Transcript: Life After DAESH Declared His City Islamic State

From the diary of a Syrian man living under DAESH control.

DAESH is an acronym for the Arabic phrase “al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham” (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

Watch the short animation film: Diary Of Life Under Islamic State Control in the Documentaries section.

It was Mother’s Day when DAESH took over his city Al-Raqqah.

The sudden siege by Islamic Extremist fighters was horrific and shocking – and the horrific violence on unsuspecting civilians was immediate.

Two young journalists were publicly beheaded for speaking to media – punishment for speaking to the press or using social media is beheading.

The heads of the dead placed on posts for display of power and a warning – all citizens are forced to come to the beheading, including children.

One day a man was being publicly lashed for homosexuality.

The author of this diary was given 40 lashes for cursing out loud in the street.

Public smoking is not allowed – the punishment was an immediate beating.

Men’s pants must be one inch above the ankle – punishment was a week long Shia course.

Women must wear thick material, black burka – punishment is often stoning or beheading.

People are no longer allowed to meet or socialize in public – if caught they will be accused of conspiring against ISIS – punishment is beheading.

Male doctors are not allowed to treat female patients.

Morality police enforced a ban on all televisions from shops.

Police occupy stores during business hours to enforce strict rules and observe every transaction.

Price of food more than tripled due to cost of paying fees thru many new checkpoints.

Author’s store sold less food in two months under Daesh control, than he used to sell in one week.

Each citizen was forced to attend Shia lessons every night, and shop owners had to shut down and attend.

After a week long course – they are told to return to new Islam as born again Muslims.

During this time a mosque built over 1,300 years, ago was demolished.

The ISIS morality police patrol neighbourhoods, enforcing the law that people perform all scheduled prayers.

One evening, the Author’s friend and neighbour did not show up for Daesh lesson – his friend was sentenced to beheading, but managed to flee the city.

Sound asleep, the author wakes to the sounds of war planes above, bombs landing nearby, and his neighbour’s children crying.

“Isn’t the terrorism we suffer on the ground enough, now you bring it from the skies as well”, the author writes, after a Russian airstrike on his town kills and dismembers adults and children.

The next day, the author steps outside and looks around at the destruction, into the eyes of the once bright and happy faces of his neighbours, only to be greeted by “dead eyes of broken lives and broken hearts.”

Walking home a few days later, the author passes his friend’s house, (the neighbour who had previously not shown up for Daesh lessons). The author described his friend as a simple living father and husband, not an activist. Yet there he was, beheaded, butchered and his body parts placed on display in front of his own house. A home he shared with his family, including his elderly mother.

The diary’s author decided it was time to leave.

The end of his diary.

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Watch the short animation film: Diary Of Life Under Islamic State Control in the Documentaries section.

Short Animation Film: Diary Of Life Under Islamic State Control

It was Mother’s Day when DAESH took over his city of Al-Raqqah.

DAESH is an acronym for the Arabic phrase “al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham” (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Also known as ISIS or ISIL.

The television series ‘Today’ correspondent Mike Thomson, Today Producer John Neal, Director Scott Coello, Composer Dan Pollard, and Animators Ross Plaskow and Scott Coello have woven life into the words of one man trapped inside a DAESH controlled country.

This is the diary of one Syrian man’s experience after his city was besieged.

“Isn’t the terrorism we suffer on the ground enough, now you bring it from the skies as well”, the author writes, after a Russian airstrike on his town kills and dismembers adults and children.

Each citizen was forced to attend Shia lessons every night, and shop owners had to shut down and attend. Punishment for not attending is beheading and public display of your dismembered corpse.

After a week long course – they are told to return to new Islam as born again Muslims.

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You can read an abbreviated transcript of this short film in our news section.

Watch rare interviews and news reports in our Documentaries section.

Watch Alistair Reign News Channels on YouTube

USA: House Panel Accuses Assad, Russia, Iran of War Crimes in Syria

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday unanimously passed two resolutions to increase pressure on the Obama administration to do more to stop Islamic State terrorists and to help the people of Syria.

Iran: Shia Iran supports the Shia-led government in Baghdad, and has said it would consider any request for military aid. 22 Jun 2014. (Photo: AlJazeera/ AP). — Inside Iran: *June 22, 2014*. (Photo: AlJazeera/ AP).

The first resolution accuses Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies, singling out Russia and Iran, of committing war crimes against Syrian civilians.

It contends that “the vast majority of the civilians who have died in the Syrian conflict have been killed by the government of Syria and its allies, specifically the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Iran’s terrorist proxies including Hezbollah.”

