April 29, 2011 in Deraa

April 29, 2011, was the Friday protest day dubbed "break the siege." In the town of Saida, Deraa protests and/or the response turned violent, with many people shot dead, some allegedly abducted and killed under torture, including famous child martyr Hamza al-Khatib.

Reported Events
Location: Saida on Wikimapia, just east of Deraa city. Hamza and others came from al-Jeezah to the southeast. The incident is said to have occurred in or near the military housing complex, marked on the eastern edge of Saida.

Pro-Government Version
Syrian state TV aired the account of Abdel Aziz al-Khateeb, who claimed to be close friend of Hamza's. “On Friday, April 29th, I joined Hamza al-Khateeb and Mohammad Sweidan and Abdel Majeed al-Khateeb to the gathering place where we met other people from al-Mseifra and Bosra. We headed to the military residences in Saida accompanied by armed men." He also mentions they habd been equipped with "sharp arms" handed out by a local blacksmith. "As we reached there, some demonstrators opened fire toward the compound injuring one soldier. Later, there was a heavy fire exchange and we had to hide behind trees.”

Opposition Version
Amnesty International's report explains from activists and "people close to the family" of Hamza al-Khatib how he "joined many hundreds of people from al-Jeeza and other villages around Dera’a in peaceful marches towards the city in a symbolic attempt to break the blockade" As they happened to pass one random spot along the way, the report continues, "the protesters were attacked by Syrian security forces, who reportedly shot at them near the Saida military compound and arrested several hundred people."

An eyewitness in another group told Amnesty that he and some 20 others were in a van that happened to find itself "in the middle of the protest" as it was forming near "an area called Saida Military Residences, a housing complex for military personnel." People were waving olive branches and chanting "peaceful, peaceful." But then some chanted “Allahu akhbar!” and "a soldier called back “Chant for your own souls” and a minute later shooting suddenly began." Everyone left the van, took cover, and then tried to run, but 72-year-old Mahmoud al-Zoubi (al-Zu’bi) was too slow and was arrested (and of course brutally killed)

Seven al-Zoubis, aged 17-72, were among the 20 captured this day and then murdered, according to the report. Was Mahmoud's slowness from age, or just something that runs in the family?

Reported Victims
Amnesty's report lists 20 people detained April 29 and then killed, largely documented on video with torture marks. Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, age 13

Tamer Mohamed al-Shar’i, 15

Hussam Ahmed al-Zu’bi, 17

Nazir Abd al-Qadr al-Zu’bi, 20

Mahmoud Abd al-Rahman al-Zu’bi, 72,

4 other al-Zubi men, and 12 other men.

VDC martyrs database: 86 martyrs from Daraa province killed April 29: 1 FSA, 85 civilians. 79 men, 4 boys, 1 woman, 1 girl. 76 are listed as killed by "shooting," and these 10 by Detention-Torture - 8 men and two boys, Hamza, and Thamer. They also list a loss on the 'regime' side: from a total of 8 killed that day, one is listed as dead by shooting in Daraa, no details.

Hamza al-Khatib
Hamza Ali al-Khatib, age 13 (Arabic:	حمزة علي الخطيب )

VDC entry

His morgue photos as run by Zaman al-Wasl show apparent bullet or similar wounds to the arms and torso, possibly more but it's hard to tell. His card is numbered 23 in Eastern Arabic numbers, suggesting he was the 23rd unidentified body processed at this facility.

Age: Opposition sources universally agree Hamza was only 13 years old at the time he was killed. The Wikipedia page currently gives a birthday on October 24, 1997, a point under challenge on the talk page there). The imagery is less certain - certainly heavier, and perhaps years older than in the circulated photo. Coroner Akram al-Shaar described him as "a plump young man in his twenties," as usually reported in English. This is taken as conflicting badly with the usual 13. However, the Atlantic Wire's article noted a comment pointing out the original Arabic better translates as "in his second decade," so between 10 and 20, or vaguely just a teenager. (cited SANA report, dead link: http://www.sana.sy/ara/336/2011/06/01/350055.htm)

Castration claims: Initial claims were that young Hamza, among other injuries, had his penis cut off, which clearly would not fit with the government narrative. The official investigation apparently disagreed - judge Salem Abbas said “Since I am the one who undertook the investigation and the medical check up, I came to know that al-Khateeb died while he was inside the military compound’s surrounding from several gunshots without any traces of torture on the body.”

However, every source who claims to have seen the full photos says the claim is true - in publishing the photos, "respecting his dignity" with a blur, Lebanese daily Zaman al-Wasl stressed "the photos showed that Hamza’s penis was indeed cut off. With the blur, it's hard to tell, but some injury there seems likely. Ben Taub would write for the New Yorker in 2016 how the photos prove the claim (having seen them, or having trusted another's opinion, unclear), and claims there had been a medical exam that said the same; the official Syrian investigation "also found that a doctor who had reported that the boy’s penis had been cut off “had misjudged the situation in an earlier examination.”"

Thamer al-Sharei
Thamer Mohammed al-Sharei, age 15 (Arabic: ثامر محمد الشرعي )

VDC martyr entry

His morgue photos as run by Zaman al-Wasl show apparent bullet wounds in his arms, something to his side, and some kind of sharp tool wound into the left cheek, breaking his mouth apart. He has the number 12 on his card.

Victim Numbers
Thamer and Hamza have morgue photos now released showing they were numbered 12 (Thamer) and 23 (Hamza.) This could mean they were simply unidentified bodies #12 and 23 in the system at Deraa National Hospital. This would suggest at least 12 bodies were counted that one day, likely all connected to the day's incident.

The alternate version is these were their detainee numbers under Air Force Intelligence. Zaman al-Wasl even claimed "the most important aspect of the photos taken by regime was that the two boys’ bodies were numbered, which indicate that regime from the beginning of the Syrian revolution, intended to go for a long operation of arresting and torturing and possible death under torture."