Syria: Demonstrators Remain Defiant Amid Widening Crackdown

Protesters in Syria remained defiant over the weekend, continuing to march against the government amid the regime’s violent attempts to quell demonstrations.
Syria: Demonstrators Remain Defiant Amid Widening Crackdown
A large poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad adorns a wall at a restaurant in the capital Damascus on April 30, 2011. (Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images)
5/1/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/113289785.jpg" alt="A large poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad adorns a wall at a restaurant in the capital Damascus on April 30, 2011. (Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images)" title="A large poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad adorns a wall at a restaurant in the capital Damascus on April 30, 2011. (Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1804670"/></a>
A large poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad adorns a wall at a restaurant in the capital Damascus on April 30, 2011. (Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images)

Protesters in Syria remained defiant over the weekend, continuing to march against the government amid the regime’s violent attempts to quell demonstrations.

Since last Monday, more than 100 people have been killed by Syrian security forces. This places the death toll for the two-month-long protests well over 500, according to eyewitnesses and human rights activists, although accurate information is very hard to get out of the country.

The protests has shaken the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who has been in power for 11 years. The U.S. and other countries have now placed economic sanctions on the leadership of the country.

The United Nations as well, on Saturday decided to defer its upcoming five-year Syria Country Program that would continue to provide economic aid, disaster management, as well as help implement educational, legal, and administrative frameworks.

Opposition leaders have called for a “continuous protest” to lift the siege on the southern city of Deraa, where the humanitarian situation has become continually worse, according to rights activist and the author of the Syrian Revolution Digest, Ammar Abdulhamid.

Mass protesters were organized for Daraa on Sunday, then Damascus and Monday, followed by other cities throughout the week until another “day of rage” across the country on Friday.

A witness told the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria that more reinforcements including tanks and artillery were sent to Daraa to suppress dissidents. The witness heard gunshots and artillery fire as security forces shelled the old city.

Since last Monday, more and more tanks and troops have been sent to Deraa, the city where the main protests first sparked.

Rights groups say that the regime has arrested more and more people in the past few days to try to stop the demonstrations.

Opposition leader and lawyer Hassan Ismail Azim was arrested on Saturday afternoon and his whereabouts are unknown, the Syrian Observatory reported. His detainment “coincided with a campaign of mass arrests” held throughout the country, the rights group added.

Syrian state-run media, quoting the Interior Ministry, said that “citizens who were misled into participating in or committing unlawful acts [should] turn themselves in,” calling those who orchestrated the protests “terrorists.”