The war crimes resolution calls on President Barack Obama to direct his U.N. ambassador to support creation of an international war crimes tribunal to prosecute anyone guilty of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria.

This US official wept uncontrollably trying to talk about what he has witnessed from the horror of the massacres in Gaza against Palestinian children.

It says the Syrian government has “engaged in widespread torture and rape, employed starvation as a weapon of war and massacred civilians, including through the use of chemical weapons, cluster munitions and barrel bombs.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, a California Republican, said the establishment of an international tribunal would send a strong signal to the Syrian people that they are not alone.

Imagine sending your children to school, and everyday fearing that they will not return home.

About 425,000 Syrians have been killed, and another 4 million others are living in exile.

The sponsor of the resolution, Republican Representative Chris Smith of New Jersey, cited similar war crimes tribunals in the former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone, saying they were effective in bringing perpetrators to justice.

Syrian Children Killed By Russian-led Airstrikes Targeting Civilians. (Image: SHRN).

The war crimes resolution says Russia has not only enabled Assad but also “has committed its own violations of international law by leading deliberate bombing campaigns on civilian targets including bakeries, hospitals, markets and schools.”

The committee also passed a second resolution, which expresses the sense of Congress that the atrocities committed by Islamic State against Christians, Yazidis and other ethnic and religious minorities constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

That resolution already has 200 Republican and Democratic co-sponsors.

Kerry under pressure

A number of lawmakers from both parties have joined with religious freedom and human rights advocates to demand that the State Department label Islamic State crimes genocide.

At three hearings on Capitol Hill last week, Secretary of State John Kerry came under pressure from Republican lawmakers to declare IS guilty of genocide. Kerry expressed revulsion at the slaughter of innocents but said the State Department has to carefully review the legal standards that constitute genocide.

Lawmakers point to the killings of thousands of members of the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq, starting in 2014.

In most cases, IS fighters kill the men and take women and girls as slaves.

Some lawmakers are demanding that it also be recognized that IS propaganda calls for the targeting of Christians, and they cite the brutal beheadings by IS of Christians from Ethiopia and Egypt.

In a major spending bill, Congress gave Kerry until March 17 to make a determination declaring IS acts against religious minorities genocide.

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VOA News: House Panel Accuses Assad, Russia, Iran of War Crimes in Syria.

🍁 CDN: PM Announced End Of Bombing Missions In Iraq/ Syria

Once again Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shows the world how to lead – as peacekeepers and humanitarians – when he made the official statement that Canada would be recalling six jets that have been bombing targets in both Iraq and Syria; putting an end to the attack role Canadian military had taken under the dark days of ‘Harper Government‘… Alistair Reign.

“The people terrorized by (Islamic State) every day don’t need our vengeance, they need our help,” said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau’s Liberals won an election last October promising to withdraw the jets but came under pressure from allies who feared the decision could weaken efforts to combat the militant group. Bombing began in November 2014 under the previous Conservative government.

“We can’t do everything .. we were guided by our desire to do what we could do best to help in the region and to do it in the right way,” Trudeau told a news conference.

Canada will end its bombing missions by (February 22, 2016) but keep two surveillance planes in the region as well as refueling aircraft, and triple the number of soldiers training Kurdish troops in northern Iraq to about 200.

US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) shake hands during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Manila on November 19, 2015 (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb) — US President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) shake hands during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Manila. *November 19, 2015.* (AFP Photo/ Saul Loeb).

Officials in the United States welcomed the announcement, which came after sustained diplomatic pressure from major allies to persuade Canada to do as much as possible.

(In other words they pressured PM Trudeau to stay in the fight killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians – and Justin held his ground – sticking to our Canadian way… Alistair).

“I’m confident we are going to continue to have discussions with the Canadians about additional steps they can take to further enhance our counter-ISIL efforts,” said White House spokesman John Earnest.

He said Trudeau had talked to Obama on Monday. The two will meet in Washington next month.

Canada’s decision came as the Syrian army advanced towards the Turkish border on Monday in an offensive backed by Russia and Iran.

Trudeau said the new mission would be engaged for at least two years and then be re-evaluated.

The best way to promote long-term stability was to help local people fight to get their territory back, he added.

Harjit Sajjan answers questions from Canadian Armed Forces members deployed on Operation IMPACT — The Honourable Harjit Singh Sajjan, Minister of National Defence anwser questions from his troop during a visit to Camp Canada Kuwait on *November 30, 2015*. (Photo: Sgt Yannick Bédard, Canadian Forces Combat Camera).

