At least 55 people are believed to have been killed during a week of unrest in and around the Syrian town of Dera’a "The excessive force apparently again being used by security forces is the latest example of the Syrian authorities' appalling and brutal response to recent dissent, and make their pledge to investigate the violence sound rather hollow " said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy director for Middle East and North Africa.
Media reports said that as many as 20 people had died today in protests in different parts of the country.
The circumstances of most of the deaths remain unclear. The first occurred during peaceful protests last Friday, 18 March, and several others followed over the next two days. Many more took place during the early hours of Wednesday 23 March when security forces attacked a sit-in at the town’s ‘Omari mosque.
“The government has made similar statements before, yet the repressive state of emergency has endured with little tolerance for dissenting views for nearly half a century,” said Philip Luther.
According to Syrian human rights organizations, there are indications that almost all of those who had been arrested in and around Dera’a since 18 March were released.
One of those released said: he had been detained in a military security office in Dera’a since 22 March and confirmed that he and others held in the same place in connection with the protests had been released by last night.
