Ali Al-Sayed

Ali Al-Sayed, survivor


 * Age: 11 (stated), 8-9 (visual)

Ali is more-or-less the star witness of the case for a loyalist massacre in Al-Houla. Widely publicized and adorable, he also made clear the nature of the horror racking Syria in a way consistent with previous Western thought.

But is he reliable? The UN's report, released June 27, shared their investigators' doubts about a boy that's clearly Ali:


 * "There is an alleged survivor, a young boy, and the CoI was able to interview him via skype. The CoI also considered video evidence posted by anti-Government groups of the boy being interviewed by others. In both interviews he blamed the killings on Shabbiha and soldiers of the Syrian army. In one interview the survivor stated that the perpetrators arrived together in tanks. The CoI took note of the age of the boy and duly considered his suggestibility."

The following analysis has been summed up more readably in this external article at Syria News.

Accounts and Initial Contacts
Young Ali has spoken to the world of his alleged ordeal through phone/skype communications, apparently starting on May 28. There is one main video interview with numerous postings, apparently done remotely by a video connection, conducted by an un-named man. He also spoke to Martin Chulov of the UK Guardian via Skype, first un-named but with plenty of detail, then named amongst other witnesses and activists explaining their version of the massacre. Both of those occurred on or before the 28th, but he also spoke to the Associated Press the same way on the 30th. In the french-speaking media, he was interviewed as well and seems to have build some kind of stardom, and attraction of motherly journalists who love him for his apparent courage.

Ali reportedly had no surviving family and, as Chulov noted, was living with “a town elder who is a member of the Syrian Revolutionary Council and is now caring for him,” as well as arranging the discussion. The AP contacted him "through anti-regime activists in Houla who arranged for an interview with the child over Skype." If we consider him impressionable, it's quite clear who would be doing the impressing and what basic form it would take.

The details of his accounts will be considered below, subject-by-subject.

POEwEiqTavA Interview with Ali, uploaded to youtube on May 28,2012

Recalling his Family
Ali gives his killed father as Ali Alsayed (0:37 ) and to the Guardian as either Aref or Shawki: "They said they wanted Aref and Shawki, my father and my brother" and "my uncle, Abu Haidar." There he cites six murders in his household; "my father and uncle," "Aref, my oldest brother," his mother, and younger siblings Nader and Rasha. He happened to see the same soldiers afterwards (see below) and "they were describing six people dead in my house. They included me. They thought I was dead." By this, he thinks only five were killed.

In the video interview, he names a brother Shaoqi (Shawki), his father Ali, and two uncles: Oqba, and Aref, unclear who was arrested as opposed to killed. Only one other sibling can fit to give us five, but in general he's cited three younger siblings being killed (for a minimum death toll of seven): Nader was 6 (shot in the back and the head, mentioned to Chulov, the AP, and by injury in the video). His sister Rasha was 5 (mentioned to Chulov and the AP), and brother Aden was 8 (mentioned to the AP). Only the total younger siblings cited on video matches with his one specified death toll to Chulov.

Despite the amazing confusion over his immediate family and their names, Ali's two accounts consistently suggest another - unnamed - uncle was complicit in the killings. To the Guardian, he reported running to his uncle's house for safety. The soldiers who had attacked his home then arrived at the same house and, unseen, he overheard them "asking his uncle if he knew who lived in the house that they just rampaged through." [5] In the video, he says his uncle(s) and brother were taken away, rather than killed there. He said "the next day I saw them dead on the government TV channel. My uncle came on saying that armed gangs killed his children.” The name of this uncle is unspecified in both cases, but the speaker of the Peoples' Assembly is likely to be featured on state TV following the murder of his family. It therefore seems possible Ali is here implicating Mashlab in the massacre of his own family.

