Siege of Hama (2011)

Siege of Hama
Part of the Civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War
Location	Hama, Syria
Target	Opposition protestors
Date	3 July[1][2] – 4 August 2011[3] (1 month and 1 day)
Executed by	Syrian Army
Outcome	Protests suppressed
Casualties	16 civilians killed in early July 2011[1] 200 civilians killed during Ramadan offensive[3] Total: 216+ killed

The Siege of Hama was among the nationwide crackdowns by the Syrian government during the early stage of the Syrian Civil War. Anti-government protests had been ongoing in the Syrian city of Hama since 15 March 2011, when large protests were first reported in the city,^[4] similar to the protests elsewhere in Syria as part of the wider Syrian Civil War. The events beginning in July 2011, were described by anti-government activists in the city as a "siege"^[5] or "blockade".^[6]

On 1 July, with more than 400,000 protestors, Hama witnessed the largest demonstration against Bashar al-Assad.^[2] Two days later, Syrian tanks deployed at Hama,^[7] in an operation that led to more than 16 civilian deaths at the hands of Syrian security forces.^[1]

On 31 July, the government of Syria sent the Syrian army into Hama to control protests on the eve of Ramadan, as part of a nationwide crackdown, nicknamed the Ramadan Massacre.^[8] At least 142 people across Syria died on that day, including over 100 in Hama alone, and 29 in Deir ez-Zor. Hundreds more have been wounded.^[9][10] By 4 August, more than 200 civilians had been killed in Hama.^[3]

Background

Early history

Hama has been the epicenter of Syrian civil war since the very event of the 1963 Ba'athist coup. As early as 1964, a wide scale riot, often described as uprising, broke out in the city, and was violently suppressed by the military, resulting in more than 70 citizens killed. Violence occurred once again during the 1976–1982 Islamic uprising in Syria, when hundreds of Hama citizens were executed in the April 1981 crackdown, whereas in February 1982, a much larger scale massacre took place in Hama, following an armed and organized uprising of Islamic groups, centered in the city. The 1982 Hama massacre claimed the lives of some 10,000 - 25,000 Hama citizens and Islamic militants and as many as 1,000 Syrian Army personnel.

Prelude

Major disturbances in Hama began on 3 June 2011, primarily in the city center, and on occasion in the suburbs. The Syrian security forces shot dead up to 25 people when they dispersed a demonstration by tens of thousands of locals in the city of Hama on Friday 3 June 2011.^[11]

On 1 July 2011, with more than 400,000 protestors, Hama witnessed the largest demonstration against Bashar al-Assad.^[2] Soon after, Assad sacked Hama's governor.^[12] Two days after, Syrian tanks deployed at Hama,^[7] in an operation that led to more than 20 civilians killed by the Syrian security forces and two rape cases were witnessed.^[1]

Chronology

July 2011

A map of Syria with Hama (مُحافظة حماه) Governorate highlighted.

Wikinews has related news: More than 100 reported dead after Syrian troops move against protesters

As the city of Hama became one of the main opposition centers of the popular uprising, taking place in Syria, Hama turned into a focal point of growing violence. An armed blockade was imposed on the city on 3 July.^[2]

On 6 July, a surprising step was taken by the US ambassador, Robert Ford, when he visited Hama and declared that he will stay there till Friday. Syria reacted with anger with this visit.^[13] On 8 July, more than 500,000 Syrians flooded through the city of Hama, according to activists, in what they claim was the single biggest protest yet against the embattled government of President Bashar al-Assad.^[14]

JJ Harder, the press attaché of the US embassy in Damascus, later told Al Jazeera: "Our ambassador Robert Ford was in Hama earlier this month, and he saw with his own eyes the violence that they are talking about. There was none. He maybe saw one teenager with a stick at a checkpoint, and the government is going on with these absolute fabrications about armed gangs running the streets of Hama and elsewhere. Hama has shown itself to be a model of peaceful protest. That was why our ambassador chose to go there."^[15]

The French ambassador joined the US one on that day to show the French support to the victims.^[16]

7 July had seen both the French and American ambassadors to Syria toured some of the nation’s hotspots. The American ambassador Robert Ford, had travelled, with the French ambassador Éric Chevallier to the city of Hama in what Robert Ford said was a gesture of solidarity with local protesters there.^{[17][18][19][20][21]}

On 8 July, more tanks were deployed around the outskirts of Hama, as part of a strengthening blockade, following protests involving an estimated 500,000 people the previous weekend.^[21] It has been estimated that up to 350,000 of the city's 700,000 population have taken part in many of the protests^[22]

