As unrest spreads, Syrian government promises to respond
By Joe Sterling and Salma Abdelaziz, CNN
March 24, 2011 -- Updated 1820 GMT (0220 HKT)
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Syrian violence escalates
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Syria says it will study changes
Thousands show up for the funerals of a soldier and others
Deaths are reported in Daraa
Sectarian, economic and security issues spur demonstrators, observer says
(CNN) -- Tensions boiled in a volatile Syrian community Thursday as thousands
of people turned up for the funerals of people killed in unrest, while the
government blamed the instability on outsiders and announced plans to study
popular demands, including the lifting of the country's decades-old emergency
law.
Syria is the latest in a string of Arabic-speaking nations beset with
discontent over economic and human rights issues. And Syrian discontent centers
on Daraa, a southern city in the impoverished country's agricultural region,
where violence has been escalating between security forces and anti-government
protesters since late last week.
Wissam Tarif, executive director of the human rights organization Insan, said
at least 34 people in Daraa have been killed in the past two days. While the
figure was confirmed by human rights activists who contacted family members of
the deceased, other activists believe many more have been killed.
Tarif said as many as 20,000 people followed the funeral procession for those
who died in violence, including a conscripted soldier who was reportedly shot
because he refused to fire on demonstrators. The turnout included people from
towns and villages near the city, and Tarif said that despite brutal and deadly
treatment by security forces, people were able to flock into Daraa.
A witness, who asked not to be named, said 10 martyrs were buried following
afternoon prayers, with the people in the procession mourning the loss of the
victims and chanting anti-government slogans.
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"After the funeral it began raining extremely hard so every one was forced to
go home, but the people will continue to protests if their demands are not
met," the witness said. "Our demands are simple. We demand dignity."
Kamal Aswad, a political activist in Daraa, said people in the funeral
procession were chanting: "Those who kill their own people are traitors" and he
said activists are trying to generate support for a big protest on Friday -- A
Day of Martyrs to be held after Friday prayers.
Three eyewitnesses said that al-Omari mosque, a significant landmark in Daraa
and the focal point since protests began last week, is occupied by security
forces and will most likely be the site of clashes on Friday.
State TV reported on Wednesday that the government fired the provincial
governor amid the demonstrations.
Buthaina Shaaban, political and media adviser to President Bashar Assad,
announced a number of measures apparently addressing protesters' demands. She
said the government will study lifting the country's emergency law and new
legislation that would license political parties.
There will be an immediate increase of salaries for state employees, an
announcement of new job opportunities, and a new media law to meet the peoples'
demands of liberty and freedom, she added.
She said the government is investigating the unrest in Daraa and there are
"indications and proof that there is a foreign financial support."
"Daraa was chosen because of its geographic location near the borders and how
easy it is to transfer money and weapons to the city," Shaaban said, referring
to the area's proximity to Jordan.
She also passed along Assad's condolences to those who were killed in Daraa,
and said the president "would not accept any bloodshed and I was an eyewitness
to his excellency's orders that no live bullets would be used against the
demonstrators."
At the same time, she said, that "doesn't mean there aren't any mistakes. ...
These things can happen."
Syria is a diverse country, largely Sunni Muslim but ruled by the minority
Alawite sect. It is also populated by Christians and members of the Druze sect.
Along with Arabs, it has a significant Kurdish minority, which has been restive
in recent years, and an Armenian population.
Joshua Landis, who runs the Syria Comment blog and is director of the Center
for Middle East Studies and associate professor at University of Oklahoma, told
CNN that the unrest in Daraa is spurred by a number of factors, including the
arrests two weeks ago of young people who scrawled anti-government graffiti,
widespread poverty, dislike of the country's decades-old emergency law, and
calls for freedom.
He said the opposition is trying to generate demonstrations through webpages
and Facebook, spurred by a "universal desire for change." So far, he said, the
rallies been localized to Daraa but it's possible that there will be
demonstrations elsewhere on Friday.
"Daraa is very poor and Islamic -- it optimizes everything that troubles Syria
-- a failed economy, the population explosion, a bad governor and overbearing
security forces," Landis wrote in his blog.
"It is an explosive brew. Even if the government can contain violence to Daraa
for the time-being, protests will spread. The wall of fear has broken. Apathy
of the young has turned to anger," he wrote.
He said another factor is sectarian, with elements of the Sunni Muslim
population resenting the Alawite leadership, which includes Assad.
"We saw the first direct sectarian slogans yesterday among the opposition that
until now has stuck to a moderate message of dismantling emergency law,
promulgating a new party law, and winning freedom," Landis wrote. "But on
Thursday, the demonstrators abandoned their gentler slogans and chanted: 'No
Iran. No Hizbullah. We want a Muslim who fears God.'"
Because there are so few sources available from what has been a closed,
authoritarian society, human rights activists are trying to get a handle on the
number of casualties and the context behind the unrest in Daraa, which is a
more conservative, tribal and close-knit community.
Amnesty International said it has been "deeply disturbed by reports of multiple
deaths" in Daraa, as security forces fired "at protesters and people coming to
the aid of the injured."
"The Syrian authorities' response to dissent has been swift and brutal. They
must ensure security forces immediately halt use of excessive force and allow
peaceful protesters to assemble and demonstrate freely," Philip Luther of
Amnesty International said.
Neil Sammonds, Amnesty researcher on Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, said the recent
arrests of the graffiti-scribbling youths, who were inspired by the protesters
in Egypt and Tunisia, appeared to have galvanized protesters. He said the
youths, who were arrested many days ago, are being held in a tough facility --
the Palestine branch of military intelligence in Damascus.
Along with many killed in the violence over the past 36 hours, Sammonds said
there were 92 confirmed arrests. He said there are reports of army snipers
shooting women carrying water and an 11-year-old girl, and noted that it's
"hard to imagine these are front-line protesters."
Sammonds said he would be skeptical of any government pronouncement that it
would respond to the problems and demands in Daraa and believes authorities
would be inclined to crush this protest, as they had last decade in the Kurdish
region. He said the government at that time said it would initiate reform after
the unrest but nothing happened.
It would be interesting, Sammonds said, to see whether Friday's protests
transpire and if the demonstrations spread through the country.
Nadim Houry, Human Rights Watch senior researcher Syria and Lebanon, said a
focus on sectarianism as the main factor in the protests might be an
oversimplification and that economic and political resentments have been there.
"My own sense is there is a litany of reasons," said Houry, also noting that
there have been smaller protests but they haven't fully spread.
He said there was "quite a bit of resentment" when the youths were detained. He
said Daraa is a tribal area of extended families and vast networks of people
could be mobilized to demonstrate. Demonstrations that started last week seemed
to get bigger as security forces dispersed them more forcefully.
There's a history in Syria of crushing dissent brutally, Houry said, citing
2004 in the Kurdish region and in the 1980s in the town of Hama, when thousands
of people were killed during an uprising.
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