Dated April 12 2011, the video shows Syrian security forces beating bound men from the Banias town of Bayda in Syria.
An excellent article by The Economist summing up the situation in Syria ... the article pretty much in full below:
Related Posts:Syrian leaders are backing themselves into a corner by escalating a five-week-old standoff with protesters. At least 28 were killed across the country by security forces and thugs on April 8th. Four more were shot dead two days later in Banias after the army surrounded the coastal city and let loose the shabiha, a thuggish smuggling gang backed by the regime that has been responsible for violence elsewhere. Nearby villages including Bayda were raided. Human rights organisations say at least 100 residents were arrested in one day.
The government has signalled violence may increase further by issuing a warning that no tolerance or leniency will be shown. Apologist reports in state media are adding insult to injury.
Protesters see little chance of dialogue and are concluding that taking to the streets is their only option. Several hitherto peaceful cities have seen their first large demonstrations. Protesters’ numbers are growing and demonstrations that have routinely taken place after Friday prayers increasingly continue into the week. Groups of women, absent from many of the protests so far, went out to demand the release of detainees from Bayda.
Violence is also causing anger in quarters where the regime used to have at least some support. In recent weeks, a number of sheikhs from the religious establishment have given their blessing to protesters. Kurds, long repressed by the Arab majority, rejected a last-ditch offer of citizenship by government officials and took to the streets.
The army and intelligence services may be dominated by loyalists. But civilian elements of the elite are showing the first signs of fraying, both because they support reforms and out of growing discomfort at the security forces’ brutal and ham-fisted behaviour. Samira Masalma, editor of the state-run Tishreen newspaper, has been sacked after criticising shootings by armed units. Several of her relations are said to have been injured during protests in the city of Deraa. Several soldiers have been shot, some reportedly for refusing to fire on unarmed protesters.
All this has upped the ante for Syria’s president, Bashar Assad. He could have tried to quell demonstrations early on with sincere offers of reform, but he did not want to be seen as weak. Instead he opted for modest and unconvincing reform proposals. Tardy pledges to lift decades-old emergency laws and allow independent political parties have so far gone unfulfilled. ...
The government’s main focus in public pronouncements is to warn protesters against a collapse into sectarian strife. This resonates strongly with ordinary Syrians who have witnessed the recent sectarian conflicts in neighbouring Lebanon and Iraq. Still, Mr Assad’s scare tactics may not work.
Sectarianism has not been a big part of the protests. An open letter in al-Safir newspaper by leading artists stressed the importance of Syrian unity. Kurdish groups have been careful not to frame their grievances as a bid for autonomy or independence. Many protesters seem keen to emphasise the national nature of the demonstrations, chanting support for faraway cities on the receiving end of the government’s heavy-handed tactics.
As protesters become increasingly frustrated, their demands have grown. They now want not just the scrapping of emergency laws but the end of unchecked government powers, as well as true economic freedom and an end to corruption and elite privileges. From there it is only a small step to demanding the outright end of Mr Assad’s rule. Some have already taken it.
- Syrian Secret Police (Intelligence) Memo
- Syria Update
- HRW Documents Atrocities by Syrian Regime
- The Dismal State of Analysis on the Syrian Regime
- Released Syrian Activist Speaks Out
- HRW Condemns Syrian Regime for Killing Civilians
- American Student Describes 15 Days in Syrian Prison
- Don't Expect Change from Bashar al Assad
- Video: Woman Attacks Bashar al Assad's Car After Speech
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