Over 500,000 citizens had rallied in the city on 29 July, following Muslim prayers in which a pro-rebel cleric told the congregation "the regime must go".^[23] Local support for the government had imploded by 30 July in both Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Hama.^[23][24][25] President Assad sent his "Terror Buses" packed with private Alawite militia and party loyalists into Hama on 30 July.^[26]

On the eve of Ramadan, Syria witnessed the bloodiest day in its 139-day uprising against the single-party government, in which the Alawi-run government has allegedly targeted Sunni, Druze and Christian groups from across the country.^[24]

Abdel Rahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory For Human Rights said on 31 July that Syrian security forces launched an offensive at 5:00 am (0200 GMT) on Muadhamiya, to the north, then encircled Hama shortly afterwards.^[27]

In a separate incident on the same day, political prisoners attempted to mutiny in Hama's central prison, to which security forces responded with live ammunition. The death toll in the prison is unknown.^[28] The state news agency reported that eight policemen were killed in clashes in Hama.^[29]

The government has blamed much of the violence on terrorists and militants, who it says have killed hundreds of security personnel.^[30] At least 136 people have died, over 100 in Hama alone, and 19 in Deir ez-Zor. Hundreds more have been wounded. The crackdown was the most intense of the Syrian civil war thus far, with over 2,200 protesters dead since 15 March.^[9][15][31]

One Hama resident, a doctor who did not want to be identified for fear of arrest, told Reuters that tanks were attacking Hama from four different directions and "firing randomly". Another resident said snipers had climbed onto the roofs of the state-owned electricity company and the main prison, and that electricity had been cut in eastern neighbourhoods.^[15] Syrian government tanks also fired on mosques where the loudspeakers broadcast, "Allah Akbar".^[32]

A United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Syria was proposed by Russia and the Security Council met on the night of 31 July to debate the situation in Syria.^[25]

Syrian dissidents claimed that the tank assault on Hama on 31 July, in which 84 people had died, was an attempt to pacify and regain control of the city ahead of Ramadan and to avert protests during the holy month.^[33]

August 2011

Syrian security forces continued to bombard Hama on 1 August. Many of Hama's residents braved the obvious danger to head to mosques for dawn prayers. As they emerged onto the streets, the shelling resumed. Three worshipers were struck down and killed, while a fourth was shot dead by a sniper as he got into his car, opposition activists said. Tank shells struck residential buildings in the suburbs of al-Qousour and Al-Hamidiya. "The tanks are firing at random," one resident said. "They don't care who they hit. The aim seems to be to kill and terrify as many people as possible."^[25] "The number of those wounded is huge and hospitals cannot cope, particularly because we lack the adequate equipment," said Hama hospital worker, Dr Abdel Rahman.^[23] "It seems strange that the international community seems to care less about the people of Hama than the people of Benghazi," said Omar, a rebel activist in Damascus.^[24] The death toll in Hama and Homs was reportedly ’slightly enlarged’ according to the local governorate's sources.^[34] Government tanks also moved in on the eastern town of Albu Kamal. In the nearby city of Deir al-Zour, had witnessed upwards to 29 over that weekend.^[24][24]

Activists and witnesses said at least 24 civilians were killed in attacks on several cities, including Hama, on 1 August.^[30] Later that day, The European Union imposed travel bans on five more military and government officials and extended sanctions against Assad's government, including Syrian Defence Minister Ali Habib Mahmud.^[25][30]

The UN’s security council met to discuss the situation in Syria on 2 August. The US, UK and France wanted to formally condemn Syria, but Russia and China were afraid that "it could be used as a pretext for military intervention in Syria".^[35][36]

On 2 August, Syrian dissident Radwan Ziadeh asked US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to demand President Bashar al-Assad to step down.^[37]

By the morning of 3 August 2011, the city was under nearly continuous gunfire since the early hours of the morning and by midday Syrian army tanks stormed through rebel’s barricades in city of Hama, occupying a central square. A post on the Syrian Revolution Facebook page read "The army is now stationed in Assi Square," and "The heroic youths of Hama are confronting them and banning them from entering neighborhoods."^[38] The water, electricity and all communications in Hama and its surrounding villages and towns had been cut off, according to nearby online posts on social networking sites.^[38] The accounts could not be independently confirmed because the Syrian government banned foreign journalists from entering the country to report.^[38] Shaam, an online video channel that is aligned to the protest movement, posted a video dated 3 August that showed at least one tank attacking a neighbourhood that the narrator said was Hayy al-Hader in Hama; heavy plumes of smoke could be seen rising in the sky.^[38]

On 3 August, following the attacks, workers in Hama declared three days of general strike in memory of those killed by security forces.^[39]