Canadians’ appetite for foreign military missions dropped after 10 years of involvement in Afghanistan that ended in 2011, during which 158 soldiers were killed.

(Really? As a Canadian I am offended by that word ‘appetite’ in reference to war – that is an American expression… Alistair).

Last March, one Canadian soldier died and three others were injured in a friendly fire incident in Iraq. (Americans firing on Canadians… Alistair).

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan conceded there would still be risks for the trainers.

“This is a conflict zone and a very high threat environment,” he said by phone.

Opinion polls show Canadians are sharply divided over the role of the armed forces in the fight against Islamic State.

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The World Post: Canada To End Bombing Missions In Iraq And Syria

Iraq: Children And Women Raped By Daesh Are Resorting To Suicide

About 200 members of the Yazidi religious community who were old and sick were released by ISIS militants last weekend. The freed prisoners report that girls and women continue to suffer from horrifying abuses at the hands of the militant group.

According to the Independent, 50,000 Yazidis fled to the Sinjar mountains in early August last year to escape from ISIS, which is bent on wiping out ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria.

Although a large number were able to flee, thousands were not so lucky. Men who were left behind and who were of fighting age were massacred, while girls and women were taken to be raped, sold as slaves, or forcibly married to their captors.

Hamshe, a former Yazidi sex slave who was able to escape from the jihadists with her baby boy, told the Daily Mail, “I can never forget when they separated men and women from each other. It was very painful to witness women and girls being taken as war spoils.

“Each IS fighter was holding the hand of a Yazidi girl and took her for himself. It was harder than facing death.”

Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Advisor who spoke to more than 40 former ISIS captives and said many of those who are being held as sexual slaves are aged 15 and younger.

Girls this age fetch a price of 150,000 dinars (about £85), according to a document issued by ISIS and obtained by Iraqi News.

The price list also shows that while women who are 40 to 50 years old cost 50,000 dinars (about £28), children who are aged 1 to 9 go for 200,000 dinars (about £113).

To escape from their harrowing existence, there are reports that girls are strangling each other or resorting to suicide.

One of the 300 women who were able to escape from the clutches of ISIS told Amnesty International how a 19-year-old girl named Jilan took her own life.

She said, “We were 21 girls in one room, two of them were very young, 10 to 12 years.

“One day we were given clothes that looked like dancing costumes and were told to bathe and wear these clothes.

“Jilan killed herself in the bathroom. She cut her wrists and hanged herself. She was very beautiful. I think she knew she was going to be taken away by a man and that is why she killed herself.”

According to Rovera, many of those who survived the sexual abuses of ISIS are still not getting the help they need.

“The Kurdistan Regional Government, UN and other humanitarian organisations who are providing medical and other support services to survivors of sexual violence must step up their efforts,” Rovera said.

“They must ensure they are swiftly and proactively reaching out to all those who may need them, and that women and girls are made aware of the support available to them.”

Christian News: ISIS is raping and selling girls and women as sexual slaves, according to freed Yazidis

Iraq: UN Confirms – DAESH are Selling Girls To Fighters For Sex Slaves

The self-styled Islamic State (IS) has a printed list of prices to facilitate the slave trade of women and children captured in the group’s territory.

IS Slaves being auctioned. They will be used for domestic chores and as sex slaves for soldiers.

Though rumors of such a document surfaced eight months ago, Zainab Bangura, UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, has now confirmed that she has seen the document, and that it is legitimate.

“The girls get peddled like barrels of petrol,” Bangura told Bloomberg. “One girl can be sold and bought by five or six different men. Sometimes these fighters sell the girls back to their families for thousands of dollars of ransom.”

Bangura said she was personally given a copy of the document during a trip to Iraq in April.

She also provided details about how the IS flesh trade operates in Iraq and Syria, saying that leaders in the organization are allowed to take first pick of captives. Those who aren’t chosen are auctioned off to wealthy locals, with the remaining captives then sold to IS fighters, Bangura said.

According to the document, it costs $165 for an IS soldier to purchase a child under nine years old. Adolescent girls sell for $124, and women over 20 cost less.

Women being taken to be sold as slaves according to a report in the Telegraph: Islamic State jihadists, October 13 2015.

This article has been shortened. Click on the link below to read the article on Vice News.

VICE News: UN Verifies Islamic State Slave Price List: ‘The Girls Get Peddled Like Barrels of Petrol’