iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

Preserving this truth is urgent. Syrian victims, survivors and civil society must be at the centre of this process, and a coordinated plan - backed by international support - is essential. I wrote about here on @foreignpolicy.com foreignpolicy.com/2024/12/17/s...

foreignpolicy.com

Syria’s Paper Trail of Atrocity Must Be Preserved

Amid the chaos of Assad’s fall, vital documents may be lost.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

The fall of Assad’s vast network of prisons, security hubs, and military sites have uncovered archives of horrors, documents that could bring justice and answers for Syria’s victims and survivors. However, these sites are fragile, and the evidence risks destruction.

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Reposted by Rawan Shaif

Louisa Loveluck @leloveluck.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

There was no place more feared in Assad’s Syria than Sednaya Military Prison. By Sunday, the guards had fled, its doors were flung open and this fortress of terrified silence was alive with the sounds of parents and children calling out for their missing. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

washingtonpost.com

As Syria’s notorious prisons empty, families search for the missing

Tens of thousands of Syrians disappeared into Assad’s network of brutal prisons. After his downfall, families are finally hoping for news of their loved ones.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

EN: iiim.un.org/wp-content/u... AR: iiim.un.org/wp-content/u...

iiim.un.org

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

5/ Today, to further support efforts and assist newer Syrian civil society groups and individuals, IIIM released key guidelines on preserving vital physical and digital evidence, including “collecting, preserving and protection checklist” in Arabic and English, attached below.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

4/ Accountability must now follow. Syrian civil society organisations are strong, capable and have become experienced in preserving information and evidence.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

3/ The IIIM’s report is deeply significant, particularly as we continue to reflect and learn of the horrors at Sednaya prison and the many other detention facilities across Syria. Survivors, their families, and all those affected deserve to know the truth of what happened.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

2/ On Friday, they released their first report, which sheds light on the systematic torture, ill-treatment, and violations within over 100 government detention facilities. iiim.un.org/iiim-release...

iiim.un.org

IIIM Releases Analysis of Widespread Torture in Syria’s Detention System – IIIM

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

1/ Since 2016, the UN’s IIIM has been working to preserve and collect crucial evidence of crimes in Syria, gathered by Syrian individuals and civil society organisations.

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The Syria Campaign @thesyriacampaign.org · 08/12/2024

Assad is gone. After decades of suffering under his brutal regime, Syrians are celebrating a historic moment of freedom and hope. This is the message we've waited so long to share: diary.thesyriacampaign.org/syria-is-fre... #Syria #FreeSyria

diary.thesyriacampaign.org

Syria is free of Assad

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Reposted by Rawan Shaif

Natasha Hall @natashahall.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Assad appears to have left the country, after 100s of thousands disappeared, tortured, & killed and millions displaced. 54 years of Assad seemingly over To Syria with love.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

I never imagined I’d witness this in my lifetime. May those freed soon be reunited with their families and loved ones.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

In 2016, alongside Forensic Architecture, Amnesty International documented and recreated the atrocities of Sednaya. Tonight, Sednaya prison—nicknamed the “slaughterhouse”—is no more. Prisoners, many of whom whose fate had been undetermined for the last decade, are now free.

forensic-architecture.org

Forensic Architecture

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Reposted by Rawan Shaif

Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Given fears that there may be new chemical attacks in Syria, here's a thread on some of the chemical munitions used in the past by the Syrian government. First, there's been two primary agents use, chlorine gas, and sarin, each associated with specific munitions.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

5/ For many, this new wave of fighting is a reminder of the false hope Syria has seen before—of pushes and counter-pushes that often fade. But for now, this is a win, and it matters. It’s a moment of resistance and of defiance.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

4/ Earlier today, opposition forces reached the statue of Bashar al-Assad’s deceased brother, Bassel, at the eastern edge of New Aleppo. In a symbolic act, they took down the regime flag—a bold statement against the government’s grip on power.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

3/ In the midst of this intense conflict, there’s a striking moment of humanity. Families separated for years are reuniting. The significance of these reunions cannot be overstated. It’s a glimmer of hope in a brutal 14 year long war.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

2/ Within just three days, the fighting has reached Aleppo, capturing government-held territory on the outskirts for the first time in four years. Meanwhile, government forces are retaliating, bombing opposition-held areas. x.com/SyriaCivilDe...

x.com

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

🧵 The situation in Syria is having an important news moment. Opposition groups, namely Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), in the northwest have launched their biggest push in years against government forces.

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Rawan Shaif @rawanssa18.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

As we all manage the migration from X to BlueSky, I've made a starter pack of interdisciplinary folks to follow who work on open-source investigations in crisis and conflict settings. I'll add more as they join! go.bsky.app/C6shkSV

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