Jeish Al-Islam Militants Use Families of Syrian Soldiers as Human Shields in Cages

In footage posted on the Internet on November 1, 2015, families of Syrian soldiers are shown in cages, being placed among the civilian population of East Ghouta, to serve as human shields against Syrian government and Russian airstrikes.

Following are excerpts:

Syrian civilians stand inside cages driven on the back of pickup trucks driving down a main road

Cameraman stands behind one of the cages on one of the pickup trucks and shoots footage of men in the cage and an ISIS member

ISIS member: …recently, in the city of Douma and in East Ghouta in general. Most of the citizens supported taking these prisoners, who belong to the Alawite sect and are senior of the regime's army, and place them in hundreds of cages in the towns of the East Ghouta area, so that they could get a taste of our suffering, and be bombed by the Russian and Nusairi airforce, just like our women and children are bombed. Perhaps now, some human rights groups will start calling upon the opposition to release these officers, who were involved in crimes against humanity, and in the bombing of East Ghouta, but we haven't heard these groups trying to save the people of East Ghouta. We haven't heard them trying to save the 150 martyrs, including 50 children, who were killed in Douma. The fate of these prisoners will be like that of the civilians in East Ghouta.

Man in cage: I have been held prisoner for the past three years.

ISIS interviewer: What sect are you?

Man: I am an Alawite.

ISIS interviewer: What will happen to you now?

Man: My fate will be the same as the fate of the people bombarded by the regime. I say to the regime: In the past two days, there have been over 200 martyrs, women, children, the elderly, and youths in the prime of their lives. I ask the regime: Why do this despicable thing?

[…]

Woman in a cage: I have been here among these people for two years. They have treated me well. They haven't harmed us in any way. We live among them, and we would like to say to the regime that it shouldn't attack with airplanes because these are our own people. They are Syrian women, children, and youth.

ISIS interviewer: Today, the rebels are going to put you among the civilians – whatever happens to them will happen to you.

Woman: We are ready for that.

[…]

Male prisoner, interviewed earlier: We say to the regime that the rebels in East Ghouta have placed us, the prisoners, in more than 100 cages, and have distributed the cages among the civilians. If these innocent civilians get killed, the same thing will happen to us. We call upon you to put an end to this catastrophe. Stop your airforce. Stay away from this false ally, this Russian bear that you brought in. Stop all those things, and let us resolve our problems by ourselves. There are martyrs from all sectors – more than 200 martyrs in the past two days. We prisoners have been distributed among them. If these people die, we will die too.

[…]