The town’s pro-democracy movement, the Local Coordination Committee, had emailed a statement saying that shelling was especially concentrated in the Janoub al-Mala’ab and Manakh districts. The group also claimed in the E-mail that civilians were being shot and houses shelled.^[38] Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights, warned that "We might be witnessing another massacre in Hama."^[38]

Russia’s Foreign Ministry's Middle East and North Africa Department chief, Sergei Vershinin, reminded the UN that his country was not "categorically" against adopting a UN resolution condemning the violence in Syria, but the Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad urged India to ignore Western "propaganda" if there was a vote over it in the Security Council.^[40]

A total of 200 were killed in Hama by 4 August.^[3]

Aftermath

The Attorney General of the Hama Governorate announced his resignation on 1 September in response to the government crackdown on protests. The government claimed he had been kidnapped and forced to lie at gunpoint.^[41]

By late January 2012 activists said that four neighbourhoods in Hama were under opposition control.^[42]

On 28 February 2012, government forces shelled a town in Hama Province, Helfaya, killing 20 civilian villagers. Activists said the 20 deaths of Sunni Muslim villagers there were among at least 100 killed in the province in the last two weeks in government revenge attacks against innocent civilians.^[43]

International reactions

Supranational organisations

•  UN The Security Council passed a resolution that "condemns widespread violations of human rights and the use of force against civilians by the Syrian authorities." on 4 August.
•  European Union The European Union imposed travel bans on five more military and government officials and extended sanctions against Mr Assad's ruling clique on 1 August.^[25]

States

•  Germany -The chairman of the German government's committee on foreign relations declared that there should be a global boycott of Syrian gas and oil exports with the aim to pressure Syria into ending its violence against protesters.^[44] Meanwhile, on the same day (8 August), a German government spokesman declared that if Assad continues to reject dialogue and resort to violence, the Syrian government will lose its legitimacy.^[45]
•  Italy – Foreign Minister Franco Frattini called the events in Hama "a horrible act of violent repression against protesters."^[46]
•  Lebanon – Former Prime Minister and leader of the March 14 alliance Saad Hariri condemned what he called a "massacre" and the "bloody murders" that he said the Syrian people endure.^[47]
•  Russia - On 1 August, the Kremlin, which has been a Syrian ally, in the person of President Dmitri A. Medvedev strongly condemned the government's actions in Hama, calling them "unacceptable."^[25]
•  Turkey - President Abdullah Gül expressed horror over Syrian security forces' use of heavy weapons, including tanks, to quell civilian protests. "It's impossible to remain silent in the face of events visible to everyone. I urge the Syrian administration to stop violence against people and to carry out reforms to build the country's future on the base of peace and stability. We cannot remain silent and accept a bloody atmosphere," Gül said.^[48]
•  UK - A press release from the British Prime Minister’s office requested that President Bashar-al Assad 'should reform or step aside' on the noon of 1 August.^[49]

Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the attack later that day,^[50] but said that that any military action was not even "a remote possibility" and "There is no prospect of a legal, morally sanctioned military intervention".^[25]

•  United States – President Barack Obama said the reports from Hama were horrifying and demonstrated the true character of the Syrian government. "Once again, President Assad has shown that he is completely incapable and unwilling to respond to the legitimate grievances of the Syrian people," he said. He said he was appalled by the government's use of "violence and brutality against its own people".^[51] President Obama also vowed to diplomatically isolate president Bashar al-Assad as various human rights groups said that Syrian forces killed nearly 140 people in Syria on 31 July, including 100 when the army stormed the flashpoint city of Hama.^[52]

See also

• Hama Massacre
• Siege of Aleppo (1980)

