Protests continue for third day

Protests against Syria’s 48 years of emergency law entered their third day Sunday. Authorities sought to appease the movement by promising to free schoolchildren who had been arrested for scrawling anti-regime graffiti.

By FRANCE 24 (video)
News Wires (text)

REUTERS - Thousands of Syrians demanded an end to 48 years of emergency law on Sunday, a third consecutive day of protests emerging as the biggest challenge to Syria's rulers since unrest swept the Arab world this year.

Syrian security forces killed a protester named Raed al-Kerad, residents said, the fifth civilian killed by them since protests erupted in the southern city of Deraa on Friday as demonstrators called for freedoms and the release of political prisoners.

A huge billow of smoke rose from main downtown area where key government buildings are located, but heavy gunfire heard earlier across the city, which is near the border with Jordan, subsided by late afternoon, witnesses said.

"No. No to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom," marchers chanted as a government delegation arrived in Deraa to offer their condolences for victims killed by security forces in demonstrations there this week.

Security forces also fired tear gas at the protesters. At least 40 people were taken to be treated for gas inhalation at the main Omari mosque in the old city, residents said.

"The mosque is now a field hospital. The security forces know they cannot enter the old city without spilling more blood," one resident said.

Syria has been ruled under emergency law since the Baath Party, which is headed by president Bashar al-Assad, took power in a 1963 coup and banned all opposition.

Security forces opened fire on Friday on civilians taking part in a peaceful protest in Deraa to demand political freedoms, an end to corruption, and the release of 15 schoolchildren whose arrests for scrawling protest graffiti had helped fuel the demonstrations. Four people were killed.

An official statement said "infiltrators" claiming to be high ranking officers had been visiting security stations and asking security forces to fire at any suspicious gathering.

Citizens should report anyone suspected of trying to fool the security apparatus "into using violence and live ammunition against any suspicious gathering", the statement said.

The government sought to calm popular discontent in Deraa by promising that the children, who had written slogans on walls inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, would be released immediately.

On Saturday, thousands of mourners called for "revolution" at the funeral of two of the protesters. Officials later met Deraa notables who presented them with a list of demands, most importantly the release of political prisoners.

The list demands the dismantling of the secret police headquarters in Deraa, the dismissal of the governor, a public trial for those responsible for the killings and the scrapping of regulations requiring permission from the secret police to sell and buy property.

Arrests

Non-violent protests have challenged the Baath Party's authority this month, following the uprisings that toppled the autocratic leaders of Egypt and Tunisia, with the largest protests in Deraa drawing thousands of people.

A silent protest in Damascus by 150 people this week demanded the release of thousands of political prisoners. At least one activist from Deraa, Diana al-Jawabra, took part in the protest. She was arrested on charges of weakening national morale, along with 32 other protesters, a lawyer said.

Jawabra, who is from a prominent family, was campaigning for the release of the 15 schoolchildren from her home city. Another prominent woman from Deraa, physician Aisha Aba Zeid, was arrested three weeks ago for airing a political opinion on the internet.

Residents say the arrest of the two women deepened feelings of repression and helped fuel the protests in Deraa, a conservative tribal region on the border with Jordan.

Secret police made a slew of arrests in Deraa this month after graffiti appeared on school walls and on grain silos with phrases such as "the people want the overthrow of the regime" -- the same slogan that became the rallying cry of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions.

The authorities responded by increasing secret police patrols and asking staff at schools and public departments to man their premises around the clock and by requiring IDs and registration for buyers of paint and spray cans.

Date created : 20/03/2011

Comments (5)

Hafez Assad was considered a force of stability

by Ariely (not verified) - 24/03/2011 - 05:38

If a dictator kills in one day 40.000 citizens- he is a force of stability

Hafez Assad decided that Hama would be the staging point of the example he was to make to the Syrian people
In 1982 the Syrian government killed in one day
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30,000 – 40,000
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of its own citizens.
Assad leveled an entire city with an air bombardment followed by artillery and tank fire.

Are the Syrians still afraid from their government brutality?

Will his son Assad junior follow his father example?
Is the world still practicing the same values?

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the truth in syria

by FREELIFE (not verified) - 23/03/2011 - 12:53

the truth is that this article has not been updated today is the 6th day of ongoing protests in syria. the people are fed up they want change, the government are feeding lies through their media channels. we need the world to know what is really happening in syria. the people are scared they dont know how to stand up for them selves.

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syrian people was not in coma

by syrian (not verified) - 21/03/2011 - 13:13

Syrian people was not in coma! they were tide off by violence, its the time that they break the chain lock and start moving.

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Freedom

by Prof Alan Levy (not verified) - 21/03/2011 - 09:31

Lets hope that democratic freedom will come shortly to the people of Syria. We all in the west need to assist these folks if the Bath Party starts attacking its own people.