The one known witness list (from the Damascus Center for Human Rights Study), comprehended with Google translate, doesn't clearly contain any names Al-Sayed (السيد). There is a family name Arif or Aref (عارف), the first name of Ali's father/uncle/brother, for entries 30, 31, 48, and 93. Family matches include Nader (#30) and Rasha (#48), a younger brother and sister cited by Ali. Tthe other two Arifs given as dying are Mohammed and Adel. The name Adel is of further interest. To the AP, Ali cited a brother Aden (Adel?), aged 8, who was also killed. Anti-government activist Maysara al-Hilawi described to Reuters a single survivor of the Al-Sayed family: "A baby, Ali Adel al-Sayyed, miraculously survived." Der Spiegel spoke to Ali as well, in July, and reported his name as Ali Adil Al-Sayed, still aged 11. The DCHRS victim list also contains one "Mr. Adel Shawki," perhaps meaning "Mr. Aref Shawki," meaning the brother/father Shawki that Ali cited. Thus it seems possible the related entries were gatheredfrom Ali himself,who managed to confuse things again to create the mess recorded here.

Attackers and the Attack
In the video, Ali says eleven soldiers entered his home after emerging from "the tank." To Chulov, he said “they came in armoured vehicles and there were some tanks.” To the AP, he said they arrived "in a military armored vehicle and a bus." In general, he describes them as primarily military in appearance, with some in uniforms and some in civilian clothes.

In various details he clearly describes them as Alawites and Assad loyalists. At 2:07 in the video, he's asked “how did you know it was the army, not armed gangs?” He answered “the tank was outside, they came out of it. … Eleven people. They were dressed as military. Some of them wore regular clothes, had shaved heads and beards. Shabiha [thugs]” When questioned by Chulov on how he knew who the attackers were, he responded "why are you asking me who they were? I know who they were. We all know it. They were the regime army and people who fight with them. That is true." Later, he was quoted by Chulov as saying the attackers “spoke with an Allawite accent," and “said they were from Foulah. They were Shabiha. And they were proud of it."

He agrees in all accounts his mother was killed after shouting at the soldiers. In the video, he says "my mom screamed at them as they were arresting Shaoqi and my uncle(s)," who were taken alive but killed before the next day. AP reported back "the men led Ali's father and oldest brother outside," and then she screamed "Why did you take them? Why did you take them?'" To Chulov, she and the children were shot dead while the sought men hid in the house. “My mum yelled at them ... ‘What do you want from my husband and son?’" They shot her dead, tried to kill Ali, and murdered Nader and Rasha, then started looting. After all of this, "on the way out of the house, the boy said the gunmen found the three men they had been looking for. They killed them all. “They shot my father and uncle. And then they found Aref, my oldest brother, near the door. They shot him dead too.”

Other Details
In general, Ali claims he escaped only after the attackers left, having played dead until that point. They had found him and shot right at him, he's said, but managed to miss, and then he dramatically smeared himself with someone else's blood as a disguise. Some sources say it was his mother’s blood he used, but no primary sources seem to support that. Martin Chulov reported in the Guardian “he smeared himself in the blood of his slain brother," apparently Nader, having mentioned his shooting as seeing his spirit leave his body just before this. To the AP, he specified it was Nader's blood he hid beneath. However, in the video interview, he doesn't mention smearing himself with blood at all. He says that when they shot and missed, he was actually "hit," or grazed on the back of his right hand. He shows this to the camera, which can make out what seems like three faint scratches, less than three days after the massacre. It seems it was his own bloodied hand that he used; "after they killed us, I went like this (right hand covering the side of his face), acting like I was shot." There are other points he was more consistent on between his Guardian and video interviews. For example, the number of bullets (five) fired through the front door lock. The stolen items are consistent; on video, he lists three televisions, a computer, and a vacuum cleaner. The Guardian's Martin Chulov failed to mention the vacuum, but listed the rest. When Ali spoke to the team from Der Spiegel, the list changed to two TVs, a computer, and the family's washing machine.

His strong personal conviction that the Syrian people needed foreign intervention is a point he's stated clearly and not contradicted. In the video (3:09-3:38 ),


 * "I demand that the international community stop the killing in Syria & in Houla … We’re being killed in our homes. The international community is sitting, just talking and not doing anything. The people must fight for us, do what they say, and protect us.”

Acceptance by UN Investigation
According to the UNHRC's final report on, in part, the Houla massacre (August 15, 2012), it was reported the accounts of children in particular “remained consistent,” the report noted, “despite the fact that they were conducted over an extended period of time” and with “different investigators.” This clearly refers, in part if not primarily, to the main or only known child witness, Ali. And as we can see, remaining consistent from source to source is not his strong suit.