Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

The geography of death in Aleppo (3) Fixed checkpoints and mobile militias A taxonomy of checkpoints The checkpoint is one of the most important technologies of death that the Syrian forces use in urban spaces. Their function is to segment the city into smaller sectors that are easier to control. There are different types of checkpoints in Aleppo that vary in size, the types of weaponry used, and their dangerousness. The large checkpoints with heavy weaponry, such as tanks or armored personnel carriers, are usually deployed at strategic points such as the entrance of the city or nearby security branches or military facilities. While most checkpoints are fixed, some of them are mobile and move to locations unexpected by the enemy. In addition, the regime deployed many checkpoints within west Aleppo to segment the territory and control the circulation of the population. The largest checkpoints, however, are in the buffer zones, the spaces between the regime and opposition. Their function...

 Spectrums of death A spectrum of violence was operating in Syria well before the revolution, but since 2011, it has been reconfigured. It allows the Syrian regime to deploy gradual techniques that create uneven death worlds. The spectrum of violence starts with the fear of being arbitrarily arrested and subjugated to torture. It includes the siege and subsequent politics of starvation. It involves the various ways Syrians are tortured and indiscriminately killed. In many of these cases, torture is not performed to gain information, but rather to actualize state power. The combination of direct and indirect violence that Syrians have experienced since 2011 has led to catastrophic humanitarian conditions.68 The Syrian regime and its allies have created a spectrum of death worlds where bodies are subjected to various forms of violence. The cruelty of a technique does not have a universal impact; its effect varies from one body to another. For example, crossing a checkpoint has an une...