Syria protests: Rights group warns of 'Deraa massacre'

Source: BBC

May 5 2011 Last updated at 17:19 GMT

A Syrian human rights group has accused the government of carrying out "10 days of massacres" against protesters in the southern city of Deraa.

The Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS) says snipers and anti-aircraft machine guns are being used to fire on unarmed civilians.

Recent amateur video appears to show dozens of unarmed protesters being shot and bleeding to death on the streets.

The government is trying to quell seven weeks of protests that began in Deraa.

(Warning: We have included an image lower down this page which some readers may find distressing.)

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-13299793

Amina A., the gay female half-American blogger, writes:




http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/may/06/syria-libya-middle-east-unrest-live#block-7


At the link you can find hotlinks to more of Amina A's work that The Guardian has been following--including her account of her father standing up to Syrian security thugs who came to arrest her for her work.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/2011566163239760.html

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets across Syria for another day of anti-government rallies, dubbed a "day of defiance". There were reports that five people had been killed in Homs and one in Hama, but Al Jazeera could not immediately verify the reports.

"We were chanting 'The people and the army are one' and 'The people want to topple the regime'," a witness told Al Jazeera over the phone. "Then security and thugs opened fire."

The sound of continuous gunfire was audible over the phone, as well as people shouting "There are snipers on the rooftops". The military earlier deployed troops and tanks in flashpoint cities including Baniyas, Homs and Rastan and in some Damascus suburbs.

In the Damascus district of Midan, protesters marched chanting "To heaven we go, one million martyrs". Huge crowds were rallying in the coastal city of Baniyas, where there was a heavy army presence. "We are here today to say we don't want to die. We don't want to be humiliated and we will never stop," a protester told Al Jazeera. "Killing us and invading us with tanks will never stop us. Our souls will ascend to heaven calling for freedom".