Gloriann Liu Photography

Defying Assad - Wounded Warriors

Dar al Salam Clinic. On this day in March most of the patients refused to be photographed because they believed I was a member of the CIA. This clinic is closing soon due to lack of funding.

All of the men in this section are supporting the Revolution.The ones who recover from their injuries will go back to Syria to fight with The Free Syrian Army. Many of the men will help the cause in some other capacity.

Amman, Jordan. March, 2013 - Mahmood 26, from Damascus. Mahmood was shot in the leg by a sniper from the Syrian regime in December 2012. His family spent 16 frantic hours going from one hospital to another trying to find a doctor. Many of the doctors working with the revolutionaries have fled or been killed. Finally, they found one, but 7 days later his leg had to be amputated. People associated with The Free Syrian Army cannot go to a state supported hospital for fear of being taken prisoner. The doctors and nurses who are pro revolution are being imprisoned or killed. Most health care workers have had to emigrate to neighboring countries Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon.

Amman, Jordan. Feb. 2013 - Abu Yasser, 72, and Shadi, 28, from Dara’a, Syria.  In April, 2011 men from the Syrian regime came to Abu Yasser’s home and killed two of his sons in front of him. Then they threw him down and stepped on his back and kicked him. Now he is partially paralyzed and wants to die. Sometimes he wishes he could go back to Syria to get revenge.

Shadi, in May 2011 was put in a Syrian prison for no reason.  Arab observers came to the prison to observe how the prisoners were treated. The guards at the prison told the prisoners not to tell the observers the truth about their cases and their torture. After the observers left, the prisoners were put on a bus and were being driven to the desert to be killed. The Free Syrian Army was able to save the bus and take the injured to Jordan for treatment.

Amman, Jordan. Feb., 2013 - Basil 21 and Naser 16, from Dara’a, Syria. Basil and Naser are brothers. In the evening of June 15, 2012 the brothers were ambushed when they were going home on their motorcycle. They were both shot. Then, 21 soldiers from the forces of President Bashar al-Assad surrounded and tortured them. Basil had both legs broken and lost one of his eyes. Naser is now paralyzed and extremely depressed from from the beating. Being the older brother, Basil blames himself for Naser’s suffering.

Reyhanli, Turkey. Dec., 2012 - Dar Al Salam Rehabilitation Clinic. Mohammed, Ramez and Saifaldin are soldiers with The Free Syrian Army. Mohammad, 21, from Homs, was shot in the chest. Homs was surrounded by the Regime of Bashar al-Assad's military, but there is an ancient sewage system that the Free Syrian Army uses to smuggle their wounded out of the city. The only problem is that it takes 6 hours walking in total darkness to reach medical help. Ramez, 45, is from Homs, Syria. He was shot by a sniper in Sept. 2012 and was also taken to the border with Turkey by the sewage route. His family soon joined him in Turkey. His son Aiman, 5, has been with him everyvday. Saifaldin, 60, is from Homs, Syria. He was wounded by a missile that killed 7 and wounded many.

Irbid, Jordan. Nov., 2012 - Mofid is from Homs, Syria. The family did not want to talk about the incident that had paralyzed their son.

Escaping the Violence -

Atmeh Refugee Camp has 14,000 refugees during the day and 4,000 at night. 10,000 go back to their homes at night because it is relatively safe. During the day is when most of the bombing takes place. The camp is divided into 5 sections. Each has a leader who distributes food and supplies. In November of 2012 there were no toilets. The women and children had to walk to the olive groves to find privacy.

Bab al Hawa Refugee Camp is in Syria just a short distance from the Syrian-Turkish border in Idlib Province. The Free Syrian Army set up the camp and there are several NGO’s that help support different functions and needs of the displaced.

Bab al Hawa Camp opened before Atmeh Camp, which was shortly after Turkey closed their border to refugees wanting to enter refugee camps within Turkey.  The families that are living in this camp are predominantly from Aleppo, Homs and Idlib.

Atmeh, Syria. March, 2013 - Atmeh Refugee Camp. This family had just arrived at Atmeh Camp.

Atmeh, Syria. March, 2013 - Atmeh Refugee Camp. Looking through a window from the inside of a tent. This tent was one the makeshift schools.

 Atmeh, Syria. Nov., 2012 - Atmeh Refugee Camp. These women were making bread for several families in the camp.

Atmeh, Syria. Nov., 2012 - Atmeh Refugee Camp. Making bread over a fire in the camp.

Undocumented Refugees-

This section of the project, Breaking Apart, is a collection of photos and stories of men, women and children, some with documents and some without. Almost all of the individuals are living in temporary housing provided by organizations.

However, many safe havens have been funded by private conscientious individuals from neighboring countries. Most private donations are funneled through larger groups. As an example, one Saudi man donated 1 million dollars to The Syrian Women's Organization to provide housing and provisions for widows and orphans of the Syrian conflict in Amman, Jordan.

The situations vary, but all stories involve kindness and sacrifice, not to mention an enormous amount of hard work by volunteers.  

Reyhanli, Turkey. Mar. 2013 -  Fawzia 41, from Houla, Syria. On May 25, 2012 the small village of Houla was surrounded by soldiers from the regime of President Bashar al Assad. She was in her home with 25 members of her family. They heard a knock on the door: It was neighbors who are from the  Alawite sect, the same as President Bashar Al-Assad. Fawzia and her extended family are all Sunnis. Despite the difference, the neighbors had always been friendly. Not this time.

