A Call to all Assyrians, to all the Honorable Citizens and to all the Supporters of a Lawful Government in the Free Syria

The whole story in its full details is that four Assyrian youths from the village of Tel-Sakra were planning on attending a soccer (football) match on the other side of the Khabour River which separates the Assyrian villages in the district of Tel-Tammer. Due to the non-existence of bridges on the river to connect these villages together, the residents of the villages are still using their primitive resources to travel between the two banks of the river.

The four youths had requested from a man, whom they had seen by chance on the other side of the river where he was fishing, to bring them the small boat, which is used by the people. This type of request is a normal thing between the people in the area. However, the man (fisherman) responded rudely to them and this led to an argument from both sides, where the man (fisherman) began cursing the four youths. This resulted in getting three of the four youths to take off their clothes and cross the river swimming and got in a physical fight with the man where they beat him until a nearby farmer came and told them that the man you are beating is a police officer. It was then that the youths fled the scene and the man was taken to the hospital where he was treated for his wounds.

Meanwhile, in the governorate of Hassake, everything was magnified and blown out of proportion. The entire village of Tel-Sakra has become under siege for the past five days where it is being surrounded by the police force, the criminal security force, the political security force and all other types of security forces are surrounding the residents of the village despite knowing that the suspects are not in the village. Their goal is to teach the people (children, women, elderly, and men) of the village a lesson, where they are blaming all the residents for the mistakes of three foolish youths. These forces are cursing all the Assyrian residents of the village and messing up the homes and the churches of the village, and disrespecting the sanctuary of the homes despite knowing that the three youths are not in the village. The police are now taking elderly men from the village as hostages until the three youths turn themselves in.

We, the Assyrian residents of Tel-Sakra, and as honorable citizens believe in the law and that the law should be carried out properly, and that the executive authority must not be a “government of horror” similar to how the Israeli Army is conducting its raid searches for Al-Quds Brigade. We are requesting from the government officials and the members of the Syrian Parliament, as well as the Human Rights Organizations and the liberal Syrians, to remove the siege off our village and to stop the group punishment tactics that have been imposed on the entire village residents. We ask the authorities why they are blaming all the village residents for the mistakes of three foolish youths. We also request, especially of all the people of Tel-Sakra in the homeland or Diaspora, to seek the Human Rights Organizations everywhere to assist us in lifting this siege, and to stop the insults and group punishments that we are enduring.

The Residents of the Village of Tel-Sakra, Syria