Syrians chanting “No more fear,” held a defiant march on Monday after a deadly government crackdown failed to quash three days of mass protests in a southern city — an extraordinary outpouring in a country that is known for brutally suppressing dissent.
Riot police armed with clubs chased the small group away without casualties, but traces of earlier, larger demonstrations were everywhere: burned-out and looted government buildings, a dozen torched vehicles, an office of the ruling Baath party with its windows knocked out. Protesters also burned an office of the telecommunications company Syriatel, which is owned in part by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s cousin.
The unrest in the city of Daraa started on Friday after security troops fired at protesters, killing five people. Over the next two days, two more people died and authorities sealed the city, allowing people out but not in, as thousands of enraged protesters set fire to government buildings and demonstrated throughout the city.
Among the victims was 11-year-old Mundhir Masalmi, who died on Monday after suffering tear gas inhalation a day earlier, an activist said. The activist asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals.
US National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said on Monday that reports indicate the Syrian government “has used disproportionate force against civilians, and in particular against demonstrators and mourners in Daraa.”
Human Rights Watch said in a statement that Syria should “cease use of live fire and other excessive force against protesters.”
On Monday, a team of reporters was allowed into Daraa, accompanied by two government minders who kept them away from protesters and would not allow photographs of demonstrations. Army checkpoints circled the city and plainclothes officers were deployed in key areas.
The military tightened security around the old part of the city that witnessed much of the violence. Soldiers were stopping cars trying to go to the old part, checking identity cards and searching vehicles to make sure no one was carrying weapons. The minders prevented the team of reporters from going to the old quarter.
Lawyer Samir Kafri said that criminal records were destroyed as people ransacked and burned the two-story Palace of Justice, which houses a criminal court and a police station. Every room in the building was burned and more than 20 computers were stolen, he said.
About a dozen lawyers who gathered outside the building said the attack on the courthouse appeared to be well organized, as the attackers managed to destroy all files related to crimes, such as drugs and arms dealings.
Among the buildings set on fire were the offices of the anti-drug department, about 200m from the court.
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