' "I saw and I heard. And I wish I hadn’t."
On 1 January, Yassin al-Haj Saleh posted these words on his Facebook page. Al-Haj Saleh spent 16 years in Assad’s prisons after being arrested as a student in the 1980s for being a member of a communist group. He is now a prominent dissident known for his sharp analysis of the Syrian conflict. I check his page every day.
The words were accompanied by a video. Clearly, one of the great many videos circulating showing the cruelty of the regime’s militias, the widely feared shabiha. I hesitated before opening it. These videos are evidence. But it’s always the same question: how badly will I regret seeing it?
Once Syrians emerge from the present nightmare – in one, three or ten years – they will be forced to look into one another’s eyes. They will have seen and heard things they wish they hadn’t.'
No comments:
Post a Comment