Showing posts with label Edith Bouvier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Edith Bouvier. Show all posts
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Edith Bouvier Escapes from Homs
by: Damien Pearse and agencies
Journalist was left taped to a stretcher inside the tunnel rebels had dung to smuggle her out when Syrian forces bombed it
The French journalist Edith Bouvier feared her escape from the besieged Syrian city of Homs had come to an end after the tunnel through which she was smuggled came under bombardment from Assad's forces.
Her leg broken by a shell, which killed the Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Rémi Ochlik days earlier, Bouvier was abandoned, taped to a makeshift stretcher, as rebels and dozens of wounded fled the explosions and headed back to Baba Amr district.
"One of them placed his Kalashnikov on me. He put his hand on my head and said a prayer. It wasn't very reassuring. Then he left," Bouvier told Le Figaro newspaper, for which she was working in Syria.
"I didn't know what was going to happen. Was the exit blocked? Were Syrian soldiers going to enter? I wanted to run away before remembering that I was taped to a stretcher."
Bouvier and the French photographer William Daniels, who stayed with her throughout, were finally rescued by a rebel who drove down the 1.6-metre high tunnel on a motorbike and carried them back to Baba Amr.
With the tunnel blocked and Baba Amr close to falling to the army, the two journalists, the objects of a manhunt after their faces were broadcast on Syrian television, decided to risk everything by slipping out of the city in a vehicle under cover of darkness.
"We were exhausted, physically and mentally. We had to get out of there," Bouvier said. Details of their escape route were not published by the newspaper to protect those who helped them.
Moving from safe house to safe house, changing vehicles frequently and taking rocky mountain roads amid a snowstorm, it took the journalists and their rebel escort four days to travel the 25 miles to the Lebanese border. Everywhere strangers greeted them by name, welcoming them warmly.
"They really put themselves in danger for us. They did everything for us," said Bouvier, who called her parents as soon as she crossed into Lebanon under cover of darkness. "I didn't tell them where I was, just that I was safe and sound."
Guardian
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Baba Amr-Homs, Syria
Susan Brannon
24 February 2012
Life in Homs Syria
Danny Abdel describes life in Baba Amr is likened to a war zone. "No one is safe here. They shoot at us everyday. They come in armies in tanks, sometimes without us even knowing. I've lost 14 of my best friends, they all have been shot, bombed up or taken to prison and have come out dead...all of them."
Hundreds have been killed by rockets, snipers' bullets as the Syrian regime attempts to regain control of the country. Homs is the third largest city in Syria and known as the capital of the Syrian revolution.There are 28,00 people in Baba Amr that are besieged and they cannot get out. The regime will not let them out and are shelling the civilian areas.
No one has been spared the violence that has reached high levels. UN debated and failed to negotiate a resolution. On February 6th a rocket blew into a local hospital. It is said that the regime patrols the hospitals to arrest people who are injured. They invade in the evening and go to the hospitals in the morning to find those who are revolutionaries. The doctors in the hospitals are not allowed to treat anyone that has been injured in the violence. This means any man, woman or child with their legs blown off, or bullets embedded in their bodies.
Many doctors are now treating people in homes without the proper medical equipment that is needed. In a recent video journalist, Edith Bouvier pleads for her safe exit from the violent country after a shooting that destroyed both of her legs. Her interview is from a room in someone's private home.
American war journalist Marie Colvin was located near Edith and was killed. During Colvin's last interview from Homs, she said that, "It's absolutely sickening...shelling started at 6:30 in the morning...I counted 14 shells hitting this civilian area of Baba Amr within 30 seconds. There's a small clinic, you can't really call it a clinic. It's an apartment that has been turned into a clinic. You have plasma bags hanging from coathangers. I watched a little baby die today. Absolutely horrific. A two-year old had been hit, they stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the left chest....This is happening over and over and over."
It is believed that the journalists were targeted because of the signals from using satellites for reporting. Colvin had reported that the regime is bombing any home and the home that she was in before was bombed the week before.
No one in Syria can understand how the international community allows this to happen and they continue to make pleas to the outside world to help them. They are confused because when the revolution occurred in Libya, the International community stepped in.
More than 7,000 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the uprising. They will not stop because if they do, then they will go door to door and gather up all the revolutionaries for mass execution. A Syrian activists said that the regime films the revolutionaries and knows who they are if they give up then things will become much worse for the people of Syria. The activists put their very lives at risk by posting videos on You Tube in the attempt to gather international attention.
Hilary Clinton said, "If this was easy, it would have already been done." On January 30, 2012 the UN attempted to an agreement but failed by 13 for to 2 against. Russia attempted to change the wording to clarify avoiding any calls for military action. Their concern is that any vague wordings could be used by NATO for another Libya-style regime change. Syrian ambassador Bashar Ja'Afari, responded to the agreement by stating "I think that the European and American countries are making the same mistakes. Syria will not be Libya and Syria will not be Iraq"
The humanitarian situation is at a crisis point. Medical supplies and food are not coming in and the resources are limited. Oil needed for heating, babies milk, cutting off the power to phones and electricity and lack of medicine. Aid agencies or others are not allowed to bring or travel around with supplies. If anyone is found with medical supplies or food they will be shot on the spot no questions asked. There are reports of human rights concerns, child torture, raping of women and children, targeted civilian murder, and the use of human shields.
As a reaction to this President Obama says, "I will continue to put pressure and use every tool available to stop the slaughter in Syria. It is imperative for the international community to rally and send a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition, a time to move on and a time to stop killing their own citizens."
