Amnesty International kræver en uvildig undersøgelse af mordet på mindst 6 deltagere i demonstationer mod den syriske regering, oplyses det på organisationens hjemmeside tirsdag.
4 men died after security forces opened fire on demonstrators on Friday. Another man was shot dead on Sunday and a sixth person, said to be a youth aged 12 or 13, died yesterday after inhaling tear gas on Sunday. Scores more have been injured by bullets and tear gas and many more have been detained.
Like protests elsewhere in the region, protesters are calling for more political freedoms, an end to corruption and in Dera’a, the release of more than 30 children, many aged about 10 years old, detained for several weeks for having written “the people want the fall of the regime” on a wall.
“These deaths must be investigated promptly and thoroughly and those responsible for unlawful killings brought to justice,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“The use of lethal force by the Syrian security forces against protesters who, by all accounts, were not putting others’ lives at risk is totally unacceptable. People must be allowed to assemble and protest peacefully.”
Security forces fired tear gas at thousands of people in Dera’a on Monday, during the funeral of the fifth protester to be killed, Ra’id al-Karad. Protests also spread to the nearby town of Jassem.
The protests appear to have been largely peaceful although at least two government buildings were set alight on Friday after the first killings.
On Saturday the Syrian state-run news agency SANA said that the Ministry of Interior had set up a committee to investigate the violence.
“While we haven’t seen any details published about the committee, the fact that it appears to be reporting to the very ministry whose forces are alleged to be responsible for the deaths suggests that the independence of their work is likely to be seriously in question,” said Philip Luther.
“An independent and impartial investigation is essential if the truth is to be uncovered.”
The Syrian authorities have a poor record of investigating killings by security forces. Even when investigations have been announced, few, if any, details have been made public about their nature, scope or conclusions.
