Download the full report - Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch interviewed two local residents who witnessed the demolition of the
neighborhood. They told Human Rights Watch that, just as with the al-Arb`een
neighborhood, opposition fighters had used the Wadi al-Jouz neighborhood to enter and
leave Hama city because of its location on the edge of the city. At the end of April,
government forces shelled the neighborhood for two days, causing many of the local
residents to flee, according to the two witnesses. 15
In the course of the following week, government forces used bulldozers to destroy all the
buildings in the neighborhood according to the two witnesses. One woman, who observed
the destruction of Wadi al-Jouz from her house across the highway, told Human Rights Watch:
I could see the neighborhood from my balcony. First I saw big trucks,
accompanied by the military, taking things from the houses in the
neighborhood. Then bulldozers started destroying the houses. The
government said that a lot of rebels were hiding in Wadi al-Jouz. 16
According to the other witness, the Syrian army used megaphones and told the residents
they had one hour to pack their things. 17
Satellite imagery recorded on April 30 and May 29, 2013, confirm the total demolition of 10
hectares of buildings, also showing heavy construction machinery such as bulldozers and
excavators in the area. 18
While local residents admitted that many buildings in the Wadi al-Jouz neighborhood had
been built without the appropriate permissions, the army’s behavior after the demolition
of the neighborhood indicates that it had little to do with permissions. A woman who lived
in a neighboring district told Human Rights Watch:
After the demolition, the army came to our neighborhood, saying through
loudspeakers that they would destroy our neighborhood like they destroyed
15 Human Rights Watch interview, Lebanon, July 11, 2013.
16 Human Rights Watch interview, Lebanon, July 11, 2013.
17 Human Rights Watch phone interview, July 31, 2013.
18 Satellite imagery dates analyzed by Human Rights Watch: April 30, and May 29, 2013; Sources: EUSI, USG and Astrium;
Copyright: DigitalGlobe 2014 and CNES 2014.
17 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JANUARY 2014