March 2011 uprising In the southern city of
Daraa, protests had been triggered on 6 March by the incarceration and torture of 15 young students, including
Mouawiya Syasneh, from prominent families who were arrested for writing anti-government graffiti in the city, reading: "" – ("
The people want the fall of the regime") – a trademark slogan of the
Arab Spring. The boys also spray-painted the graffiti "
Your turn, Doctor", alluding to Assad's previous career as an
ophthalmologist in the
United Kingdom. Security forces under the command of the city's security chief and the first cousin of President Assad,
Atef Najib swiftly responded by rounding up the alleged perpetrators and detaining them for over a month, which set off large-scale protests in
Daraa Governorate that quickly spread to other provinces. According to information given by interviewees to
Human Rights Watch, protests in Daraa began peacefully, with demonstrators carrying olive branches, unbuttoning their shirts to show that they had no weapons, and chanting "peaceful, peaceful" to indicate that they posed no threat to the security forces. Daraa would come to be known as the "Cradle of the Syrian Revolution". The government later claimed that the boys weren't attacked, and that
Qatar incited the majority of the protests. Writer and analyst Louai al-Hussein, referencing the Arab Spring ongoing at that time, wrote that "Syria is now on the map of countries in the region with an uprising". and other cities on 25 March 2011. Online activists used social media networks like
Facebook and
Twitter to promote the protest campaign. This poster is also a reference to
Che Guevara. In
Daraa, demonstrators clashed with local police, and confrontations escalated on 18 March after Friday prayers. Security forces attacked protestors gathered at the
Omari Mosque using water cannons and tear gas, followed by live fire, killing four. On 20 March, a crowd burned down the
Ba'ath Party headquarters and other public buildings. Security forces quickly responded, firing live ammunition at crowds, and attacking the focal points of the demonstrations. The two-day assault resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and fifteen protestors. Meanwhile, minor protests occurred elsewhere in the country. Protestors demanded the release of political prisoners, the abolition of Syria's 48-year emergency law, more freedoms, and an end to pervasive government corruption. The events led to a "
Friday of Dignity" on 18 March, when large-scale protests broke out in several cities, including Banias, Damascus, al-Hasakah, Daraa, Deir az-Zor, and Hama. Police responded to the protests with tear gas, water cannons, and beatings. At least six people were killed and many others injured. On 23 March, units of the
Fourth Division led by
Maher al-Assad stormed a gathering in a
Sunni mosque in Daraa, killing five civilians. Victims included a doctor who was treating the wounded. Anger at the incident arose exponentially in the province and across the country. The regime attempted to simmer down the protests by announcing tax-cuts and pay rises the next day. On 25 March, tens of thousands of people participated in the funerals of those killed, chanting: "
We do not want your bread, we want dignity". Statues and billboards of
Hafez al-Assad and Bashar al-Assad were demolished. On 25 March, mass protests spread nationwide, as demonstrators emerged after Friday prayers. At least 20 protestors were killed by security forces. Protests subsequently spread to other Syrian cities, including
Homs,
Hama,
Baniyas,
Jasim, Aleppo, Damascus and
Latakia. Over 70 protestors in total were reported killed. In his public address delivered on 30 March, Assad said "conspirators" were pushing an "
Israeli agenda", condemned the protests as a "foreign plot" and described those who were killed by the firing as a "sacrifice for national stability", sparking widespread outcry. Assad said reforms in Syria could be considered, but only after the country stabilized and economic conditions improved. However, he did not specify which reforms would be implemented nor did he offer any timeframe for change. Abbas Abbas, and Adnan Mustafa. Government forces used
Ba'ath party buildings as a base to organize the security forces and fire on protestors. The government employed deadly force against the peaceful demonstrators, deploying snipers, heavy machine guns and shelling. Those security officers who disagreed or held back were also fired upon by Ba'athist paramilitaries and
Shabiha death squads from behind. Police and security forces responded to the protests violently, using water cannons and tear gas as well as physically beating protestors and firing live ammunition.
