SYRIA: Activists protest police beating, call for investigation

Feb. 17, 2011 6:40 PM PT

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Syrian human rights activists say 1,500 people demonstrated in the Damascus neighborhood of Al Hariqa on Thursday after a young man was unjustly beaten by police.

According to staff at the Washington-based Freedom House, Syria’s interior minister promised to hold police accountable for the beating. Syrian human rights groups have called for an investigation.
Freedom House said in a statement that protesters gathered spontaneously, chanting, ‘The Syrian people will not be humiliated,’ and demanding police be held accountable. The demonstration continued for three hours, according to the statement.
The group also posted video on YouTube of the protest, filmed by a local human rights group.
-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Babylon & Beyond

Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Molly Hennessy-Fiske was a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times from 2006 to 2022 in Houston, Los Angeles, Washington and the Middle East as bureau chief.