Zainab Alhusni, the young woman reportedly slain and mutilated while in Syrian custody, appears to be very much alive.
ed note–with the following story as just one example, we must ask ourselves (rhetorically, of course) HOW MANY OTHER stories fed us by the JMSM concerning the “outrages” inflicted upon the ‘freedom fighters’ of Syria by the Asad regime are mere fabrications?
cnn.com
A young woman appeared on Syrian TV on Wednesday and identified herself as Alhusni, whose reported mutilation stirred outrage and condemnation across the world, long angered by the tough government crackdown against protesters there.
Her family confirmed that the woman on TV is indeed Alhusni, but they have not yet been able to speak to her, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint statement.
“I saw on TV that security forces detained me and burned my body … and that they cut it up and handed it to my parents,” said the woman, who resembles pictures of Alhusni obtained by CNN.
After that, the woman, who is from the restive city of Homs, said she decided to tell authorities the “truth.”
“I am now alive and not dead,” the woman said on TV.
Several sources told CNN last month that the 18-year-old woman had stepped away from her home in July to buy groceries and was whisked away by Syrian security forces to coax the surrender of her activist brother, Mohammed, who often led demonstrations against embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A neighbor, activists, and human rights groups said she ended up beheaded and dismembered.
They said the woman’s family reported her body had been returned to them by the government.
The family held a funeral and buried the body, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said.
The groups issued a statement saying they regret any inaccuracy in the misidentification of the body as that of Alhusni, and that both organizations regularly verify their information with multiple and independent sources.
Amnesty International said it had spoken directly to one of Alhusni’s brothers to confirm the death, and Human Rights Watch later interviewed the woman’s mother as well as a brother who washed the corpse prior to burial.
“It now appears that Zainab’s family misidentified the body that was presented to them due to the extensive damage to the body,” the groups said.
In the Syrian TV interview, the woman said she left home without telling her parents and went to live with relatives about five days before Ramadan, which would have been in late July. She said her parents didn’t know she is alive.
“I ran away because my brothers used to torture me and beat me. That is why I left,” she said.
She said security forces never detained her or raided their house.