Shabiha death squads, composed of fervent Alawite loyalists, were ordered to execute sectarian attacks on the protestors, torture
Sunni demonstrators and engage in
anti-Sunni rhetoric. This policy led to large-scale desertions within the army ranks and further defections of officers who began forming a
resistance movement. As the uprisings intensified, the Syrian government arrested tens of thousands of people. In response to the uprising, Syrian law had been changed to allow the police and any of the nation's 18 security forces to detain a suspect for eight days without a
warrant. Arrests focused on two groups: political activists, and men and boys from the towns that the Syrian Army would start to besiege in April. Many of those detained experienced ill-treatment. Many detainees were cramped in tight rooms and were given limited resources, and some were beaten, electrically jolted, or debilitated. At least 27 torture centers run by Syrian intelligence agencies were revealed by
Human Rights Watch on 3 July 2012. State propaganda of the
Alawite-dominated regime has attempted to portray any pro-democracy protests, even those that called for political pluralism and civil liberties, as "a project to sow sectarian strife." Regime forces carried out brutal attacks against the inhabitants of
Al-Rastan, displacing over 80% of its population. Characterizing the displaced civilians as "armed terrorist groups",
Syrian Arab Armed Forces expanded its attacks on the civilians that sought refuge in nearby areas, resulting in 127 deaths. Early in the month of April, a large deployment of security forces prevented tent encampments in
Latakia. Blockades were set up in several cities to prevent the movement of protests. Despite the crackdown, widespread protests continued throughout the month in Daraa, Baniyas, Al-Qamishli, Homs, Douma and Harasta.
Concessions , 6 May 2011 at Tishreen University,
Latakia on 23 May 2011. During March and April, the Syrian government, hoping to alleviate the protests, offered political reforms and policy changes. Authorities shortened mandatory army conscription, and in an apparent attempt to reduce corruption, fired the governor of Daraa. The government announced it would release political prisoners, cut taxes, raise the salaries of public sector workers, provide more press freedoms, and increase job opportunities. Many of these announced reforms were never implemented. The government, dominated by the Alawite sect, made some concessions to the majority Sunni and some minority populations. Authorities reversed a ban that restricted teachers from wearing the
niqab, and closed the country's only casino. Following Bahrain's example, the Syrian government held a two-day national dialogue in July, in attempt to alleviate the crisis. However, the representatives that held the dialogue were mostly Ba'ath party members; in addition to Assad loyalist figures and leaders of pro-regime
satellite parties. As a result, many of the opposition leaders and protest leaders refused to attend due to the continuing crackdown on protestors in streets and
tanks besieging cities. A popular demand from protestors was an end of the nation's state of emergency, which had been in effect for nearly 50 years. The emergency law had been used to justify arbitrary arrests and detention, and to ban political opposition. After weeks of debate, Assad signed the decree on 21 April, lifting Syria's state of emergency. However, anti-government protests continued into April, with activists unsatisfied with what they considered vague promises of reform.
Military operations April 2011 As the uprisings continued, the Syrian government began launching major military operations to suppress resistance, signaling a new phase in the uprising. On 25 April, Daraa, which had become a focal point of the uprising, was one of the first cities to be
besieged by the Syrian Army. An estimated hundreds to 6,000 soldiers were deployed, firing live ammunition at demonstrators and searching house to house for protestors, slaughtering hundreds.
Shabiha mercenaries, loyal to the
Assad dynasty, were deployed in towns and cities across the country to unleash violence against Syrian civilians. They looted homes, businesses, and economic assets of populations targeted by the Ba'athist military apparatus. Tanks were used for the first time against demonstrators, and snipers took positions on the rooftops of
mosques. Mosques used as headquarters for demonstrators and organizers were especially targeted. By 28 April, the
Syrian Arab armed forces had shut down all communications and completely besieged Daraa, resulting in starvation within the city. Defections from the
Arab Socialist Ba'ath party also increased, as 233 members resigned on 28 April. This was in denunciation of the increasingly fatal violence that was getting unleashed on civilians. Throughout April, Ba'athist security forces intensified its campaign of large-scale detainment and torture of Syrian protestors, journalists and activists across state prisons. On April 29, a 13-year-old boy named
Hamza Ali al-Khateeb was arrested by forces of the
Baathist mukhabarat during protests held in the village of
Saida. For nearly a month, Hamza was held in police custody, where he endured regular
torture and mutilation.
