Syrian protesters pledged on Wednesday to press ahead with their “revolution” in the face of sweeping arrests by authorities, as France called for sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad. The vow came as around 150 students held a brief sit-in at the university in the besieged southern flashpoint town of Daraa, as more than 1,000 people have been were arrested so far this week.
“We must continue our peaceful revolution throughout Syria until we achieve the freedom we demand,” said the committee coordinating the anti-government protests in a string of cities.
They include Daraa, the epicentre of protests, Banias on the Mediterranean coast and the central industrial city of Homs.
The opposition said the “live ammunition fired into the crowds has not stopped the young people from continuing to demonstrate.
“The crowds are only growing in size and momentum. The government’s fierce campaign of arbitrary mass arrests will not succeed where their bullets have failed,” a statement said.
“Having failed to stop the protests and demonstrations in Syria through their various means of oppression, besieging cities, censoring and cutting off communications, and even firing live ammunition, which has killed hundreds of Syrians, the Syrian government has, in recent days, intensified their effort to arrest citizens,” the statement obtained by AFP said.
At least 500 people are being arrested every day on average, it added.
The civilian death toll from the unprecedented demonstrations in Syria has already topped 607 since March 15, according to Syria’s Insan human rights group, which said as many as 8,000 people were now being listed as arrested or missing. Assad’s government has persistently blamed the violence on “armed criminal gangs” and has portrayed the protest movement as a conspiracy. As a wave of arrests intensified, a Facebook post by the Syrian Revolution 2011 website had urged “Syrians in all regions to gather from Tuesday evening in all public places to organise sit-ins” round the clock.
On Wednesday around 150 students shouting “With our soul and blood we defend Daraa; lift the siege in Daraa” held a sit-in at the town’s university, which was quickly broken up by security forces, an activist said. Amnesty International said a “wave of arrests of anti-government protesters had intensified over the weekend.”
Syrian protesters vow to stay firm on ‘revolution’
