Amnesty International details torture, kidnapping, execution style murders, use of Sharia courts among groups financed by the US government and its allies in Syria-July 2016

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7/13/16, "“Moderate” US-Backed Islamic Rebels Are Committing Summary Execution, Torture, Kidnapping…and Imposing Sharia Law," Zero Hedge

"In a new report, Amnesty International documents war crimes by US-backed groups.

Ahrar al-Sham. Secretary of State Kerry just said that this group is a “subgroup” of both ISIS and Al Nusra (Al Nusra is Al Qaeda). Ahrar al-Sham is supported by close Western allies Saudi Arabia and Turkey (the latter is a NATO member). 

The Amnesty report documents that Ahrar al-Sham (pp. 15-17):

• Kidnapped children and placed them for long periods of time in solitary confinement, leading to hallucinations (p. 21)
  

• Kidnapped a media activist for criticizing the extremist rebel group on Facebook and accusing it of corruption (he is still detained)

• Confiscated the homes and stolen the belongings of Christians

• Destroyed churches

• Arrested and interrogated a woman just released by government forces for not wearing a veil, and repeatedly threatened to conduct a virginity test

Nour al-Din al-Zenki. This is a CIA-approved rebel group that has received TOW anti-tank missiles.

The Amnesty report documents that Nour al-Din al-Zenki:

• Tortured journalists, humanitarian workers and media activists

• For example, one humanitarian worker was abducted and tortured by for complaining about the misuse of funds in a hospital in Aleppo
• Another media activist was kidnapped for criticizing “the unjust rule of some the armed groups [and issues] such as corruption” on Facebook. He said he heard people being tortured in other rooms while he was abducted
• Abducted Christians 

16th Division. This group is backed by the U.S.

The Amnesty report documents that the 16th Division:

• Tortured detainees

• For example, an Arab man drove his female Kurdish neighbor to a dentist appointment in Aleppo. She was kidnapped at a checkpoint by the 16th Division. The woman’s son went looking for her, and he disappeared as well

The Levant Front coalition. The Carnegie Endowment states that most of the rebel groups in the Levant Front coalition likely receive support from the Military Operations Center, a Turkey-based rebel facility that the U.S. helps operate with its allies.

The Amnesty report documents that the Levant Front:

• Has carried out numerous summary killings through its Sharia courts. Some have been “execution-style killings in front of crowds.”
• The “Supreme Judicial Council” run by the Levant Front admitted to Amnesty that the punishment for apostasy – i.e. failing to conform to fundamentalist Islamic beliefs or practices – is execution. “Death sentences are carried out in the detention center according to Shari’a principles,” the deputy director said.

• Kidnapped people for complaining about corruption

Unfortunately, there is plenty of other evidence that US-backed Islamic “rebels” are really terrorists.

And there is overwhelming evidence that the U.S. or its closest allies are backing designated terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS in their quest to carry out regime change in Syria…again."
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p. 13, Amnesty Int. July 2016 Report: "In mid-2013 the United States of America (USA) announced that it would begin providing military support to armed groups fighting the Syrian government and the IS armed group.29 In early 2014, according to several articles published by think tanks and the media, the USA and allies, in particular France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom established a co-ordination body known as the northern operation command (commonly referred to by its Turkish acronym, MOM).30 The MOM appears to be primarily responsible for vetting armed groups and co-ordinating the supply of lethal and non-lethal equipment, such as ammunition and fighters’ salaries.31" 

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page 32, AI report recommendations to the US and others "helping" in Syria


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