Today is the one year anniversary of the first protests in Syria, an organized rally in Daraa. Since that day, conservatives estimates of the amount of people killed in the resulting crackdown range from 8,000 to 12,000. EA's estimate is closer to 11,000, but some activists claim to have lists over nearly 20,000 dead. Beyond this, countless are wounded, and perhaps more than 100,000 political prisoners remain in detention, where allegations of torture, or worse, are always whispered.
There have been many video campaigns to commemorate the event. The one below, a collection of videos from the conflict and statements by western celebrities, was sent to EA by super-activist Rami al Jarrah.
See also today's Syria (and Beyond) Live Coverage: Intervention?
Syria Breaking: Alien World Steps In...Since This One Refuses To
Syria Special: Will Turkey Back Foreign Intervention?
A group of celebrities and Syrian activists have joined forces to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Syria to to call on the world to take action:
Campaigners around the world will today (Thursday 15th March) mark one year of violence in Syria by calling on Russia to back UN Security Council action to end the crisis.
A coalition of 200 NGOs from 27 countries - including Human Rights Watch, Christian Aid, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, CIVICUS and International Federation of Human Rights - is demanding that the UN Security Council immediately unite and pass a resolution calling on the Syrian government to stop indiscriminate shelling of civilian neighbourhoods and other violations of international law, stop arbitrary arrests and torture and grant urgent access to humanitarian workers, journalists and human rights monitors.
“For a full year, the death toll in Syria has escalated to the horrifying total of more than 8,000 dead, including hundreds of children. Isn’t it time for the world to unite behind effective steps to stop this now?” said Ziad Abdel Tawab, Deputy Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights.