Jun 24, 2017

Newsweek | June 22, 2017 | SYRIA’S WHITE HELMETS, SUBJECT OF OSCAR-WINNING FILM, CAUGHT DUMPING DEAD SOLDIERS, FIRE VOLUNTEER |

Syrian Civil Defense volunteers, also known as the White Helmets, and other individuals, including an unidentified armed man, search for survivors amid the rubble of a building following a reported air strike on the town of Taftanaz, in the northern rebel-held province of Idlib, in the early hours of January 11, 2017. The White Helmets has gained international recognition for its rescue operations, and was the subject of an Academy Award–winning film. But the group has also faced widespread backlash over allegations that it works on behalf of armed rebel groups attempting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A volunteer rescue group in Syria that is the subject of an Academy Award-winning film has fired one of its members after he was caught handling the corpses of fighters who support the Syrian government.

The Syria Civil Defense (SCD), commonly referred to as the White Helmets, released a statement Tuesday announcing it had dismissed one of its volunteers over “a gross breach” of the group’s codes in the southeastern Syrian governorate of Daraa, where the Syrian army and its allies are attempting to regain territory from insurgents and jihadists. The statement came in response to an extremely graphic video shared on social media that featured a man in a White Helmets T-shirt assisting armed militants in disposing the mutilated corpses of fighters aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The White Helmets, which often face accusations of acting on behalf of armed rebel groups, maintained that the member in question had done so on his own accord......[READ MORE]