The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay “A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine.  Fabulous!” Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker

May 2014 issue

by James Brabazon

A year ago this May, in the village of Al-Bayda, Syrian Government forces carried out the single most extensive, verified act of killing of civilians with conventional weapons since the war began.  

But who, save the families and friends of those who suffered that day, knows the name of even a single victim?   Silent victims are what repressive regimes crave most. The dead tell no tales, and even massacres as large as that in Al-Bayda quickly become “unsubstantiated” or “alleged” – another piece of a propaganda puzzle to be questioned, doubted, and then – hopefully, in the eyes of the killers - ultimately dismissed.   But if we can see and name and know the victims, their voices can be heard.   By discovering the identities of those who were killed, by linking pictures of those named victims to a map of the exact locations where they lived and where they were murdered, and by cross-referencing eyewitness accounts of their deaths, the disturbing videos and photographs that haunt the internet stop “purporting to show” evidence and become documentary proof.   Naming the dead allows them to speak. And what we hear most clearly is their claim to justice.   At seven o'clock in the morning on May 2nd 2013, Syrian Government forces entered the village of Al-Bayda, an opposition enclave nestled in the hills by the Mediterranean coast in the western governorate of Tartus.   Al-Bayda was a sleepy place. Not much happened there, and until last spring it was unremarkable except for one defining fact: it was a predominantly Sunni village, entirely surrounded by pro-Regime Alawite and Christian territory.   But the Syrian Government didn’t consider Al-Bayda to be a threat. In May 2011 they’d already rounded up all the men into the village square and then beaten many of them, to remind them that President Assad was in charge. Since then the Regime had more or less left it alone. There was no permanent Syrian Army force there, no big checkpoint and no fighting. Regime forces came and went as they pleased. No one attacked them.   The only function that Al-Bayda played for the opposition was to help smuggle out individual deserting Government soldiers who had run away from their bases on the coast and were trying to reach rebel-held territory.   So when the Syrian Army arrived last May – to arrest a group of three Syrian Army deserters who were being hidden in the outskirts of the village by supporters of the opposition to President Assad – no one could have guessed what would happen next.   First, there was a shootout. The deserters and a group of around a dozen opposition fighters who went to their assistance, local men with light weapons, opened fire on the Army. Residents said that later they saw the bodies of at least a dozen dead Syrian Army soldiers – their corpses trapped in the burned-out remains of their ambushed vehicle. Taking no chances, the Regime forces called in reinforcements. By 1 p.m. the fire-fight was over. The deserters had either been killed, or had fled along with the opposition fighters up into the caves far outside the village. Any threat to the Government forces had passed.   But then Government fighters massed around Al-Bayda: regular Syrian Arab Army units, uniformed National Defence Force paramilitaries (the so-called Shabiha), and Syrian Army Special Forces operators.   From the outskirts where the skirmish had taken place, the Army and paramilitaries moved in. Along three axes, in coordinated deployments, they swept through Al-Bayda, moving from house to house.   At 1.30 p.m. the killing began.   Men and women were separated. The “men” – which included teenage boys – were either executed immediately, or marched to the village square to be killed en masse. Most were shot. Some were hacked to death with long knives or cleavers. At least one young boy, Luqman al-Hiris, was beheaded, in front of his mother.   In the house of Mustafa Biyasi, thirty women and children were herded into one room and then executed – shot at point blank range. Saffa Biyasi cuddled her baby boy, Hamza Biyasi. They were filmed later that night lying dead next to each other, serene despite their injuries. Afnan Biyasi and another small child spooned each other on the bed they were shot on, perhaps holding each other for comfort in the last moments before the bullets ripped through their tiny bodies.   By 5 p.m. the massacre was over.   The Syrian Army had killed at least 169 civilians in four hours. The verified final death toll is likely to exceed 250.   Dozens of bodies were stacked up in the local cell phone shop and burned, making them hard to identify. Um Mohammed, an eyewitness to the massacre, was able to identify the charred remains of her son only by the chipped fingernail he’d broken as a boy.   The next day Government forces returned and burned Al-Bayda. The sleepy village which once had a population of around 5,000 people was all but empty. Sunni refugees fled to rebel-held areas of Syria and then on to Turkey and Lebanon. If the Government’s strategy had been to cleanse Al-Bayda of its Sunni Muslim residents then they were successful: with the exception of a few elderly people too weak to leave, only the Christian quarter remains inhabited. Thirteen members of the Fattou family, who tried to return during the holy month of Ramadan, were murdered in their home by Syrian security forces on July 21st 2013.   What is almost as shocking as the eyewitness accounts of murder by uniformed Government troops is that the massacre at Al-Bayda was almost entirely unreported in the mainstream media: a few short news pieces, a report and brief overview in the Western press is really all the attention that Al-Bayda received. Despite a vast amount of unverified web chatter, few people, it seemed, were interested in uncovering the facts of what was at that time the war’s most tragic day.   “Sara” is a twelve-year-old girl who survived the massacre, and who found the body of her tortured and murdered father. She was interviewed for this project. When asked if there was anything she’d like to say to the people abroad who might see this film, she replied:   “The world should pay attention about what is happening in Al-Bayda. Why is everyone asleep? Why don’t they do something? We had one nursing baby who died in his mother’s lap. What has he done? Did he overthrow the president? People should stand up to them, to our enemies.  You cannot just keep quiet. This is not right. They have slaughtered all of us. They have emptied Al-Bayda. There is no one there anymore. It used to be called Al-Bayda – the White Village. Now they call it Al-Sawda – the Black Village.”

