Syria: Mourners shot dead after funeral

Published on Saturday 9 April 2011 14:55

SYRIAN security forces opened fire on thousands of mourners yesterday in the southern border city of Deraa, following a mass funeral for 37 pro-democracy protesters killed on Friday.

The latest clashes came as a Syrian rights group accused state security forces of committing a crime against humanity during Friday's demonstrations.

Security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse thousands of Syrians yesterday who were chanting freedom slogans after assembling close to the mosque in the old quarter of the city, near the border with Jordan, to bury those killed by security forces on Friday.

Dozens of people have been killed in a wave of protests across Syria against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

"What is happening in Syria is a flagrant violation of (human rights]," the National Organisation for Human Rights said.

"Syrian security committed (in Deraa] what could be called a crime against humanity. It fired indiscriminately on protesters and killed and wounded tens of them."

After Friday's bloodshed, Syria's interior ministry warned it would not tolerate breaches of the law and would deal with "armed groups", state news agency SANA said yesterday.

Activists were concerned this could herald a harsher crackdown. European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton strongly condemned the violence and deaths, and urged Syria to implement "meaningful political reforms".

There were rallies on Friday from the Mediterranean port Latakia to Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border, as demonstrations in defiance of Assad's security crackdown entered a fourth week, despite his growing list of reform pledges.

As well as the 37 killed in Deraa, the National Organisation for Human Rights added that three people were killed in the central city of Homs, three others in Harasta, Damascus, and one in Douma.

And in the early hours of yesterday morning, Syrian security forces used live ammunition to disperse a pro-democracy protest by hundreds of people in a Sunni district of Latakia, causing many injuries and possible deaths.

One witness said he saw water trucks hosing away blood from the streets near the Takhasussieh School in the Sleibeh district of Latakia, Syria's main port, 210 miles northwest of the capital Damascus.

"One cannot move two steps in the streets without risking arrest. It is difficult to know if there were deaths, but we heard heavy AK-47 fire," a resident said. "One thing is certain. This regime of thugs is exposing its fangs.Brutality is the only thing it knows."

Latakia is a majority Sunni city with significant numbers of Alawites, who follow an offshoot sect of Shi'ite Islam, and Christian residents.

There was no comment from the Syrian authorities, who have arrested journalists and banned independent media from Latakia and cities where mass protests against Baath Party rule have taken place.

The party took power in a 1963 coup, banning all opposition and imposing an emergency law which is still in force. The party is headed by Assad, a member of the Alawite sect, which comprises 10 per cent of Syria's population.

Assad has said a foreign conspiracy to sow sectarian strife in Syria is behind the protests.

The interior ministry accused "plotters pushed by known foreign sides" of firing at protesters to create a rift between people and police.

"(They] have infiltrated the ranks of the demonstrators to sow discord between the citizens and the security forces. There is no more room for leniency or tolerance in enforcing law.

"We will not allow sabotage ... and the harming of national unity.

"Syrian authorities, in order to preserve the security of the country, citizens and the governmental and services establishments, will confront these people and those behind them according to the law."

Activists said the statement showed that authorities are planning to step up a crackdown on protesters.

"We have fear now, after the statement, that oppression in Syria (will increase] against civilians under the pretext of (confronting] armed groups," said Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria.

Inspired by Arab uprisings that began in Tunisia and Egypt, popular demonstrations calling for greater freedom have shaken Syria. Assad has responded with a blend of force against protesters, gestures towards political reform and concessions to conservative Muslims including closing Syria's only casino.

Activists said the steps taken were not enough.

A key demand of the protesters is the repeal of emergency law. Assad ordered a committee to study replacing it with anti-terrorism legislation, but critics say it will probably grant the state many of the same powers.

Protests broke out in the north-eastern city of Qamishli despite Assad's pledge to grant citizenship to stateless Kurds. It was not clear how many Kurds would be given nationality, but at least 150,000 Kurds are registered as foreigners as a result of a 1962 census in the eastern region of al-Hasaka.

Under Assad - president since 2000, when his father died after 30 years in power - Syria has been Iran's closest Arab ally, a major player in Lebanon and a supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah.