U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford keeps putting himself in harm's way. This Sunday, he
attended the funeral of a Syrian activist shortly before it was attacked by Syrian
security forces.
"US amb. Robert Ford shows up at the wake of
slain #syria activist Giyath Matar.
An hour later the funeral tent is trashed by security forces," tweetedWashington Post foreign correspondent
Liz Sly Tuesday afternoon.
We found
a video that shows Ford at the funeral, which took place on
Sept. 11. The State Department today confirmed to The Cable that he was in attendance. We also found
a video (warning: graphic) of Matar's tortured and
mutilated body, posted by the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights, which has been meticulously documenting cases
of alleged abuse against domestic protesters by the Syrian security forces.
"Security forces corpse [sic] submitted his corpse to
his family and told them that you can make from his body a ‘Shawerma'
sandwich!!!" the human rights organization reported.
Ford, who was installed as the U.S. envoy to
Damascus in a recess appointment, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee today. But unless he can overcome a tough confirmation fight on the
Senate floor, he will be forced to return to Washington at the end of the year.
The group also posted a video
of the body of Ahmad Sulaiman Ayrut,
who they allege was killed in the government attack on Matar's funeral.
The State Department condemned Matar's killing at a Monday
press briefing, but only later confirmed to The
Cable Ford's attendance at the funeral. So far, State has not commented on
the violence at the funeral.
"This was a very high-profile human rights activist
in Syria, apparently arrested on September 6th and died in custody -- again,
further evidence of this regime's brutality, indiscriminate force, and absolute
disregard for human life and for the human rights of its citizens," said
spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
There was no mention of Ford's attendance on the U.S.
embassy of Damascus's Facebook
page.
The last Facebook posting
by Ford came on Sept. 8, where he references threats being
made on his life by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"[Commenter] Mujtaba Xr warns me that I will face
being killed if I continue my criticism of the repression in Syria. I take
his post to be a perfectly good example of the kind of intolerance that has
provoked such discontent in Syria," Ford wrote. "Remember that I am one of
the few international observers here on the ground; if only the Syrian
government would allow international media to move around the country freely
like we did in Iraq!"
Ford's close call comes only two weeks after he
was physically assaulted by a regime supporter while
standing outside an anti-government sit-in by some lawyers at the Syrian Bar
Association. The State Department didn't say anything about that incident
either, until it was reported by The
Cable.
Of course, it's possible that Ford is actually trying
to get himself kicked out of Syria by the Assad regime.
That would allow the Obama administration to spotlight Assad's intolerance and
allow the State Department to avoid a fight over Ford's Senate confirmation.
For 5 month, the Asad regime "daily" has been killing civilians. The last number reported by UN, 3 days ago, is more than 2600 killed. In the last 3 days Assad has killed more than 70.
It is important to note that this reported high number is despite Asad regime not permitting any media or access to any mission into Syria.
After denying access to UN fact finding mission, Asad only allowed a U.N. humanitarian mission. However, after allowed into syria, this mission reported that they found there was an urgent need to protect civilians from excessive use of force, though the delegation was not given unfettered access.
"We were able to go in, but they were accompanied at every stage and because of the large crowds they weren't able in every place to speak to the people that they wanted to speak to," mission leader Amos said.
Someone could imagine the actual number are killed when foreign media is permitted into syria...
Thank you Mr Ford for supporting these civilian people & more is needed...
All the international community should stand on the right side of history because turning a blind eye on such a genocide in 2011 or not stopping it is shame for the whole World.
Josh Rogin reports on national security and foreign policy from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, the White House to Embassy Row, for The Cable.
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