References

Syrian Civil War Part of the Arab Winter   Background Timeline Background 1963 coup d'état 1966 coup d'état 1970 "Corrective Revolution" 1979–82 Islamic uprising 1999 Latakia protests 2000–01 Damascus Spring 2004 al-Qamishli riots Syrian occupation of Lebanon 2005 Damascus Declaration Human rights in Syria 2011 (Jan–Apr • May–Aug • Sep–Dec) Death of Hamza Ali Al-Khateeb Siege of Daraa Siege of Baniyas Talkalakh siege Siege of Rastan and Talbiseh Jisr ash-Shugur operation Siege of Hama Siege of Homs Jabal al-Zawiya operation Siege of Latakia Deir ez-Zor Clashes Rif Dimashq clashes Battle of Zabadani Battle of Douma Daraa Governorate clashes First Battle of Rastan Shayrat and Tiyas airbase ambush Idlib Governorate clashes Jabal al-Zawiya massacres 2012 (Jan–Apr • May–Aug • Sep–Dec) al-Midan bombing Second Battle of Rastan First Idlib operation First Battle of Idlib First Battle of al-Qusayr Second Idlib operation Battle of Taftanaz Third Battle of Rastan Houla massacre Battle of al-Haffah Al-Qubeir massacre Battle of Tremseh Battle of Damascus Damascus bombing Battle of Aleppo Battle of Anadan Siege of Base 46 First Rif Dimashq offensive Darayya massacre Battle of Khirbet al-Joz Battle of Maarrat al-Nu'man First Siege of Wadi Deif Battle of Harem Second Rif Dimashq offensive Battle of Darayya Aqrab massacre First Hama offensive Halfaya massacre Battle of Darayya Quneitra Governorate clashes Talbiseh bakery massacre 2013 (Jan–Apr • May–Dec) Battle of Safira Battle of Shadadeh Damascus offensive Battle of Raqqa Daraa offensive Third Rif Dimashq offensive Battle of Jdaidet al-Fadl Ghouta chemical attack Al-Qusayr offensive Second Battle of al-Qusayr Bayda and Baniyas massacres Second Hama offensive Hatla massacre Khan al-Assal chemical attack Khan al-Assal massacre Adra massacre Battle of Ras al-Ayn Fourth Rif Dimashq offensive Aleppo offensive 2014 (Jan–Jul • Aug–Dec) First Inter-Rebel Conflict Battle of Markada First Deir ez-Zor Offensive Battle of Mork 2nd Daraa Offensive Maan massacre Al-Otaiba ambush 4th Idlib Offensive Battle of Hosn 2nd Latakia Offensive Battle of Al-Malihah Kafr Zita chemical attack Second Siege of Wadi Deif 2nd Qalamoun Offensive Battle of Arsal First Battle of the Shaer gas field Eastern Syria Offensive Battle for Tabqa Air base 3rd Hama Offensive Quneitra Offensive 6th Rif Dimashq offensive Siege of Kobanî 3rd Daraa offensive 2nd Al-Safira offensive Idlib Raid Second Inter-Rebel Conflict Second Battle of the Shaer gas field Battle of Al-Shaykh Maskin 2nd Deir ez-Zor offensive 2015 (Jan–Jul • Aug–Dec) An-26 crash 4th Daraa Offensive Southern Syria Offensive Eastern al-Hasakah offensive 1st Battle of Sarrin 2nd Battle of Sarrin Battle of Bosra 5th Idlib Offensive Second Battle of Idlib Battle of Nasib Border Crossing 2nd Battle of Yarmouk Camp Western al-Hasakah offensive Palmyra offensive (May 2015) Tell Abyad offensive Kobanî massacre Quneitra offensive Palmyra offensive (July–August 2015) Northwestern Syria offensive 2015 Aleppo offensive 2015 Al-Hawl offensive Homs offensive (November–December 2015) East Aleppo offensive (2015–16) Latakia offensive (2015–present) Tishrin Dam offensive 2015 Russian Sukhoi Su-24 shootdown 2016 (Jan–Jul Second Battle of Al-Shaykh Maskin Deir ez-Zor massacre Sayyidah Zaynab bombings Northern Aleppo offensive (2016) Al-Shaddadi offensive (2016) February Sayyidah Zaynab bombings Spillover Spillover into Lebanon Lebanese–Syrian border clashes Battle of Sidon Iranian Embassy Bombing Northern Lebanon Clashes Syrian-Turkish border clashes December 2011 Syrian–Turkish border clash Turkish aircraft shootdown October 2012 Syrian-Turkish border clashes Reyhanlı bombings January 2014 Turkish airstrike in Syria Israeli–Syrian ceasefire line incidents Jordanian-Syrian border clashes April 2014 Jordanian–Syrian border airstrike Spillover into Iraq Akashat ambush Operation al-Shabah April 2014 Iraqi–Syrian border airstrike   Parties involved Syria Syrian Government Syrian 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al-Haj Saleh Bouthaina Shaaban Adib Shishakly Abdulbaset Sieda Riad Seif Fadwa Soliman Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid Yaser Tabbara Razan Zaitouneh Rami Jarrah Abdurrahman Mustafa   Issues Peace process Related topics Issues Casualties Chemical weapons Cities and towns Damaged heritage sites Foreign involvement Human rights violations Humanitarian aid International reactions International demonstrations and protests Massacres Refugees (European migrant crisis) Sectarianism and minorities Spillover into Lebanon Syrian reactions Peace process Arab League monitors Friends of Syria Group Kofi Annan peace plan UN Supervision Mission Lakhdar Brahimi peace plan U.S.–Russia peace proposals on Syria 39th G8 summit UN Security Council Resolution 2118 Geneva II Conference 2015 Zabadani cease-fire agreement 2015 Vienna talks 2016 Geneva talks Related topics 2014 Syrian detainee report Fourth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit Conference International recognition of the Syrian National 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