16 May 2012
| Militarisation and calls for civil strikes intensify protests |
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Violent clashes, especially between army deserters and Syrian forces, escalated last month. On December 20, the General Commission of the Syrian Revolution reported that more than 200 people were killed within two days throughout Syria, including 72 deserters in Idlib. During the same period, state-run news agency SANA described clashes with "armed terrorists groups" in Al-Qseir in Homs countryside and Banin near Idlib. Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the London-based Observatory for Human Rights, said that clashes between deserters and the military had increased in recent weeks on the outskirts of Hama, Homs, and Idlib, and in the southern province of Dera'a. On December 15, army defectors claimed to have killed 27 soldiers and secret policemen in three separate attacks in Dera'a near the Jordanian border, the Syrian Observatory reported. No official media confirmed these attacks. However, SANA reported that competent authorities attacked some terrorists' hideouts in Dera'a countryside, killing 10 and wounding three others. Other clashes took place earlier last month between deserters and Syrian forces "in retaliation for the killing of civilians", the Observatory said. It reported that eight members of the security forces were killed in an ambush in Hama on December 14, and that seven soldiers were killed in an attack on their truck by "armed opposition members" in Idlib the day before. SANA reported on December 13 that 17 army and security martyrs were laid to rest after being killed by armed terrorist groups in conflict zones. It also announced on December 8 that a major oil pipeline near Homs was attacked, though there were no casualties according to both local activists and state media. While the Local Coordination Committees (LCC) accused Syrian forces of "bombing the pipeline", SANA blamed "an armed terrorist group" for sabotaging it. The recent escalation of militarisation is adding evidence to some observers' claims that the country is sliding into a state of permanent armed insurgency. UK-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi published an opinion editorial on December 16 which stated that "the Syrian crisis is entering the 'militarisation' stage and perhaps also a sectarian civil war. In most cases, militarisation is the beginning or the preface of international or regional interference." As violence escalated, more protesting voices were heard in Aleppo and Damascus, two cities that until now have remained relatively calm. On December 19, according to the LCC, a large student demonstration started in the Faculty of Literature at Aleppo University. On the same day, a massive protest developed around the funeral of a thirteen-year-old student, Hala al-Monajed, which took place in the Midan area of Damascus. Local activists estimated that participants numbered 10,000. However, the funeral ended tragically as one of the mourners, Ayham al-Samman, was shot and killed by security forces, according to the LCC.
21Al-Monajed was allegedly killed by security forces along with another older girl during a school protest the day before. However, the next day she appeared on local Addounia TV, speaking from a hospital after being allegedly shot in her waist, according to the channel, by "protestors" in the same quarter. After demanding that the Arab League put more pressure on the Syrian regime throughout last month, on December 16 tens of thousands of Syrians protested under the banner "The Arab League Is Killing Us" according to Lebanese daily The Daily Star. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that more than 200,000 people protested in the city of Homs alone, with demonstrators condemning the league's repeated extension of deadlines and slowness to take action. Official sources announced that in spite of some attacks by "armed terrorist groups" on security forces, "no one was killed or injured" during the December 16 protests, according to SANA. However, the Syrian Revolution General Commission announced that at least 20 people, both civilians and army deserters, were killed in the suburbs of Homs, Dara'a, and Damascus. On the same day, SANA reported that hundreds of Syrians gathered in main squares in the Damascus, Aleppo, Hasaka, Tartous and Banias governorates to express their support for President Bashar al-Assad. As protests continued to grow in Homs, Hama, Dera'a, Deir ez-Zor, Idlib and their suburbs, according to LCC reports, local activists along with the committees called for a campaign of civil disobedience in six stages starting from December 11 called "Strike for Dignity". Invitations to join the strike were spread widely using SMS messages and social networking sites and occurred simultaneously with official calls for citizens to participate in local municipal elections on December 12. Counter calls against the strike were also posted widely on Facebook and sent by text messages. On December 11, the LCC reported that the cities of Hama, Homs, Dera'a, and Idlib were fully committed to the strike, whereas only parts of Deir ez-Zor, Damascus and Aleppo suburbs complied with the calls. On the other hand, SANA and state-run Syrian TV reported on the same day that Syrians had rejected the provocative calls for a strike "launched by some tendentious parties linked to foreign sides" and had gone about their business as usual. Local activists claimed that security forces tried to break the strike by threatening strikers and attacking shops that had closed. Some footage broadcast on Al-Jazeera during the first week of strikes showed security agents breaking the locks of some shops in Idlib and Dera'a. However, local private daily Al-Watan reported on December 12 that "terrorist armed groups threatened the citizens in Homs…and tried to impose a compulsory sit-in." Meanwhile, several incidents fuelled anti-regime outcry earlier last month. On December 10, international news channels broadcast a video allegedly showing the body of a young Syrian doctor, Ibrahim Othman, who co-founded the Physicians Coordinating Committee in Damascus, which according to CNN secretly treats wounded protesters. The LCC reported that Othman was killed by gunfire from Air Force Intelligence units while trying to flee to Turkey. Since December 7, Syrian Facebook users have been launching a virtual demonstration in which all participants post the same slogan every day at the same time. On December 4, Syrian authorities detained Syrian blogger and activist Razzan Ghazzawi near the Jordanian border. Eight days later, the activist was charged with three crimes, including "establishing an organisation that aims to change the social and economical entity of the state, weakening national sentiment, and trying to ignite sectarian strife", according to Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star.
The Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, where the blogger worked, said in a statement that Ghazzawi was freed on December 18 on bail. It also said that she would still stand trial at a later date. |
16 May 2012
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