Unrest in Syria: four days of protests leave dead and injured
Despite the regime’s tight controls on media and ordinary citizens, demonstrations were sparked by a Facebook page. Launched on 15 March, an appeal was posted, calling for a “Syrian revolution against Bashar al-Assad in 2011”. Syrians were urged to “demonstrate for a Syria without tyranny, emergency laws, special tribunals, corruption, thefts or wealth monopolies.”
Protests broke out in Damascus and in many cities, but the intervention of police rapidly dispersed demonstrations. Nevertheless, Deraa (pictured), a town about a hundred kilometres south of the capital, became the centre of the anti-government movement when 15 pupils were arrested for writing graffiti calling for an Egyptian-styled popular uprising. An angry mob eventually attacked and torched a local courthouse.
Security forces cracked down hard, causing death and injuries. An 11-year-old boy, Mundhir al-Masalmah, died from tear gas inhalation. When he and others were buried yesterday, demonstrators gathered in front of the al-Omari mosque, shouting “God, Syria and freedom” as well as “revolution, revolution”.
According to some residents, thousands of police and military were deployed across the city, which is now divided in two with locals unable to move from one end to the other.
Human Rights Watch accused Syrian authorities of using "excessive force", asking the government to “cease the use of live fire and other excessive force against protesters”. Police apparently received contradictory instructions concerning the use of weapons.
Syria’s official news agency SANA played down the unrest, blaming some “troublemakers”, whilst government officials made unspecified accusations against the “West” for the turmoil.
A government delegation visited Deraa where it expressed condolences for the victims. The pupils in police custody were released. President Assad announced an investigation into the incident and punishment for the culprits.
For some activists, all this will not calm the protests. For pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat, unrest in Syria is not likely to end like in Tunisia and Egypt.
Syrian exile Haitham al-Maleh told Al Jazeera that "All the Syrian provinces will erupt. There is near consensus that this regime is unsustainable. The masses do not want it”.
An exiled cousin of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned the regime Monday that it only had a "small window of opportunity" to introduce reforms or face being overthrown by a mounting protest movement.
In reality, the opposition movement suffers from a lack of a leadership and organised parties because of the tight controls by Syria’s security apparatus over the people and media.
Even demonstrators do not appear to have far-reaching demands. In Deraa, local leaders want an end to emergency laws and courts in force for 48 years and the closure of the local security forces offices. They have said nothing about the regime and the president. (PD)
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