May 2011 on 5 May 2011. During the crackdown in Daraa, the Syrian Army also besieged and blockaded several towns around Damascus. Throughout May, situations similar to those that occurred in Daraa were reported in other besieged towns and cities, such as
Baniyas,
Homs,
Talkalakh, Latakia,
Jisr al-Shuggur, Aleppo, Damascus and several other towns and cities. On May 15, 2011, the
Syrian Arab Army began a
siege of the town of Talkalakh. Eight civilians were killed and at least 2,000 residents tried to flee from the city into Lebanon. Reports subsequently emerged that the SAA troops were massacring residents of the town. On 20 May, security forces and Ba'athist militants based on a party training camp
Al-Mastumah village in
Idlib massacred a rally of peaceful demonstrators by firing without warning, killing 30 and injuring about 200. The injured were denied entry to hospitals. By 24 May, the names of 1,062 people killed in the uprising since mid-March had been documented by the
National Organization for Human Rights in Syria. On May 24, Baathist
mukhabarat released the mutilated body of
Hamza Ali al-Khateeb to his family. A video of Hamza's mutilated body was uploaded online, triggering large-scale protests in Daraa, during which residents defied the military siege and came out in large numbers to protest police repression. Rezan Mustapha, spokesman of the opposition
Kurdish Future Movement party stated: "This video moved not only every single
Syrian, but people worldwide. It is unacceptable and inexcusable. The horrible torture was done to terrify demonstrators and make them stop calling for their demands." Some analysts stated that these defections were signs of Assad's weakening inner circle. In the wake of increasing defections, soldiers who refused or neglected orders to shoot civilians were also killed. The
first instance of armed insurrection occurred on 4 June 2011 in Jisr ash-Shugur, a city near the Turkish border in Idlib. Angry protestors set fire to a building where security forces had fired upon a funeral demonstration. Eight security officers died in the fire as demonstrators took control of a police station, seizing weapons. Clashes between protestors and security forces continued in the following days. Some security officers defected after secret police and intelligence agents executed soldiers who refused to kill the civilians. On 6 June, Sunni militiamen and army defectors ambushed a group of security forces heading to the city which was met by a large government counterattack. Fearing a massacre, insurgents and defectors, along with 10,000 residents, fled across the Turkish border. On 30 June, large protests erupted against the Assad government in Aleppo, Syria's largest city. On 3 July, Syrian tanks were deployed to Hama, two days after the city witnessed the largest demonstration against Assad. During the first six months of the uprising, the inhabitants of Syria's two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, remained largely uninvolved in the anti-government protests. The two cities' central squares have seen rallies of thousands of pro-Assad protestors marching in support of the Assad government, organized by the Ba'ath party. On 11 July 2011, several Ba'athist cadres besieged and vandalized American and French embassies in
Damascus, while chanting "We will die for you, Bashar". On 31 July, a nationwide crackdown, known as the "
Ramadan Massacre", launched by Syrian military forces in towns, cities and villages across the country resulted in the killings of at least 142 people and hundreds of injuries. At least 95 civilians were killed in the city of Hama, after Ba'athist military forces shot at crowds of residents and bombed the streets of the city with tanks and heavy weaponry. Some besieged cities and towns fell into
famine-like conditions. The Al-Balad neighbourhood in Daraa, under a brutal siege by
Syrian Arab Armed Forces since late March, was described by
Le Monde as a "ghetto of death".
British foreign secretary William Hague condemned Assad for indiscriminate violence in Hama, and the German government threatened to impose additional sanctions. == Mass protests and Syrian armed revolution: August 2011 – June 2012 ==