For the past four years, Syrians have suffered at the hands of the regime, its allies, and international silence – but the extent of their suffering has further become apparent in the wake of an unexpected new report leaked to local and foreign media, and human rights organizations describing the trafficking of human organs from inside Syria.
The foreseeable economic collapse of the Syrian regime prompted Iranian and Russian investments of millions of dollars on a monthly basis, through loans or printed bills reaching SYP 5 billion, according to ProPublica website. Moscow and Tehran have also provided weapons and fuel to assist the Syrian military campaign, costing Syrians lives and fracturing an economy already overwhelmed prior to pro-democracy demonstrations in 2011.
The regime continues to randomly arrest countless Syrians on charges of inciting rebellion and supporting conspiracy against it. Political analysts believe the violence and the expansion of the war has caused the regime to act so erratically as to blindly attack women and children through random missile and air strikes, or through direct murders and massacres – some of which were witnessed by the world, while others remain unreported.
These massacres, alongside the destruction of areas by the regime army and its militias, left countless injured and dead. According to eyewitness accounts, the deceased were sent to pro-regime surgeons where they went under operations, with witnesses claiming their relatives exhibited signs of surgery between the neck and abdomen.
Head of the Free Lawyers Assembly Ghazwan Qrunfol claimed these violations have been clearly documented by credible human rights organizations, like the Center for Documentation of Violations in Syria. Qrunfol insists the human organs are being sold in countries like India, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Organs are priced according to their importance: $20,000 for a heart, $25,000 for an eye and $15,000 for a kidney, while cartilage and muscle fibers are sold for $10,000.
According to a report issued by All For Syria website on October 13, 2013, prisoners and war victims were being held in medical facilities belonging to the Syrian regime – like Hospital 601,Tishreen Military Hospital, Al-Mujtahid Hospital and Almwasat Hospitals in Damascus – where their body organs are being removed. According to employees working at these hospitals, Syrian, Iranian, Lebanese and Russian doctors supervise these operations.
A report published by Al-Hayat newspaper refers to a victim, “Abdul Hakim S”, from Aleppo’s countryside. In the article, the victim’s cousin claimed: “[Abdul] was shot in his right shoulder and his chest near Alhaidaria rotary. He was taken immediately by one of the FSA brigades to Alzaraour field hospital in Al-Ansari neighborhood. The hospital was too crowded so he was taken to The Martyr Kamal hospital in Turkey on November 11, 2012. He had two surgeries, the first was successful but he died on November 14, 2012, right after the second one, which was ordered by doctor (M.K) under the pretext of completing the treatment. When the surgery was over, the victim’s parents saw the surgical cuts which were in the abdomen area and not where he was shot”.
A number of news networks and websites have published the names of senior Syrian government officials and doctors responsible for the crimes.
Late last year, the regime adopted a systematic technique to deal with prisoners who may have the ability to influence public opinion if released.
According to Syrian and international human rights organizations, like the Syrian Revolution General Commission, Amnesty International and Life Center for Human Rights, over 50,000 detainees have been killed inside Syrian prisons. Most bodies were never returned to their families.
Some families pay large ransoms to officers in charge of detained relatives in order to guarantee their release. Yet, most remain hidden until they are killed or tortured to death, with their healthy organs sent to other countries as spare parts.
The atrocities inside regime facilities is the clearest indication of Assad’s flagrant violation of international humanitarian laws.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
