Similar Regimes, Same Tactics

June 3, 2011


It's not a coincidence that Cuban dictator Raul Castro and Syrian dictator Bashir al-Assad are such close friends.

They (tragically) share the same tactics -- the murder of dissidents, the manipulation of coroners and the intimidation of relatives.

From AP:

A medical examiner and relatives of a late Cuban dissident have concluded that he died of natural causes and showed no signs of being beaten, as some government opponents have claimed, Cuba's official news media said Thursday.

Juan Wilfredo Soto's sister and other relatives who accompanied him to the hospital said he did not mention any police abuse, the Communist Party newspaper Granma reported.

"It's a big lie that he was beaten," Rosa Soto Garcia was quoted as saying. "He did not have a single mark on him."

Other Cuban dissidents have accused police of hitting Soto when they detained him May 5 in the central city of Santa Clara.

From The Daily Star:

A Syrian boy, who activists say was tortured and killed by security forces, has emerged as a powerful symbol in protests against the rule of President Bashar Assad which have been met with a bloody crackdown.

A childhood snapshot of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib has been emblazoned on posters by protesters across Syria after a YouTube video of his bloodied corpse sparked international outrage [...]

Coroner Akram al-Shaar verified the claims, saying, according to a transcript on the state news agency: "There are no marks on the surface of the body that show violence, resistance or torture using the nails or scratching or bruises, or fractures, or joint-dislocation," Shaar said.

A man who identified himself as Khatib's father on Syrian TV said he had met with Assad who "engulfed us with his kindness, graciousness and promised to fulfil the demands which we've called for with the people."

"The president considered Hamza his own son and was deeply affected," the man said, adding Assad had promised reforms would start the next day.