The video conveys so much of what Syria's conflict has become: not only in its brutality, but also in its sectarianism; in the video, the cannibalistic rebel leader calls on others to follow his example and terrorize Syria's Alawites. The identity of the rebel also says much about the civil war: he is Abu Sakkar, a famous leader of a group called the Independent Omar al-Farouq Brigade. This is an offshoot -and close ally -of the Farouq Brigades, one of the largest units of the Free Syrian Army. The Independent Brigade has previously been accused of imposing the jizyah (tax on non-Muslims), expelling Christians from the city of Homs, and Abu Sakkar himself has been filmed firing rockets into Shia areas of Lebanon and posing with dead Hezbollah soldiers. The neighbourhood in which the video seems to have been taken is also telling of the conflict as a whole: Baba Amr in west Homs was an early centre of opposition to the al-Assad regime, but was subject to a brutal government counteroffensive earlier this year.
Most worryingly, this heart-eating leader is essentially in charge of the rebel forces struggling to control Homs -one of the most significant battles in the conflict. As a consequence, the rebel National Coalition's half-hearted promise to put Abu Sakkar on trial will likely ring hollow. They are unlikely to ever gain the will or means to carry it out.
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