New ISIS Rules Reportedly Cover Phone Usage, Smoking

Fighters from Islamic State hold their weapons as they stand on confiscated cigarettes before setting them on fire in the city of Raqqa. REUTERS
Fighters from Islamic State hold their weapons as they stand on confiscated cigarettes before setting them on fire in the city of Raqqa. REUTERS

The Islamic State (ISIS) has imposed harsh new rules regarding smoking and mobile phone usage in Raqqa, Syria, according to an anti-militant activist organization called Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RIBSS), which has no affiliation with ISIS.

Abu Mohammed, a founding member of RIBSS, has been following the punishments ISIS has imposed on smokers in Raqqa: They have been arrested, jailed, whipped and fined. In one instance, a man was reportedly beheaded for smoking, and his head was found with a cigarette still in his mouth.

The terrorist organization reportedly also has another unusual punishment for smokers: making them crack tombstones. “The graves have become like rubble and nobody is able to distinguish” one from another, the organization said in a tweet. The graveyard is within Raqqa’s city limits, the group said.

In addition, RIBSS claimed the terrorist group has increased its phone tax by 20 percent, “despite the fact that the internal telephone network suffers from frequent crashes.”

Because of the difficulty of tracking changes within the Islamic State’s rules for punishment, these reports could not be independently verified.

Source : newsweek.com

media activist from the city of Raqqa, student at the Faculty of Law at the University of the Euphrates. Director of the Media Office of Raqqa, founding member of "Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently", founding member of the documentary project of "Sound and Picture". I work in documenting violations committed by Assad's regime and ISIS group and extremist organizations inside the city of Raqqa, as I work in programming, design and visual media. I hold a certificate of coach in digital security, and a certificate of journalist coach, and a certificate in documenting violations against human rights, and a certificate in electronic advocacy. I underwent a training under the supervision of "Cyber-Arabs" in collaboration with the Institute for War and Peace "IWPR", about the management of electronic websites and leadership of advocacy campaigns, and a training of press photography under the supervision of the photojournalist "Peter Hove Olesen".

2 Comments

  1. Dianne
    February 17, 2015 - 10:46 am

    Why do I see pictures of ISIS militants smoking?

  2. Tony
    February 17, 2015 - 2:51 pm

    What is the group’s rationale behind cracking graveyard headstones? I thought religious Muslims were supposed to respect graves because of Judgment Day.

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