Witness Profile: Moaed Dumane

August 5, 2018

Just a quick post since I already did the research. This is a minor witness, not widely-cited or seemingly central to things. But he does seem to be a liar. 

https://www.newyorker.com/news/as-told-to/a-survivor-describes-the-chemical-attack-in-syria

"Moaed Dumane, a twenty-seven-year-old media activist and political-science student who works with the Syrian opposition," spoke with reporter Fariba Nawa before he left with those who preferred Islamist-controlled Idlib over government-controlled Douma. Dumane almost surely means Doumani, which is sometimes a real name, but on a guy from here, it's likely a pseudonym, meaning "from Douma." Abu Hamza al-Doumani, for example, is a made-up activist name.

"He has lived in the besieged rebel enclave for nearly all of Syria’s seven-year civil war. He said that thirty-three members of his family were killed in executions by Syrian government forces in 2012, including his father, his brother, two of his uncles, and many of his cousins. He was shot in the hand and survived by playing dead beneath the bodies of his relatives."

But this fighting age male miraculously survived, got to live and speak for everyone else. Huh. 33 family members killed. Well, these should largely have the same last name as he (brothers and sisters, father but not mother, brothers' kids but not sisters' kids, etc.). The Douma-based VDC lists:
* No one named "Dumane" killed in the whole war
* 5 Doumanis killed in 2012 by all causes, in all areas: none from Douma 
* 172 of all names from Douma, field executed in 2012 - 21 women, 7 boys, 6 girls,  138 men/left blank. Of these:
** 5 named Koubaitari, 6 named Safadi, no name repeated enough to be his 33-member family. Other names are less common yet.
** But nearly half the entries, 56 total, are unidentified (all men/left blank). Probably one of those is a single family of 33 representing the bulk of those the ruling Islamists didn't bother naming. But I see no day where 33 are listed as dying. The worst days are Aug. 17 (12 killed, all UNID) and Sept. 4 (19 dead, all UNID). These do total 31, but no 33+ on any single day. Were they killed in 2 big shifts, and never named, despite this media activist? He happens to be a member of the most-killed yet unnamed family in Douma massacre history, who survived that purge to tell that and other tales.

Or are they named? Somehow I forgot to scan page 2 until after checking an old ACLOS page.
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Douma_Massacre_(early_July)
directs to still active alleged witness video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOdg3G4ttUQ
14 family members attacked June 28 for no reason, Shabiha killed 10 dead, 2 were wounded, 2 unwounded - the guy speaking seems to have no hand wound, but he has a bandaged foot, and might be the or a survivor - might be about 21, here in 2012, to Moaed's 27 in 2018. He says 2 nephews bled to death (are these among the 2 wounded or 10 killed?) - named Mahmoud Salem Temeh and Nizar Temeh. This appears (varied spelling) in the VDC's database for June 28 Douma executions. The names given don't appear, but some entries are unnamed sons of Alaa and Yaser Tomeh - none from a Salim - But it's not 10, 12, or even 14 dead, but 19 just named Tomeh, or unnamed wife of one, +10 others named al-Roub, Sleik, Restum, Awad, and Smadi, should include a wife or two, and perhaps are all interrelated. (Smadi appears as the name of a woman victim of the Douma chemical attack on April 7, 2018). The 29 are 16 men, 8 women, 3 boys, 2 girls. same day, all causes, 70 killed in Douma, those 29 plus 51 killed by shooting, shelling. 4 men named Al-Slek killed by shelling - app. related to Sleiks massacred, who are perhaps related to the rest killed - 29+4 = 33 possible family members killed in a rather targeted massacre.

So that might be Moaed's story, or maybe he's the other of 2-4 survivors, while the other fighting-age guy the same age with a wounded foot also survived - or maybe this just can't be correlated with anything on the record.

Anyway, he also survived the Douma chemical attack and told the tale.
“On Saturday, heavy shelling and air strikes started in Douma, targeting everything that was moving. I was with my family and the neighbors in the shelters. The Assad regime was attacking us. Several barrel bombs fell from a helicopter, and then there was a strong, strange smell."

Note: chlorine's smell should not be "strange" to most people, especially after years of reported incidents across Syria. By experience or repetition, everyone should be aware what it smells like, and describe it as "like cleaning products" or something. This could mean nothing, or be a clue to some special knowledge.

"We, my friends and I, who document atrocities, couldn’t move closer to the area because of continued shelling. After the bombardment subsided, we went to check out where the barrel bombs fell, then we saw a lot of families in their homes who couldn’t escape."

How many people did they see in how many homes? We saw 35 bodies in a few apartments in one building.

“Their pupils were narrow. Most victims were women and children. It was a horrific scene. The smell was extremely strong. The dead were moved to makeshift medical clinics. Most were dead from suffocation. The attack didn’t stop that night but the next day. The medical clinics were bombed, and most were completely destroyed. The locations that were shelled were the homes of civilians, far away from front lines."

The locations also seem to be where no bombs fell that day, but where activists Moaed might know seemingly dragged two chlorine cylinders into place and set the gas flowing.