When Mustafa Al Wetti hears the harrowing sound of air strikes, he doesn't run from them - instead, he rushes towards the crime scene to take photos of the wreckage with his phone.
The Syrian government's bombardment that he is documenting in Idlib has reached an unprecedented level, with the United Nations urging a month-long, nationwide ceasefire to allow access to humanitarian aid.
Idlib, Syria's last rebel-held province, is one of four areas to fall under a "de-escalation" agreement brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey as a way to prepare the ground for peace talks. But the Syrian regime has intensified air strikes in recent weeks, hitting hospitals, levelling homes and killing civilians. More than 200 died in the past week alone in the Eastern Ghouta region, another de-escalation zone.
Mr Al Wetti, 27, joined other civil society activists and lawyers at a conference in Istanbul last week to discuss how evidence such as mobile-phone photos and videos could be used to achieve justice.
"I was there [in Idlib] just last month," he told The National. "Every time I enter a building that has just been struck, it's the same horrible scene. Children are crying, their parents have their limbs dangling from their bodies."
Mr Al Wetti saves each image and video on his computer in the hope that one day he will have the opportunity to show them as evidence against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
“In 1981 there was a massacre in Hama,” he explained, referring to the Syrian regime's killing of more than 500 members and sympathisers of the Muslim Brotherhood.
At the time, it was termed the single deadliest act by any government against its own people in the Middle East.
“But hardly anyone knew — if it happened today, we would have pictures and videos. It would be impossible to deny these crimes,” said Mr Al Wetti.
While thousands like him have tirelessly documented every moment of the seven-year conflict, many have encountered obstacles when using their documentation as evidence.
In 2017 YouTube implemented a new feature to detect extremist content through an algorithm — and by extension, deleted hours of footage documenting war crimes in Syria. While activists and technologists have been able to restore some of the channels, thousands more have been permanently lost.
Another shared frustration among civil society activists is that many of them are documenting the same events, but not co-ordinating with one another. Without efficient communication many fear that they are merely doubling their sometimes life-risking efforts across the country, but not the results.
“There needs to be a functional mechanism for co-ordination,” Yasmin, an activist who asked that her surname be withheld, said at the conference.
Yasmin believes there should be a collective effort to create a comprehensive list of names of those who are still missing or detained across the country. “Otherwise each of us are starting from the beginning, every time.”
The lawyers involved in building case files with the goal of prosecuting members of the Syrian government are adamant that each video and image needs to be carefully analysed and its authenticity verified.
“We have so many videos and pictures, but we need to make sure that we can verify each one. Plenty of people will try to discredit them if they see them, so we must learn new tools so that we can pay close attention to these details,” said Soha, a Syrian lawyer in Gaziantep who asked that her surname be withheld for security reasons.
She hopes to become better-versed in tools such as meta-data to cross-reference information about videos and images.
“This is our next fight,” she said.
Business Insights
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8 UAE companies helping families reduce their carbon footprint
Greenheart Organic Farms
This Dubai company was one of the country’s first organic farms, set up in 2012, and it now delivers a wide array of fruits and vegetables grown regionally or in the UAE, as well as other grocery items, to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi doorsteps.
www.greenheartuae.com
Modibodi
Founded in Australia, Modibodi is now in the UAE with waste-free, reusable underwear that eliminates the litter created by a woman’s monthly cycle, which adds up to approximately 136kgs of sanitary waste over a lifetime.
www.modibodi.ae
The Good Karma Co
From brushes made of plant fibres to eco-friendly storage solutions, this company has planet-friendly alternatives to almost everything we need, including tin foil and toothbrushes.
www.instagram.com/thegoodkarmaco
Re:told
One Dubai boutique, Re:told, is taking second-hand garments and selling them on at a fraction of the price, helping to cut back on the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothes thrown into landfills each year.
www.shopretold.com
Lush
Lush provides products such as shampoo and conditioner as package-free bars with reusable tins to store.
www.mena.lush.com
Bubble Bro
Offering filtered, still and sparkling water on tap, Bubble Bro is attempting to ensure we don’t produce plastic or glass waste. Founded in 2017 by Adel Abu-Aysha, the company is on track to exceeding its target of saving one million bottles by the end of the year.
www.bubble-bro.com
Coethical
This company offers refillable, eco-friendly home cleaning and hygiene products that are all biodegradable, free of chemicals and certifiably not tested on animals.
www.instagram.com/coethical
Eggs & Soldiers
This bricks-and-mortar shop and e-store, founded by a Dubai mum-of-four, is the place to go for all manner of family products – from reusable cloth diapers to organic skincare and sustainable toys.
www.eggsnsoldiers.com
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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UAE tour of the Netherlands
UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures: Monday, first 50-over match; Wednesday, second 50-over match; Thursday, third 50-over match
Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Fourth Estate
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Results
STAGE
1 . Filippo Ganna (Ineos) - 0:13:56
2. Stefan Bissegger (Education-Nippo) - 0:00:14
3. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:21
4. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:24
5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) - 0:00:30
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 4:00:05
2. Joao Almeida (QuickStep) - 0:00:05
3. Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep) - 0:00:18
4. Chris Harper (Jumbo-Visma) - 0:00:33
5. Adam Yates (Ineos) - 0:00:39
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Take Me Apart
Kelela
(Warp)
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Ponti
Sharlene Teo, Pan Macmillan
'The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window'
Director:Michael Lehmann
Stars:Kristen Bell
Rating: 1/5
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
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On sale: Now
