Brice Laine/CNN
By Sebastian Shukla and Jomana Karadsheh, CNN
In the central Syrian desert, an oil field has become a makeshift torture chamber. An unarmed man writhes in the dust, howling in pain. Four men in military fatigues pin him down and smash his hands and feet with a sledgehammer.
As he cries out for help, they taunt him in Russian, drowning out his agonized screams with laughter. In the background of the video, which was uploaded online, a nationalist Russian military song, “I am Russian special forces,” plays.
The victim in this harrowing amateur video is Mohamad, a 31-year-old Syrian construction worker and father of four young children, who disappeared on his way home from a job in neighboring Lebanon in March 2017.
This Syrian refugee wants justice after his brother was tortured and killed by Russian mercenaries
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Russia Continues Campaign Against Jehovah s Witnesses, Fines Three For Activities
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Details Diana Fishman
In June, the Russian authorities focused on purging the political space ahead of the September elections: Criminal cases were opened against oppositionists Maxim Reznik, Ketevan Kharaidze, and Dmitry Gudkov. New guilty verdicts were given to participants in the January protests in support of Navalny and against the arbitrariness of the authorities. Persecution of Muslims associated with the Hizb ut-Tahrir party an organization recognized as terrorist in Russia continued in the regions.
Upper row (left to right): Maxim Reznik, Ketevan Kharaidze, Dmitry Gudkov. Lower row: Ildar Ibragimov, Roman Pichuzhin, Alexander Glushkov. Photo: official website of the St. Petersburg legislative assembly, YouTube, Wikipedia, Memorial, OVD-Info.
Eight organizations receive about 70% of all foreign agent nonprofit funding, says MP
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