Wednesday, May 30, 2012

If I had a son, he would look like Shafiq


  • Since the outbreak of uprising in Syria in March 2011, the UN estimates that have been killed more than 10,000 people.
  • According to the Attorney General's Office, there were 12,903 murders in Mexico from January to September 30, 2011.
  • In Guatemala there were 6,187 murders in 2011, according to the National Institute of Forensic Sciences.
  • There were 19,336 murders in 2011 in Venezuela by the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence.
  • In Brazil there is an average of 36,300 violent deaths a year as reported in the Map of Violence of the Ministry of Justice
  • More than 29,000 children under 5 years died of starvation in Somalia in just three months according to the UN.

Is it the war against "narco" bloodiest than the Syrian uprising? Is it hunger more deadly than any ruthless army? Is violence in Brazil more lethal than any armed conflict? What figures shudder us more?

Needless to respond.

Figures isolate us from the true extent of the tragedy: the human magnitude, the pain of the thousands of families and friends who have lost a beloved one.

Trayvon Martin's death, an afroamerican teenager who was shot dead by a volunteer security guard in Sanford, Florida, when he went to buy jellybeans, shocked the US. Across the country demonstrations took place demanding justice and supporting the family of Trayvon. Even the President Obama said that if he had a son, would look like this guy.

The death of Shafiq, a Syrian teenager resident in the town of Houla, who died after being shot in the head by a man in military uniform, cannot end up being one more murder in the long list of violent deaths that occur daily in our world.

Because to the extent that a victim is reduced to a single number, it's impossible to reach the truth, memory, justice and reparation. Therefore, as with Trayvon, if I had a son, he also would look like Shafiq.

Tell the whole world that Shafiq, or Trayvon, or any of the children killed in a violent manner are not just a number that swells the statistics, they are our sons and daughters, we remember them every day and for them we ask for justice. Help us keep alive the memory of the victims.

Use the buttons at the bottom of the post to share with your friends on Twitter (do not forget to add the hashtag #MyWeaponIsPEACE #PromoteActivism), or Facebook. And if you are not on social networks, simply email it.

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Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

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