Safe Haven 1995

[Algernon Alcala]

Ourangel Alex came into this world to us a bundle of unstoppable energy on August 1, 1995. He changed our lives forever. To call him curious would be an understatement. In his youth, Alex was always inquisitive and wanted to know the answers to the universe: why did God make me who I am, he would ask. Someday I'm going to be a___! And he would fill in the blanks with unknown quests, depending on his thoughts and adventures of the day.

As Alex grew, the love for his family was undeniable. The love and strength he felt from his mother, Marie, was unquenchable and a quality he always cherished, for he knew, no matter what, she would always love him and be there and he knew he would forever be "my mama's baby boy!" Alex loved his father, Victor Mejia, and would listen to his advice and follow it most of the time. And always knew he was loved. Alex found unconditional peace in his brother's eyes and always looked up to his big brother, Tony, for guidance. Both grew up in Amity, where they excelled in football together and their driving force was always witnessed on the field. Alex's love for his sisters, Mirella, Angel, Iselia and Mia, was like no other. He was a loyal and dedicated brother who loved them very much. Alex grew to have a special bond with Iselia that proved unmatched, for they both needed each other.

Alex has left behind his love and sweetheart, Cydney Kirkpatrick, as she complemented his life with love and laughter. Alex has a stepson, Andre, for whom their father and son bond grew more each day. He loved Andre. The love of his very heart, his own little angel, Samsara, entered his circle of love August 23, 2018, making his world complete. MooMoo is a little Alex, and we will forever see our Alex in the twinkling of her eyes. And then there's Papa, Alex's safe haven from the storms of life. When Alex was sad or lonely or just needed "my Papa," he would end up at Papa's house because he knew, "with Papa, I am always safe!" And the love of a grandson and grandpa always will be unconditional, forever and always. Alex loved his grandma and would always say "Grammie, I love you!" Their bond was also unconditional and forever. Alex's love for his Great-Gramma Wella and Uncle Freddy could be seen in the many visits he had with them. Alex loved going riding and playing with his family and will forever be missed by his uncles, Kiko, Adrian and Donnie, and his aunts, Kim and Emily; 21 cousins; five second-cousins; three nieces and one nephew. Alex is also survived by a multitude of friends who will miss him terribly.

Our Angel Alex entered into the gates of Glory land February 5, 2020. The heavens are a bit brighter as our Angel Alex is at this very moment shimmering among the stars, enjoying his new adventures. Our Sweet Tender Angel, go rest high on that mountain. Your work on earth is done. Rest well, our Angel. Till we meet again.

If history is any indication, the creation of a series of safe zones in Syria, currently being discussed by the United States, Russia, Turkey, and the war-torn country, is likely to provide little relief for hundreds of thousands of civilians on the ground.

Moscow, Ankara, and Tehran on May 4 signed a memorandum backing a Russian proposal that calls for such zones to be created in rebel-held territory in northwestern Syria. The United States said it supported any effort to de-escalate the violence in Syria, though it had "concerns" about the agreement.

The zones came to be seen by critics as little more than prison camps for refugees, where overcrowding and a lack of military backup made those inside the areas little more than sitting ducks. All six were attacked and two, Srebrenica and Zepa, were overrun.

In July 1995, the Bosnian situation hit a low point when 400 lightly armed Dutch troops in Srebrenica under a UN mandate failed to stop the murder of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys. Women and girls were raped. Inside a week, a safe zone had become the scene of the deadliest atrocity in Europe since World War II.

While many safe zones before and after Srebrenica have had varying results, few have been deemed outright successes and the complex situation on the ground, analysts say, makes it unlikely at best that Syria would be the exception and not the rule.

"These safe zones have a very bad history," says Louis Charbonneau, United Nations director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). "You have all sorts of risks once you concentrate people in one place like that.... They are targets."

