Theoretically, yesterday was the first day that Syrians had the right to demonstrate without arrest and im prisonment under a State of Emergency imposed 48 years ago. It was also the first test of President Bashar al-Assad’s televised promises of a “serious process of reform.”
By evening in Damascus, it was clear that the dreaded State of Emergency is more firmly in place than ever and that Assad’s promises weren’t worth the TV time spent on them.
Worse still, the day ended with the death of 67 demonstrators, most of them shot by government snipers from the ruling Alawite minority. According to human-rights groups, at least 300 others were injured and hundreds more arrested.
The day began with the state-owned media repeating Assad’s warnings that no more demonstrations would be “tolerated under any circumstances.” Government television kept beaming images of military units taking positions in the capital and other major cities — including Homs and Banias, where an atmosphere of popular insurrection has reigned since last week.
According to Syrian sources, some of the units brought in to crush the uprising had been withdrawn from the ceasefire line with Israel just outside the Golan Heights. For the first time in four decades, the Assad clique concluded that it needed its troops more for killing Syrians than threatening the Israelis.
Formally ratified by Syria’s fake parliament 48 hours earlier, the lifting of the State of Emergency was instantly accompanied with the passage of new laws imposing even more draconian limits on freedom of expression.
To demonstrate, people now have to apply for a special permit from the Ministry of the Interior in consultation with security services. Since no limit is put on the length of time the ministry can take to deliver a permit, an application might remain “under consideration” forever.
Under another new measure, anyone “suspected of undermining national security” can be arrested and held indefinitely. This makes things worse than under the State of Emergency — which, in theory at least, stipulated that those arrested be charged within a maximum of one year.
Assad’s propaganda machine tried to divide the people by claiming that the regime is facing “a terrorist insurgency led by al Qaeda.” The idea was to frighten the Christian community, which has been in the forefront of the uprising from the start. To counter that, the uprising’s coordination committee announced that yesterday would be designated “Good Friday” as a sign of respect for Syrian Christians.
It seems that the divide-and-rule scheme has failed. Across the country, the flow of people joining the anti-Assad marches came as much from prayers at mosques as from Good Friday masses in churches.
In several cities, Assyrian Christian priests marched at the head of the demonstrations along with Muslim and Druze clerics.
One popular slogan was “No To Terrorism — We Want Freedom”.
Yesterday’s demonstrations showed that the popular uprising has succeeded in agreeing on a set of demands. Expressed in slogans across the nation, these are:
* An end to the Ba’ath Party’s monopoly on power by cancelling Article 8 of the Constitution.
* Immediate resignation of Bashar al-Assad as president and the holding of fresh presidential and parliamentary elections.
* The formation of a transition government reflecting the wishes of the people.
* Limiting the presidential election to two consecutive five-year terms, thus ending the current “president-for-life” system.
* An end to torture, killings, arrests and violence against demonstrators.
* The return of the army units to barracks and the withdrawal of sniper units known as al-Ashbah (“ghosts”).
* Three days of state-sanctioned mourning for those killed in the uprising so far.
* An independent investigation into the deaths of protesters and judicial proceedings in the light of evidence revealed.
* Release of all political prisoners.
Assad had hoped that his empty promises, coupled with bribes offered to several of Syria’s dozen-plus different ethnic and religious communities, would help him weather the storm. This has not happened. Rising above ethnic and religious differences, Syrians appeared determined to fight on.
For the time being, Assad still appears to be prepared to kill them in the streets.