Syrian revolution: Difference between revisions

Massive protests and a violent crackdown led to international condemnation and support for the protesters. As the war progressed in October–November 2011, protests against the government and the war strengthened with 23thousands deaths and hundreds of thousands of protesterscasualties. The protests were marred by a massive crackdown which angered more protesters in northern and western Syria. The regime also deployed sectarian ''[[Shabiha]]'' death squads to attack the protestors. Protests and riots continued by students and the youth despite aggressive suppression.

Police and security forces responded to the protests violently, using water cannons and tear gas as well as physically beating protesters and firing live ammunition.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/middleeast/19syria.html|title=Police Kill 6 Protesters in Syria|date=18 March 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=3 August 2012|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110322061301/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/middleeast/19syria.html|archive-date=22 March 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> The regime also deployed the dreaded ''[[Shabiha]]'' death squads, consisting of fervent Alawite loyalists, that were ordered to execute sectarian attacks on the protestors, torture [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] demonstrators and engage in [[Anti-Sunnism|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]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Glynn Williams |first=Brian |title=Counter Jihad: America's Military Experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-8122-4867-8 |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112, USA |pages=270 |chapter=6: The New War on ISIS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lefevre |first=Raphael |title=Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-933062-1 |location=198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, USA |pages=185 |chapter=9: Uprisings in Syria: Revenge on History}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=A. Shoup |first=John |title=The History of Syria |publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4408-5834-5 |location=Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911, USA |pages=144 |chapter=10: Bashar al-Asad’s Syria: 2000–Present}}</ref>

As the uprisinguprisings beganintensified, the Syrian government waged a campaign of arrests that captured tens of thousands of people, according to lawyers and activists in Syria and human rights groups. 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 [[Arrest warrant|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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/world/middleeast/beyond-arms-syria-uses-arrests-against-uprising.html|title=Beyond Arms, Syria Uses Arrests Against Uprising|date=27 June 2012|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=3 August 2012|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701181037/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/world/middleeast/beyond-arms-syria-uses-arrests-against-uprising.html|archive-date=1 July 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/03/syria-torture-centers-revealed|title=Syria: Torture Centers Revealed|date=3 July 2012|newspaper=Human Rights Watch|access-date=2 August 2012|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731015005/http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/03/syria-torture-centers-revealed|archive-date=31 July 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>