Osama al-Habaly

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Osama al-Habaly ( Arabic اسامة الهبالي), also known as Osama al-Homsi ( Arabic اُسامة الحمصي; born in Homs , Syria ), is a Syrian cameraman, media activist and freedom fighter in the Syrian resistance against President Bashar al-Assad . After his arrest on August 18, 2012 on the Syrian- Lebanese border, his whereabouts are uncertain.

Homs - a broken dream

Osama al-Habaly documented the fighting in Homs with his camera in the form of several short films. He became internationally known as a cameraman and protagonist in the documentary Homs - A Destroyed Dream . The film shows the fight of a group of young Syrians, among them al-Habaly and his friend Abdul Baset Al-Sarout , against government troops in the city of Homs between August 2011 and August 2012. In order to protect his identity, al-Habaly appears in the film his stage name Osama al-Homsi (translated "Osama from Homs") on.

The film won first prize in the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary category at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival .

Wounding and disappearance 2012

Al-Habaly was hit by a mortar shell on April 4, 2012 as he was on his way home to the al-Chalidiya district of Homs. As a result, he suffered severe injuries and paralysis in his neck and right hand. He first fled to Beirut in Lebanon to treat his injuries . He underwent at least four operations in which several pieces of metal were removed from his head and body.

On his return to Syria, he was arrested by the Syrian military intelligence service on August 18, 2012 on the Syrian-Lebanese border in western Syria near the town of Tell Kalach . Since then, there has been no information about his whereabouts. Amnesty International has received information from a released prisoner who saw Al-Habaly on military intelligence in Homs and reported torture and other ill-treatment. The family believe that al-Habaly has been transferred to a department of military intelligence in Damascus .

The Syrian authorities have not yet received any information about his whereabouts and his state of health. Since shrapnel still remained in the body despite the previous operations (e.g. in his neck near the carotid artery), life-threatening injuries are to be expected. The reasons for the arrest and the question of whether official charges were brought are also unclear.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Homs - A Shattered Dream. (No longer available online.) Arte , archived from the original on December 27, 2014 ; accessed on December 28, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Swantje Karich: Only God and a handful of guns. FAZ , March 4, 2014, accessed December 28, 2014 .
  3. ↑ a b Danger to life. Amnesty International , October 23, 2012, accessed December 28, 2014 .
  4. ^ Return To Homs, Crew. Retrieved December 28, 2014 .
  5. ^ Jason Stern: Two years and no word of Osama al-Habaly. Committee to Protect Journalists , August 18, 2014, accessed December 28, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Osama al-Habaly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Osama al-Homsi; اسامة الهبالي (Arabic); اُسامة الحمصي (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Syrian cameraman
DATE OF BIRTH 20th century
PLACE OF BIRTH Homs , Syria