The Russian proposal urges the creation of safe zones in rebel-controlled territory in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib, in parts of Homs Province in the center, in the south, and in the opposition enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus, according to the AFP news agency, which cited a copy of the plan.

While those safe zones would seek to stop conflict inside the area and allow refugees to return, another key aspect would be to allow for the delivery of aid to people who have suffered through years of an ongoing civil war.

Details of the plan, such as who would pay the huge budget needed to maintain the zones and how they would be controlled, must still be worked out, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 3, after talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

"One of the ways in which the cease-fire can be made to last is through creating safe zones or de-escalation zones," Putin said, adding that aircraft "would not work" in the de-escalation zones "provided there is no military activity in these zones."

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in March said the United States hoped to set up "interim zones of stability" to help refugees return as the battle continued to defeat destabilizing militant groups like Islamic State and Al-Qaeda.

But international humanitarian law (IHL) does allow for a number of zones, such as neutralized areas for noncombatants and wounded combatants, "non-defended localities," and demilitarized zones within conflict situations, located in or outside combat areas, according to Trevor Keck, deputy head of communications for the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation to the United States and Canada.

Such zones are established with agreement or recognition by all parties to a conflict. Some have also been created by UN Security Council resolutions. Safe zones are protected by IHL because they are demilitarized.

But if they are defended by military means, the presence of combatants amid or around the protected populations entails a number of risks. In Syria, for example, talks on safe zones do not foresee an agreement by all parties involved in the conflict.

"History has shown that safe zones and no-fly zones are fraught with risks. At best, these types of interventions may bring short-term protection and relief to civilians at grave risk -- which is obviously laudable," Keck says.

Given the risks surrounding safe zones, and the fact that they are often proposed when the parties to a respective armed conflict fail to respect the basic tenets of IHL, a clear set of rules of engagement by those defending it are a must, analysts say.

Given the lack of adherence so far to the rules of war in Syria, where chemical-weapon attacks and assaults on emergency aid crews, rescue workers, and journalists have been commonplace, the need for a strong and clear mandate for forces to engage is necessary if the safe zones will have a chance at being successful, according to Lieutenant Colonel John R. Barnett and Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute.

The setup of safe zones must include a "robust, balanced air-ground team" in Syria where a complex web of rebel and extremist factions are engaged on the ground and external powers are directly assisting the regime's military operations.

"The language authorizing the operation should be unequivocally clear...the mandate should not place unnecessary restrictions on the use of forces deployed to secure the safe zone," they wrote in a paper for the institute on safe zones in Syria.

"Any safe-zone operation in Syria that ignores the lessons of the past and omits these key elements would risk a greater chance of failure, increased suffering for civilians, and potential mission creep that could lead to even more widespread conflict."

More than six years of war in Syria has killed an estimated 400,000 people and sent millions fleeing their homes, adding to an influx of refugees into countries in the Middle East, Europe, and elsewhere.

That influx has sparked a backlash in many countries, and some human rights analysts fear the establishment of safe zones is aimed more at stopping the flow of refugees than providing sanctuary for them.

Human Rights Watch's Charbonneau says there's a real concern that the plan hasn't fully worked through such questions as how entry to and from the zone would be regulated so that it "doesn't become a concentration camp."

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The recent cease-fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and theeuphoria that has accompanied this apparent progress, should not obscure thefact that no peace agreement will be legitimate or stable without justice forhuman rights abuses. The atrocities described in this report, like themany others that have preceded them in the former Yugoslavia, require of theinternational community a commitment to reparation for the victims andaccountability for the perpetrators.

The U.N. General Assembly, the U.N. Commission on HumanRights, the World Conference on Human Rights, and the International CriminalTribunal for the Former Yugoslavia have all decried the atrocities in Bosniaand Herzegovina as genocide. Yet the international community has failedto fulfill its moral and legal duty to prevent genocide[4]and to insist that those who commit acts of genocide, as well as thoseresponsible for parallel war crimes and crimes against humanity, be brought tojustice.

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