Syria Between Hope and Fear

•  damascus
• Wednesday, March 30, 2011
• Inter Press Service

According to the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria (NOHR), Syrian security forces have arrested as of Mar. 22, 34 people in Daraa alone, over 49 people in Damascus and its suburbs, 10 in Hama, four in the city of Aleppo and two in Banyas. Many, however, are still unaccounted for.

The arrests were dovetailed by a rising death toll resulting from this week's government crackdown on the demonstrations. The number of dead varies greatly, with the government claiming 37 fatal casualties, Amnesty International putting the figure closer to 55 and activists reporting over 100.

The recent bloodshed presents a very grim picture for human rights organisations and activists in Syria. 'Syria's security forces are showing the same cruel disregard for protesters' lives as their counterparts in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain,' observed Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Amnesty International also said in a Mar. 24 press release that the Syrian government ordered security forces to attack protesters during the ongoing unrest. 'The violent oppression of the protests organised in Daraa and Lattakia are in contradiction with promises of reforms made by the regime,' says Abou Mohamad, a Daraa activist, whose last name has been omitted for the sake of anonymity.

In recent weeks, various reports indicated that Syria's security forces used live ammunition against protesters in Daraa. Protests in Lattakia last Saturday are said to have also ended in two deaths after demonstrators were targeted by snipers. In an effort to quell tensions, the government of Prime Minister Naji Otri resigned on Mar. 29, while Bouthaina Shaaban, adviser to the president declared that the emergency law, in place since 1963, will be lifted.

'Are things better today than under the rule of President Bashar al-Assad's father (Hafez al-Assad) from a human rights standpoint? Yes and no,' answered Nadim Houry, the director of HRW in Beirut.

Bashar al-Assad took power in 2000 after the death of his father, who ruled Syria for over 20 years. 'Today's events are not comparable to the 1980s, which were an exceptional time period,' added Houry, referring to the 1982 Muslim Brotherhood uprising in Hama. In response to the riots, then president Hafez al-Assad sent in the army, crushing the insurrection and killing tens of thousands of people.

In addition to the brutal response from the Syrian security apparatus and the arrests of dozens of protesters, this month's demonstrations have also resulted in the detainment of a number of writers and activists charged with inciting unrest.

Louay Hussein, a blogger known for his call for reforms, and Mazen Darwish, the head of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression in Syria, were both apprehended by police but then released amid increasing unrest. Syrian poet Mohmad Dibbo was also detained during a protest in the city of Banyas, according to NOHR.

Since Mar. 24, the government has released some 260 people, according to Al-Jazeera, in an attempt to quell the population's anger at the recent killings. Despite this move, Syria's prisons are still filled with political prisoners, journalists, and human rights activists. In an interview with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), activist Haytham al Maleh called on the international community to exert pressure on the Syrian regime to respect their international commitments with regards to human rights.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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