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AMMAN/BEIRUT: Syrian security forces shot dead dozens of protesters Friday, rights activists said, after tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters took to the streets across Syria.
The Syrian human rights organization Sawasiah said at least 70 pro-democracy protesters were killed in the unrest which swept the country.
An official in Sawasiah, an independent organization founded by jailed human rights lawyer Mohannad al-Hassani, told Reuters the killings of civilians occurred in the Damascus district of Barzeh, its suburbs Zamalka, Harasta, Douma, Muadamiya, Qaboun and Hajar al-Asswad, as well as in the cities of Hama, Latakia and Homs, and Izraa in the southern province of Daraa.
Activist Ammar Qurabi told Reuters earlier that many more were wounded and around 20 were still missing. It was not possible to independently confirm the figures.
SANA said security forces “intervened” using tear gas and water cannon “to prevent clashes between protesters and citizens and protect public property.” SANA also reported confrontations in Hajar Asswad near Damascus.
Protests also took place in Banias on the coast, the northern cities of Raqqa and Idlib, the eastern towns of Deir al-Zor and Qamishli and Herak in Daraa. Protesters chanted for the “overthrow of the regime,” reflecting the hardening of demands which initially focused on reforms and more freedoms.The protests went ahead despite Assad’s lifting of the state of emergency the day before. Ending the hated emergency rule, in place since the Baath Party seized power 48 years ago, was a central demand of protesters, who also seek the release of political prisoners and dismantling of the security services.
“This was the first test of the seriousness of authorities [toward reform] and they have failed,” Qurabi said.
Many protesters said the concessions have come too late – and that Assad does not deserve the credit.
“The state of emergency was brought down, not lifted,” prominent Syrian activist Suhair Atassi, who was arrested several times in the past, wrote on her Twitter page. “It is a victory as a result of demonstrations, protests and the blood of martyrs who called for Syria’s freedom.”
Before Friday’s violence rights groups had said more than 220 people had been killed in the unrest which broke out on March 18 Daraa.
White House spokesman Jay Carney, speaking to reporters as President Barack Obama flew back to Washington from California, said, “We deplore violence” against the demonstrators.
He called on the Syrian government to “cease and desist in the use of violence against protesters” and to follow through on promised reforms.British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the “unacceptable” killing of demonstrators in Syria Friday and called for the country’s emergency law to be lifted in practice.
“I am extremely concerned by the reports of deaths and casualties across Syria,” Hague said in a statement.
“I condemn the unacceptable killing of demonstrators by the Syrian security forces. “I call on the Syrian security forces to exercise restraint instead of repression, and on the Syrian authorities to respect the Syrian people’s right to peaceful protest.”
In the first joint statement since the protests broke out, activists coordinating the demonstrations Friday demanded the abolition of the Baath Party monopoly on power and the establishment of a democratic political system.
“All prisoners of conscience must be freed. The existing security apparatus has to be dismantled and replaced by one with specific jurisdiction and which operates according to law,” they said in the statement, which was sent to Reuters.
The group also urged “the completion of the constitutional amendments that will allow for a democratic transition of Syria to become a respected, multi-national, multi-ethnic and religiously tolerant society.”
“This includes the repeal of Constitutional Article 8, which would limit the number of presidential terms to two sessions,” a statement read.
In Izraa, witnesses said an 11-year-old boy was among at least 10 people killed when protesters marched in front of the mayor’s office.
“Among the dead was Anwar Moussa, who was shot in the head. He was 11,” said the witness.
A video posted on the protest movement’s main Facebook page showed a man carrying a bloodied boy near a building as another child could be heard weeping and shouting “My brother!”
“Bullets started flying over our heads like heavy rain,” said another witness.
In Damascus, security forces fired tear gas to disperse 2,000 protesters in the district of Midan.
In the city of Hama, a witness said security forces opened fire to prevent protesters reaching the Baath Party headquarters.
“We saw two snipers on the building. None of us had weapons. There are casualties, possibly two dead,” said the witness.
Witnesses said security forces also shot at demonstrators in the Damascus district of Barzeh, the central city of Homs, the Damascus suburb of Douma, and on protesters heading for the city of Daraa, where Syria’s uprising first broke out five weeks ago.
Al-Jazeera showed footage of three corpses, wrapped in white burial shrouds, which it said were from the eastern Damascus suburb of Zamalka.
Protesters in Zabadani, northwest of Damascus, called for Assad’s regime to stand down, witnesses said.
About 200 people chanting “freedom, freedom” marched in central Damascus but were quickly dispersed by police, said an activist.
Ahead of the main weekly prayers Friday, which have often turned out to be launch pads for major demonstrations, the army deployed in Homs and police put up checkpoints across Damascus, apparently trying to prevent protests sweeping in from suburbs.
After prayers finished in Daraa, several thousand protesters gathered chanting anti-Assad slogans. “The Syrian people will not be subjugated. Go away doctor [Assad],” they shouted.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Apr/23/Bloody-clashes-engulf-Syria.ashx#ixzz1KOc86FDc
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
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