The men started fondling the girls. The father tried to protect them and was shot in the head. Fawzia grabbed her 6 year old daughter as everyone else in the room was killed, many falling on top of her. The door was shut. She was unconscious for about an hour. When she raised her head her daughter, Hiba, grabbed her head and told her “They are still outside, play dead”. When Fawzia looked at her daughter she saw that she was covered with blood. She had covered her own face to pretend to be dead.  Two hours later members of The Free Syrian Army arrived and took Fawzia and her daughter along with 108 other survivors from the village away. The death count was: 53 children, 49 women and 6 men. All of the animals had also been killed. Also, several of the children were missing.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy of the conflict is what is happening psychologically to the children. Many of the refugee children are showing signs of mental breakdown. Hiba, Fawzia's young daughter has behavior swings from laughter, to crying, to acting out aggressively. There is no mental health care available in the camps or the clinics. This will affect this generation of children the rest of their lives.

Often Fawzia has a recurring nightmare of her daughter running towards her, with her husband waving goodbye.

Reyhanli, Turkey. March, 2013 - Noor from Latakia, Syria. In the spring of 2011, Noor was engaged to Ahmad. They were to be married on May the 20, 2011. Ahmad worked taking medical supplies to a home clinic for The Free Syrian Army. On April 14, 2011 she accompanied him. One of her friends informed the Regime of what they were doing. They were stopped on the delivery, handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to an intelligence office and then to prison. The interrogators, from The Air force Intelligence [militia], who are responsible for the worst torture procedures in Syria, were trying to find out who Ahmad was working for and where the home clinics were located. From the 1st day they both were stripped completely naked and were tortured in front  of each other. Noor was hung upside down and was beaten and electrocuted many times and burned over her entire body with cigarettes. In the next few days pliers were used to pull 7 of her teeth and her hands were broken. Her captors enjoyed her screaming. Then her fiance would be tortured and put in isolation. This routine lasted for 13 days then on the 27th they were taken to the office by three officers. Ahmad was continually asked the names of the terrorists that he worked for, he finally broke and told the officers everything that they wanted to know. She was then raped by all three men anyway. Next they raped him. The next day she was taken to his room and he was killed in front of her. Then she was raped again by different officers.

On May 2, 2011 she was taken to court, the judge released her with a 25 dollar fine. Two weeks later Noor was asked to sign 3 blank sheets of paper upon doing so Ahmad’s body was finally released to her. The next day her brother was taken prisoner for three months. In October 2011 she was informed that the officials from the intelligence were coming to interrogate her again. She was first smuggled into Lebanon and then into Jordan.

Noor is now on medication for the internal injuries that she received. She told many stories of young girls being tortured in the prison. Noor is now living in Turkey and has started a women’s activist organization “Liberated Women of Syria.” They hope to help other women and girls that have had the same experience in Syrian prisons.

Amman, Jordan. March, 2013 - Ayda and her mother 8, from Dara’a, Syria.  Ayda’s father was handcuffed and taken from their home in December, 2012. They have not heard from him since. Ayda and her mother hope he is in prison and that they will see him soon. Her mother acted out how her husband was handcuffed by the Syrian Regime in front of her in their home. They are living in an apartment provided by The Syrian Women’s Association.

Amman, Jordan. March, 2013 -Children of Khaled 41, from Dara’a, Syria. Khaled died in August 2012. He had 8 children. Two hundred and fifty men from different units of the regime’s forces invaded the compound where the family lived. Many of the men were not from Syria as they did not speak Arabic. They are thought to have been from Iran. The soldiers came in and took everything of value and destroyed the rest. Then all of the men were killed. The bodies were taken and returned 3 days later. All of the animals were also killed.  They are living in an apartment provided by The Syrian Women’s Association.

Amman, Jordan. March, 2013 - Etaf 21 from, Dara’a, Syria. Etaf’s husband, Khalid, was killed in May, 2012. She has a son who is 20 months old now. On January 1, 2013 her in-laws took her son and will not allow her to see him. She is now living with her mother and 2 sisters in Amman, Jordan.  The father died at the beginning of the war in March, 2011. The family is living in an apartment provided by The Syrian Women’s Association.

Beirut, Lebanon. Dec., 2012 - Noor, a mother of 3 children and a Syrian Palestinian Refugee, had been taken in by a family in Shatila Refugee Camp in Beirut. Noor was born and lived her entire life in a Palestinian refugee camp in Damascus, Syria. 

Two weeks previously her house was burned to the ground and she left with her children the next day. It was an arduous journey to the border crossing with Lebanon and then to Shatilia Refugee Camp in Beirut, Lebanon. She arrived at Shatilia in the middle of a cold and rainy night and found a bus for them to sleep under.

The next morning Husain, the bus driver, discovered them and took them to his home to stay until they can find an apartment in the camp. Noor's oldest child Ibraheim 10, is working in a grocery store making 2 dollars a day.

Amman, Jordan. March, 2013 -  Wasa 19 and Emad 50 from Dara’a, Syria. On August 19, 2011 Emad, Wasa, his daughter and his wife were attending a demonstration against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. His wife is an activist for the revolution and was filming a documentary about what the regime is doing. Out of nowhere, a sniper's bullet hit Emad in the head. Now he is unable to walk or speak.

Five years ago he was working as a nurse for one of the secret intelligence agencies. There are 16 intelligence agencies in Syria called the Shahiba. Often, the Shahiba throw individuals into jail for no apparent reason and do not tell their families of their whereabouts. Emad on one occasion was begged by a prisoner, who was a patient, to tell his family he was in prison. Emad informed his parents. Then a second patient asked for the same favor. Emad declined, fearing the Shahiba would find out. The second patient then went to an intelligence officer and disclosed the information about Emad. Emad was thrown in prison for 2 years.

The family is now living Amman, Jordan waiting for the war to be over so they can return home to Syria.  The apartment they are living in is provided by The Syrian Women's Association.