Monday 12 September 2011
Today, Syrians struggle for the very soul of their country.
We are Anonymous, the global resistance to tyranny #OpSyria.
Greetings to our friends around the world, As you read this, Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria, wages a bloody and brutal war on his people who seek nothing more than self-expression in the face of oppression.
The Syrian government actively controls the free flow of information for its own sinister motives through a complete international media blackout. The state owns a monopoly over the Syrian media, prohibits any critical analysis of the regime, and freely arrests journalists and bloggers on a whim. Digital surveillance is common, and upon arrest, many citizens are tortured until they reveal their social network accounts and passwords.
Indeed, the Syrian public faces the very real threat of strict monitoring of all online activity through a widespread government surveillance system. Every single Syrian’s web browsing is monitored, censored and recorded at all times using technology provided by Blue Coat Systems. Surveillance software has been installed at all Internet cafes to record every single site visited and word typed. In Syria, simply viewing a website can get you arrested. Such extreme restrictions and surveillance are violative of essential human rights.
For all the attempts to hide their atrocities from the international media, Assad and his corrupt cronies cannot hide the blood and tears of the Syrian people. For months, security forces have systematically engaged in murder, beatings, torture, disappearances, imprisonment and other inhumane acts aimed at stopping the quest for freedom and democracy.
In early August, forces pulled thousands from their homes, herded them into a sports stadium, seized their IDs and cell phones, and detained them for days. A two-year old girl was shot in the eye and killed – her father then shot and detained as he rushed to her lifeless body. A popular blogger was detained in July and has not been seen since then. A famous political cartoonist was beaten, had both hands broken and warned to stop satirizing government officials. Yet the Syrian government claims it has only engaged in operations to combat armed terrorist gangs. However, what gangs are spread over 185 thousand square kilometers and are comprised of children, bloggers and cartoonists?
Anonymous will not stand by idly while states like Syria degrade the common humanity of their citizens through the menaces of violence, surveillance and repression. We will actively challenge governments that engage in censorship and that wage bloody wars on their own people. We will strike in defense of the Syrian people. Assad: we will ensure that the world knows of your brutality and of the suffering of your people. Your blatant lies will be laid bare for the entire world to see. We will do everything we can to assist the Syrian people until you are toppled from power.
Today, Syrians struggle for the very soul of their country. As long as the state uses oppressive tactics to restrict its people, we will not rest. The road to Damascus has been taken and there is no turning back now.
Come for the revolution, stay for the lulz,
We Are Anonymous.
We are RevoluSec
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect Revolution.
IRC: irc.anonops.li (port: 6667 | SSL port: 6697) #opSyria