For Syria, lets hope that they can do this soon.
24 February 2012
Life in Homs Syria
Danny Abdel describes life in Baba Amr is likened to a war zone. "No one is safe here. They shoot at us everyday. They come in armies in tanks, sometimes without us even knowing. I've lost 14 of my best friends, they all have been shot, bombed up or taken to prison and have come out dead...all of them."
Hundreds have been killed by rockets, snipers' bullets as the Syrian regime attempts to regain control of the country. Homs is the third largest city in Syria and known as the capital of the Syrian revolution.There are 28,00 people in Baba Amr that are besieged and they cannot get out. The regime will not let them out and are shelling the civilian areas.
No one has been spared the violence that has reached high levels. UN debated and failed to negotiate a resolution. On February 6th a rocket blew into a local hospital. It is said that the regime patrols the hospitals to arrest people who are injured. They invade in the evening and go to the hospitals in the morning to find those who are revolutionaries. The doctors in the hospitals are not allowed to treat anyone that has been injured in the violence. This means any man, woman or child with their legs blown off, or bullets embedded in their bodies.
Many doctors are now treating people in homes without the proper medical equipment that is needed. In a recent video journalist, Edith Bouvier pleads for her safe exit from the violent country after a shooting that destroyed both of her legs. Her interview is from a room in someone's private home.
American war journalist Marie Colvin was located near Edith and was killed. During Colvin's last interview from Homs, she said that, "It's absolutely sickening...shelling started at 6:30 in the morning...I counted 14 shells hitting this civilian area of Baba Amr within 30 seconds. There's a small clinic, you can't really call it a clinic. It's an apartment that has been turned into a clinic. You have plasma bags hanging from coathangers. I watched a little baby die today. Absolutely horrific. A two-year old had been hit, they stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the left chest....This is happening over and over and over."
It is believed that the journalists were targeted because of the signals from using satellites for reporting. Colvin had reported that the regime is bombing any home and the home that she was in before was bombed the week before.
No one in Syria can understand how the international community allows this to happen and they continue to make pleas to the outside world to help them. They are confused because when the revolution occurred in Libya, the International community stepped in.
More than 7,000 people have been killed in Syria since the start of the uprising. They will not stop because if they do, then they will go door to door and gather up all the revolutionaries for mass execution. A Syrian activists said that the regime films the revolutionaries and knows who they are if they give up then things will become much worse for the people of Syria. The activists put their very lives at risk by posting videos on You Tube in the attempt to gather international attention.
Hilary Clinton said, "If this was easy, it would have already been done." On January 30, 2012 the UN attempted to an agreement but failed by 13 for to 2 against. Russia attempted to change the wording to clarify avoiding any calls for military action. Their concern is that any vague wordings could be used by NATO for another Libya-style regime change. Syrian ambassador Bashar Ja'Afari, responded to the agreement by stating "I think that the European and American countries are making the same mistakes. Syria will not be Libya and Syria will not be Iraq"
The humanitarian situation is at a crisis point. Medical supplies and food are not coming in and the resources are limited. Oil needed for heating, babies milk, cutting off the power to phones and electricity and lack of medicine. Aid agencies or others are not allowed to bring or travel around with supplies. If anyone is found with medical supplies or food they will be shot on the spot no questions asked. There are reports of human rights concerns, child torture, raping of women and children, targeted civilian murder, and the use of human shields.
As a reaction to this President Obama says, "I will continue to put pressure and use every tool available to stop the slaughter in Syria. It is imperative for the international community to rally and send a clear message to President Assad that it is time for a transition, a time to move on and a time to stop killing their own citizens."
For Syria, lets hope that they can do this soon.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Journalist in Baba Amr, Syria
In solidarity to the journalists who risk their lives to tell us the news in war zones. In the city of Homs, the Syrian government shelled the Baba Amr district as a continuation of the Syrian uprising. "There is no safe place here." Ramy Achmid Sayeed, a leading Syrian activist and Two foreign reporters were killed during the siege: CNN reporter Marie Colvin was killed and Remy Otlik from the Le Figaro. Their bodies were buried under the rubble from a shell blasting at their makeshift media center. The journalists entered into Syria illegally to report the news from the inside. Two French journalists were injured, Edith Bouvier and Paul Conory who works for CNN. Edith and Paul need medical attention that they cannot receive in Homs. They are requesting for a safe exit into Lebanon for medical treatment.
Two Syrian doctors report "Romeny was killed because he revealed the true picture of Baba Amr....Our revolution will continue with God's permission and many Romeny's will take his place." "The Syrian government says that the people in Homs are criminal groups and are targeted." They report seeing families and children targeted during the incursion leaving many injured without the proper medical help." The doctor leaves a message for the Syrian people "because there are still many Syrians who betrayed the revolution, there are a lot of doctors that have been let down and no one is helping." They ask why.
The day before Marie Colvin was killed she reported that "No one can walk in the streets. There are snipers all around Baba Amr on the high buildings. I think the sicking thing is the complete merciless nature, they are hitting civilian buildings absolutely merciffily and without caring and the scale of it is just shocking."
Human rights organizers report that 27 men were chased, rounded up and killed execution style my Syrian organizers in the city street. Anyone who attempts to go against the Syrian government, or reports the events have the risk of being targeted for death. There are some reports of the Syrian army using humans as shields during the clashes.
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