Ahmed Mohamed Othman - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Warning: this article contains extremely distressing footage and images

Ahmed Mohammed Biyasi - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Afnan Abdul Manam Biyasi - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Muaz Abdul Manam Biyasi - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Ibrahim Saqr - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

The names of the dead Ibrahim Mohammad al-Shaghry   Jamal Ismail   Ali Jamal Ismail   Khalid Ibrahim Biyasi   Anwar Fouad Jaafar Hassan Fouad Jaafar   Abdul-Sattar Mohammad al-Qadi   Abdul-Qadir Ahmed Hussein    Ahmad Mohammad al-Shaghry   Mohammad Ahmad al-Shaghry   Othman Ahmad al-Shaghry   Maher al-Shaghry   Mohammad Zaheir al-Shaghry   Abdul-Qadir Mohammad Taha   Muhanad Mohammad Taha   Ibrahim Mohammad Taha Moustafa Abed al-Qadir Taha   Mohammad Moustafa Taha   Abdul Rahman Mustapha Taha Maher Mohammad Qadur   Usama Mohammad Qadur   Hikmat Mohammad Qadur   Mohammad Hikmat Qadur Mohamoud Hassan Namoureh   Mohammed Hassan Namoureh   Hayat Yousef Taha   Ahmed Mohammad Biyasi   Mohammad Ahmed Biyasi   Salem Ahmad Khadam   Zakariya Ahmed Hussein  Manar Kaamil Biyasi   Yousef Suliman Yassein   Mustafa Yousef Yassein Karm Amr Suweid   Omar Youssef Taha   Khayr a-Din Youssef Taha   Mohammad Yousef Taha Shahadeh Mohammad Taha   Mohammad Shahadeh Taha   Maher Mohammed Taha   Ahmad Shahadeh Taha   Yaser Shahada Taha   Muyaser Shadahda Taha   Mustafa Taha   Abdul Rahman Mustapha Taha   Mohamed Mustapha Taha   Omar Aziz Biyasi   Omar Ahmed Biyasi   Yusra Hussein   Hamza Omar Biyasi   Abdul-Raziq Shaghri   Usama Abdul-Raziq Al-Shaghri   Abdul Khaliq   Ahmed Shaghri   Uthman Mustapha Suweid Said Mustapha Suweid   Ahmed Mustapha Suweid   Mohamad Musapha Suweid  Ali Mohamad al-Harith Jameela Mustapha Qadour   Jameela Munier Qadour   Khaldiyah Hussein   Marwan Ali Khalil   Saffa Ali Khalil   Abdul Rahman Abdul Qader al-Shaghri   Abdul Mun'am Abdul Qader al-Shaghri   Mustapha Ali Biyasi   Aisha Abdul Qader Qadour   Ahmed Youssef Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Mahmoud   Khalid Youssef Mahmoud   Mohammad Ali Mahmoud   Abdullah Mohammad Biyasi   Aisha Hussein   Nasiba Abdullah Biyasi Raniya Abdullah Biyasi Samia Abdullah Biyasi Ahlam Abdullah Biyasi Wala'a Abduallah Biyasi  Ahmed Abdullah Biyasi   Mohammad Abdullah Biyasi   Saffa Ali Biyasi Abdullah Mohammad Biyasi   Aisha Mohammad Biyasi   Sara Mohammad Biyasi   Mohammad Biyasi   Halima Mohammad Biyasi Hamza Mohammad Biyasi   Youssef Mohammad Biyasi   Mustapha Youssef Biyasi   Mohammad Yousef Biyasi Sh'aban Ahmed Sh'aban   Mustapha Ahmed Sh'aban   Haytham al-Agha   Ahmed Abdul-Rahman Abdul Rahman Ahmed Wareed   Mohamad Mustafa