🧵The man featured in Clarissa Ward's @cnni segment has been identified by @VeSyriaE as a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence. He is believed to have killed civilians, detained and tortured young men in Homs, and now seems to be trying to rehabilitate his image. (1) 🧵Now, even more so, @cnni has an immediate responsibility to investigate this coverage and to issue a public statement. It is very well possible that CNN may have unintentionally platformed this story and been misled, but it maintains a professional duty of care to clarify. (2)

🧵 It is incredulous that within just days of the Assad regime's fall, a number of European countries, including Germany, Austria, Denmark, and others have announced pauses in the processing of asylum applications. (1) There are so many things European countries could have prioritized following an Assad regime fall, be it a surge of humanitarian and civil society aid, support for a peaceful political process, or technical support for those liberating prisons or exhuming mass graves. (2)

Whether you are a lawyer or not, I recommend skimming through the 84 pg @CIJ_ICJ application brought by South Africa against Israel for genocide. It strings together key trends we've been witnessing for 84 days. It has a strong section on genocidal intent among Israeli officials. South Africa's @CIJ_ICJ application against Israel also highlights unique positionalities and impacts some may have missed, whether the elimination of cultural leaders and local caretakers of Gaza's heritage or the targeting of Christians seeking safety in church compounds.

It's surreal to watch the 10-min video about the "Wadi El Natroun Correctional & Rehabilitation Center," released by the Interior Ministry today & contrast it with the stories from families, lawyers, and former detainees on the current prisons inside Egypt It's jarring to see prison cells with televisions that broadcast cultural, sports & entertainment programming; beautiful libraries; and educational classrooms when Alaa Abdel Fattah continues to be denied access to all books and reading materials.

DMV Friends: 2,500 Afghans are expected to arrive and be resettled in the next few weeks. Lutheran Social Services (National Capital Area) has put out a call for those willing to assist in resettlement with their time, donations, and efforts.

More here: lssnca.org/take_action/af… .@LIRSorg is looking for volunteers in the Seattle/Tacoma, DMV, Houston, and Fort Worth areas to support resettled Afghan newcomers with airport pick-ups, apartment set-ups, or meals.

More details here: lirsconnect.org/get_involved/a…

Tomorrow, February 24, a verdict in the world's first-ever Syrian state torture trial will be handed down by the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany against one of two defendants: Eyad A.

For background on the case, @TimepDC's explainer: timep.org/commentary/ana… Ahead of the Feb 24 verdict in the world's first-ever Syrian state torture trial, be sure you follow:

@ECCHRBerlin (which supports 17 survivors in the case) & @SJAC_info for trial monitoring reports.

@Branch_251 for an English/Arabic podcast providing context around the trial.

Horrifying report from lawyers of Egyptian journalist Solafa Magdy.

On Nov 29, Solafa was blindfolded & taken from her cell to another room where a man asked her to become an informant. She refused. He threatened her, telling her she would not see her son again. He harassed her. Later on Jan 19, when Egyptian journalist Solafa Magdy was being transferred to her renewal hearing, she was made to undergo further abuse.

She was forced to entirely strip for an alleged search. She was later physically dragged to the police van for transfer.

As Lebanon's UPR closes, was promising to see many states raise press freedom, freedom of expression more broadly, and related issues like defamation prosecutions & attacks on journalists. #UPR37

Context on why this matters in @TimepDC & @CPJMENA's UPR resources in this 🧵.

https://twitter.com/maitelsadany/status/1351035327352365057

At Lebanon's #UPR37: Thank you @usmissiongeneva for calling for a stop to the prosecution of journalists; @UKMissionGeneva for calling for repeal of defamation provisions; @geneva_korea for calling for safety of journalists; @NLinGeneva for calling to uphold press freedom.

THREAD: (1) Female thugs attacked, beat & robbed the family of Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah as they sat outside of Tora Prison WHILE officers watched, did nothing & at one point--when they were seeking protection near the prison gates--told the thugs "take them outside." (2) On the watch of authorities, the thugs hit Alaa's youngest sister Sanaa on the head & the back with a shoum (large stick). His other sister Mona was dragged on the ground. His mom Dr. Laila Soueif was hit and pushed. The thugs stole their bags, IDs, money, everything on them.

Today, Assad called on refugees to return because Syria is "in need of all of its children" enabbaladi.net/archives/282494

Statements like this, though, don't match up with the reality on the ground. At @TimepDC, we've been tracking the laws that make a safe return for many impossible. Syria's counter-terrorism law, for example, employs a vague definition of terrorism that has been used to arrest those who dissent peacefully against the regime, to try and sentence them as terrorists, and to confiscate their assets. timep.org/reports-briefi… via @TimepDC