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Monitors with orange gowns wander in the streets of Syria. Locals gather around them as they search for an outlet for their pent up grievances. If some talk about the futile search for their brother, others narrate the story their wife’s murder. A woman explains how her son was shot down on the way to school while a father sheds tears lamenting the lack of security for his family. They all seek help from the politically influential and financially stable Arab nations, particularly from the Gulf.
Less than a mile away, a sizeable protest erupts, echoing chants against President Bashar al-Assad and his regime. The monitors write everything on their small notebooks while filming scenes with their mobile phones before leaving the area.
Ahmed, a high school student from Homs, says: “We can’t reach out to the monitors because they are being watched over by the security forces.”
Minutes after they (monitors) leave in their cars, the security forces show up to take “control of the situation” by killing and arresting those who dared talk to the monitors and chant slogans. The scenario is replayed after every visit.
About a fortnight ago, 66 monitors arrived in Damascus after an agreement between the Arab League and the Syrian government was signed in Cairo with the mandate to evaluate commitment of the regime about removal all forces from the inhabited areas that have been the venue for protests and clashes.
The Arab League intends to bail Syria out from the crisis by helping curb violence, get all political prisoners released and initiate a meaningful dialogue for reforms. Another key point on the agenda is to open Syria for free access of foreign and national media.
Tragically, over 120 Syrians have lost their lives while Damascus houses Arab League monitors. Opposition and human rights activists fear that the number may soar up to 200 until the time more observers reach Syria.
Mustafa al-Dabi, a former Sudanese general, whom Foreign Policy magazine described as the worst monitor in human rights’ history, heads the Syria mission. Given his dark past of crimes against civilians in Sudan, he is not really an ideal advisor for the Syrian regime. During his visit to a blood-stained city, the city which lost 2,050 people according to human rights activists, the general stunned the world with his unexpected remarks, “I did not see anything scary in Homs”.
Syrians are doing their best to monitor the monitors by filming their movements and archiving their statements. They suspect the monitors more than they trust them.
“This being their first mission, the monitors lack experience and courage both,” says a Syrian activist requesting not to be named.
Instead of relying on modern day technological tools and analysing and recording information from existing audio-visual evidence, the monitors are working in an old-fashion way. Even if their intentions are right, Syrian intelligence machinery can burn, steal or spoil their hand written documents and notes.
“There is no rocket science involved in monitoring as we, in Homs, despite all odds, record and disseminate atrocities more on daily basis than these half-hearted, ill-trained monitors,” says Omar, an activist from Homs.
These visitors don’t know much about Syria’s geography and society, and they fail to choose the right areas for their missions, Dawn.com learnt from locals observing the monitors.
“The monitors can be easily cheated by the government’s rumour mills, intelligence machinery and providing flawed maps,” says Abo Hamzah from Daraa.
Moreover, the monitors are not allowed to leave their hotels without security cover, owing to heightened official propaganda against protestors.
“Assad wants us to fight with each other but Syrians we want the monitors to help us before that happens,” says Ahmed, the high school student from Homs. Mohamed, another local, is optimistic that the monitors would be able to see the truth, being systematically hidden or covered from them.
The hopes for exposure of truth are dimming, especially after the factually inaccurate announcement by Nabil al–Arabi, head of Arab League, that the regime has removed tanks from streets and released scores of political prisoners.
Anger and frustration is simmering against the belatedly sent watchdog mission.
Abdel Hamid Ansari writes in the Al-Itthad newspaper: “The Arab League should announce its failure and withdraw the monitors otherwise it is becoming the regime’s partner in the killing process”.
Still, there are some optimists finding the Arab League initiative as the only hope for Syrians. “The presence of monitors is breaking the fear at large,” says Rami Abed al Rahman, who heads of Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“We understand that their existence won’t stop killing and bloodshed but at least, there would be some neutral witnesses to that,” says Heba, a student in the Damascus University.
Ebrahim Taleb, an activist from Qamshli, hopes that the monitors can at least assure protection for protestors while the world is not ready to intervene. “We can use this time bring the divided Syrian oppositions to on one platform”.
For now, all eyes are glued to the Arab League meeting scheduled for January 7 in Cairo, which is mandated to discuss the future of monitors in Syria.
Maryam Hasan is a young journalist, whose family struggled against Hafiz Al-Assad’s tyrannical rule and policies. She is using a pen-name due to security reasons.