Da’bool   Mustafa Mohammad Da’bool Ahmad Hussein Jaafar   Ahmad Shaaban Al-Mohammad   Hassan Mohammad Othman Abdul-Karim Mohammad Othman   Ahmad Mohammad Othman Mohammad Taha   Safi Mohammad Taha   Khalid Mohammad Taha   Mohammad Khalid Taha   Ahmad Ali Hussein Ali Ahmad Hussein   A’laa Ahmad Hussein   Mu’iin Ali Khalil    Mustapha Hussein Qadour    Mohammd Hussein Qadour Jalal Hussein Qadour   Hadif Hussein Qadour   Mustafa Mohammad Qadour Fatima Mustafa A’soom   Faris Musafa Khalil   Mohammad Abdul Rahman Ismail Sana Mohammad Ismail   Walid Mohammad Hanood   Mohammad Hanood   Mustafa Ahmad   Khalouf Sha’ban Mohammad Abdul-Rahman Ismail   Mustafa Omar Hussein   Majed Omar Hussein   Az Al-Din Saeed Biyasi Ahmad Mohammad Qadour Abdul-Qadir Mohammad Qadour   Othman Ahmad Othman   Ahmad Mohammad Othman   Hussein Mohammad Ismail Umar Mohammad Al-Sheikh   Ali Mohammad Al-Sheik   Majid Mohammad Al-Sheikh   Amar Mohammad Al-Sheikh Mohammad Khalil Khalil Ghassan Mohammad Hussein   Mohammad Abdul-Aziz Hamoudeh   Mohammad Abdul-Aziz Hamoudeh Mu’iin Abdul-Aziz Hamoudeh   Ahmad Ali Saqr   Ahmad Mustafa Saqr   Ibrahim Mustafa Saqr   Osama Mustafa Saqr Ahmad Souweid   Safwan Ahmad Souweid   Manal Mohammad Saqr   Mu’aaz Abdul-Manaam Biyasi Amneh Abdul-Minaam Biyasi   Aiman Abdul-Minaam Biyasi   Afnan Abdul-Minaam Biyasi Ibrahim Hamed Mustafa Al-Shaghri   Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Shaghri   Lawi Namoura   Mazhar A’thoom Mustafa Sab’e   Khalid Sab’e   Ala’a Ismael   A’bid Ahmed   Mohammad A’bid Ahmed   Walid A’bid Ahmed Yusuf Yasin   Adnan Yusuf Yasin Luqman Yusuf Al Haras   Abdirahman Ahmed Hawash   Ziad Ahmed Hawash   Mohammed Ahmed Hawash Ali Ahmed Hawash   Ahmed Ahmed Hawash

Al-Bayda: Anatomy of a War Crime - Credits: Field Producer Abdulkader Al Dhon Graphics Trainor Davies Design Film Editor Tariq Sheik Assistant Producer and Second Camera Sasha Joelle Achilli             Filmed, Produced and Directed by  James Brabazon Al-Bayda: Anatomy of a War Crime – the Channel 4 News film directed by James Brabazon   Syria: Mass Executions by Government Forces - Human Rights Watch report on Al-Bayda

Hikmat Qadur - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Karam Umr Suweid - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Faris Halai - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Othman Ahmed al-Shaghri and Mohamed Ahmed al-Shaghri - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Unnamed dead - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Unnamed dead - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Umr Biyasi - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Unnamed dead - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.

Unnamed dead - murdered in Al-Bayda 02 May 2013.