The Art Newspaper

Syrian political cartoonist brutally attacked

Ali Ferzat, an outspoken critic of the Assad regime, had his hands broken as “a clear message” that he should stop drawing

By Helen Stoilas. Web only
Published online: 26 August 2011

Ali Ferzat was brought to a Damascus hospital Thursday by passers-by after being attacked by masked thugs

DAMASCUS. Syrian political cartoonist Ali Ferzat, an outspoken advocate for human rights, was attacked this week and his hands broken by masked thugs. The US State Department criticised the assault as a "targeted, brutal attack" and demanded that the regime of president Bashar al-Assad “stop its campaign of terror through torture, illegal imprisonment, and murder”.

“The regime’s thugs focused their attention on Ferzat’s hands, beating them furiously and breaking one of them — a clear message that he should stop drawing,” said US Department of State spokeswoman Victoria Nuland in a statement. “He was then reportedly dumped on the side of a road in Damascus, where passers-by stopped and took him to a Damascus hospital."

Last week, US President Barack Obama called for Assad to resign because he had lost credibility as a ruler following his violent crackdown on protesters. The demand was echoed by leaders in France, Britain and Germany, as well as the United Nations. Obama also issued an executive order freezing Syrian government assets in the US and imposing sanctions against the country, including a ban on imports of Syrian oil products.

“While making empty promises about dialogue with the Syrian people, the Assad regime continues to carry out brutal attacks against peaceful Syrians trying to exercise their universal right to free expression. We demand that the Assad regime immediately stop its campaign of terror through torture, illegal imprisonment, and murder,” said Nuland.

According to reports in the Associated Press, Ferzat was followed by a Jeep with tinted windows late Thursday night. He was forcefully abducted by four men and driven to a highway on the outskirts of the capital. The gunmen told him that "this is just a warning," as they beat him, said a relative.

Ferzat is one of the country’s most popular cartoonists, and has become an even more beloved figure during the country’s recent uprisings. At the start of the new presidency, he was allowed to publish a satirical magazine called The Lamplighter, which sold out just hours after hitting newsstands. But when Assad began jailing critics of his regime, the publication was soon shut down. Though Ferzat’s work has now been banned in local newspapers, the artist continued to post his illustrations on his private website. Recently he had become bolder and started taking jabs at Assad himself (under Syrian law, caricatures of the president are illegal), with a cartoon depicting Assad, his bags packed, hitching a ride with deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Some of Ferzat's recent cartoons directly criticised president Bashar al-Assad's regime