is a secular state. The Grand Mufti in Syria is a civil legal authority for some followers of the Sunni Muslim religion in Syria but he has no official judiciary role. From the 2010 Swiss dissertation Models of Religious Freedom: Switzerland, the United States, and Syria quoted here:

In Syria a mufti is a legal and religious expert (faqih and ‘alim) who has the power to give legally non-binding recommendations (sing. fatwa, pl. fatawa) in matters of Islamic law. 

...
Queries which are either sought by a shari‘a judge or private individuals regard the personal status laws of the Muslim community only. In the Arab Republic fatawa are given neither to public authorities nor to individual civil servants, ..

Neither the Syrian constitution nor any Syrian law I can find refers to a role of the Grand Mufti in any military or civil criminal court proceding. The Amnesty claim "approved by the Grand Mufti of Syria"is not recorded anywhere else. It is very likely false. The Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, is a moderate, recognized and accomplished scholar. He should sue Amnesty for this slander.

Syrian law includes a death penalty for certain severe and violent crimes. Before 2011 actual executions in Syria were very rare, most death sentences were commuted. Allegedly the laws were amended in late 2011, after the war in Syria had started, to include the death penalty as possible punishment for directly arming terrorists.

It is quite likely that the Syrian military and/or civil judiciary hand out some death penalties against captured foreign and domestic "rebels" it finds them guilty of very severe crimes. It is fighting the Islamic State, al Qaeda and other extreme groups well known for mass murder and other extreme atrocities. It is likely that some of those sentences are applied. But the Syrian government has also provided amnesty to ten-thousands of "rebels" who fought the government but have laid down their arms.

The claims in the Amnesty report are based on spurious and biased opposition accounts from outside of the country. The headline numbers of 5,000 to 13,000 are calculated on the base of unfounded hypotheticals. The report itself states that only 36 names of allegedly executed persons are known to Amnesty, less than the number of "witnesses" Amnesty claims to have interviewed. The high number of claimed execution together with the very low number of names is not plausible.

The report does not even meet the lowest mark of scientific or legal veracity. It is pure biased propaganda.

Note: An earlier version of this piece mixed up the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Both are registered in the UK and claim to provide accurate casualty data from Syria. Only SNHR is referenced in this Amnesty report.

Syria carried out mass hangings at military prison: Amnesty International: The Syrian government has executed up to 13,000 prisoners in mass hangings and carried out systematic torture at a military jail near Damascus, rights watchdog Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Click for Spanish, German, Dutch, Danish, French, translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load.

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Zie ook: 'Amnesty claimt zonder bewijs 13.000 moorden middels massa executies in 'gevangenis Assad.........' Deel 2'

Klik voor meer berichten n.a.v. het bovenstaande, op één van de labels, die u onder dit bericht aantreft.

PS: in de kop stond per abuis 'gevangenissen', waar 'gevangenis' moet staan, hersteld op 21 februari 2017.

Obama maakt ministerie van Waarheid mogelijk en geeft ministerie van Oorlog $ 611 miljard........

Nobelprijs voor de Vrede winnaar Obama (ha! ha! ha!) heeft een wet getekend, waarmee een Ministerie van Waarheid (ministry of Truth) zoals door Orwell beschreven in het boek 1984) is gecreëerd......... Niet alleen dat, maar deze wet geeft het Ministerie van Oorlog in 2017 een slordige $ 611 miljard te verbrassen, zodat de onwettige, zwaar terroristische VS houdgreep op de wereld, kan worden versterkt..........

'Uiteraard' zal e.e.a. gepaard gaan met het tegenwerken, of uit de lucht halen, dan wel van het internet verwijderen, van VS onwelgevallige media (lees: media die kritiek durven te leveren op terreurentiteit VS....).........

Laat ook uw haren te berge rijzen en lees het volgen de artikel van Tyler Durden, zoals eerder geplaatst op ZeroHedge:

Obama Quietly Signs The "Countering Disinformation And Propaganda Act" Into Law

by Tyler Durden

Dec 26, 2016

Late on Friday, with the US population embracing the upcoming holidays and oblivious of most news emerging from the administration, Obama quietly signed into law the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which authorizes $611 billion for the military in 2017.

In a statement, Obama said that:

Today, I have signed into law S. 2943, the “National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017.” This Act authorizes fiscal year 2017 appropriations principally for the Department of Defense and for Department of Energy national security programs, provides vital benefits for military personnel and their families, and includes authorities to facilitate ongoing operations around the globe. It continues many critical authorizations necessary to ensure that we are able to sustain our momentum in countering the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and to reassure our European allies, as well as many new authorizations that, among other things, provide the Departments of Defense and Energy more flexibility in countering cyber-attacks and our adversaries’ use of unmanned aerial vehicles."

Much of the balance of Obama's statement blamed the GOP for Guantanamo's continued operation and warned that "unless the Congress changes course, it will be judged harshly by history," Obama said. Obama also said Congress failed to use the bill to reduce wasteful overhead (like perhaps massive F-35 cost overruns?) or modernize military health care, which he said would exacerbate budget pressures facing the military in the years ahead.

But while the passage of the NDAA - and the funding of the US military - was hardly a surprise, the biggest news is what was buried deep inside the provisions of the Defense Authortization Act.

Recall that as we reported in early June, "a bill to implement the U.S.’ very own de facto Ministry of Truth had been quietly introduced in Congress. As with any legislation attempting to dodge the public spotlight the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act of 2016 marks a further curtailment of press freedom and another avenue to stultify avenues of accurate information. Introduced by Congressmen Adam Kinzinger and Ted Lieu, H.R. 5181 seeks a “whole-government approach without the bureaucratic restrictions” to counter “foreign disinformation and manipulation,” which they believe threaten the world’s “security and stability.”

Also called the Countering Information Warfare Act of 2016 (S. 2692), when introduced in March by Sen. Rob Portman, the legislation represents a dramatic return to Cold War-era government propaganda battles. “These countries spend vast sums of money on advanced broadcast and digital media capabilities, targeted campaigns, funding of foreign political movements, and other efforts to influence key audiences and populations,” Portman explained, adding that while the U.S. spends a relatively small amount on its Voice of America (VOA), the Kremlin provides enormous funding for its news organization, RT.

“Surprisingly,” Portman continued, “there is currently no single U.S. governmental agency or department charged with the national level development, integration and synchronization of whole-of-government strategies to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation.”  

Long before the "fake news" meme became a daily topic of extensive conversation on such discredited mainstream portals as CNN and WaPo (Washington Post), H.R. 5181 would task the Secretary of State with coordinating the Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors to “establish a Center for Information Analysis and Response,” which will pinpoint sources of disinformation, analyze data, and — in true dystopic manner — ‘develop and disseminate’ “fact-based narratives” to counter effrontery propaganda.

In short, long before "fake news" became a major media topic, the US government was already planning its legally-backed crackdown on anything it would eventually label "fake news."

* * *

Fast forward to December 8, when the "Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act" passed in the Senate, quietly inserted inside the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report.

And now, following Friday's Obama signing of the NDAA on Friday evening, the Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act is now law.

* * *

Here is the full statement issued by the generously funded Senator Rob Portman (R- Ohio) on the singing into law of a bill that further chips away at press liberties in the US, and which sets the stage for future which hunts and website shutdowns, purely as a result of an accusation that any one media outlet or site is considered as a source of "disinformation and propaganda" and is shut down by the government.

President Signs Portman-Murphy Counter-Propaganda Bill into Law

Portman-Murphy Bill Promotes Coordinated Strategy to Defend America, Allies Against Propaganda and Disinformation from Russia, China & Others

U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) today announced that their Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act – legislation designed to help American allies counter foreign government propaganda from Russia, China, and other nations – has been signed into law as part of the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report. The bipartisan bill, which was introduced by Senators Portman and Murphy in March, will improve the ability of the United States to counter foreign propaganda and disinformation from our enemies by establishing an interagency center housed at the State Department to coordinate and synchronize counter-propaganda efforts throughout the U.S. government. To support these efforts, the bill also creates a grant program for NGOs, think tanks, civil society and other experts outside government who are engaged in counter-propaganda related work. This will better leverage existing expertise and empower our allies overseas to defend themselves from foreign manipulation. It will also help foster a free and vibrant press and civil society overseas, which is critical to ensuring our allies have access to truthful information and inoculating people against foreign propaganda campaigns.

“Our enemies are using foreign propaganda and disinformation against us and our allies, and so far the U.S. government has been asleep at the wheel,” Portman said. “But today, the United States has taken a critical step towards confronting the extensive, and destabilizing, foreign propaganda and disinformation operations being waged against us by our enemies overseas. With this bill now law, we are finally signaling that enough is enough; the United States will no longer sit on the sidelines. We are going to confront this threat head-on. I am confident that, with the help of this bipartisan bill, the disinformation and propaganda used against us, our allies, and our interests will fail.”

“The use of propaganda to undermine democracy has hit a new low. But now we are finally in a position to confront this threat head on and get out the truth. By building up independent, objective journalism in places like eastern Europe, we can start to fight back by exposing these fake narratives and empowering local communities to protect themselves,” said Murphy. “I’m proud that our bill was signed into law, and I look forward to working with Senator Portman to make sure these tools and new resources are effectively used to get out the truth.”

NOTE: The bipartisan Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act is organized around two main priorities to help achieve the goal of combatting the constantly evolving threat of foreign disinformation from our enemies:

• The first priority is developing a whole-of-government strategy for countering THE foreign propaganda and disinformation being wages against us and our allies by our enemies. The bill would increase the authority, resources, and mandate of the Global Engagement Center to include state actors like Russia and China as well as non-state actors. The Center will be led by the State Department, but with the active senior level participation of the Department of Defense, USAID, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the Intelligence Community, and other relevant agencies. The Center will develop, integrate, and synchronize whole-of-government initiatives to expose and counter foreign disinformation operations by our enemies and proactively advance fact-based narratives that support U.S. allies and interests.

• Second, the legislation seeks to leverage expertise from outside government to create more adaptive and responsive U.S. strategy options. The legislation establishes a fund to help train local journalists and provide grants and contracts to NGOs, civil society organizations, think tanks, private sector companies, media organizations, and other experts outside the U.S. government with experience in identifying and analyzing the latest trends in foreign government disinformation techniques. This fund will complement and support the Center’s role by integrating capabilities and expertise available outside the U.S. government into the strategy-making process. It will also empower a decentralized network of private sector experts and integrate their expertise into the strategy-making process.

* * *

And so, with the likes of WaPo having already primed the general public to equate "Russian Propaganda" with "fake news" (despite admitting after the fact their own report was essentially "fake"), while the US media has indoctrinated the public to assume that any information which is not in compliance with the official government narrative, or dares to criticize the establishment, is also "fake news" and thus falls under the "Russian propaganda" umbrella, the scene is now set for the US government to legally crack down on every media outlet that the government deems to be "foreign propaganda."

Just like that, the US Ministry of Truth is officially born.

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Voor meer berichten n.a.v. het bovenstaande, klik op één van de labels, die u onder dit bericht terug kan vinden, dit geldt niet voor de labels: ministry of Truth, Murphy, NDAA, Portman, VOA en WaPo.