Syria launches investigation into death of 13-year-old boy

[News_Editor]

Syria launches investigation into death of 13-year-old boy

2011-06-02 06:45:44 GMT+7 (ICT)

DAMASCUS (BNO NEWS) -- The Syrian authorities announced an investigation into the death of a 13-year-old boy who has become a symbol for the continuing uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

The boy, Hamza al-Khatib, went missing after a demonstration at an army barracks near the southern town of Deraa at the end of April. According to opposition activists, he was abducted and tortured to death by local security forces. They said his mutilated body was handed back to his family four weeks later.

The government, however, insists the boy received three fatal gunshot wounds during the protest and died on the spot, but there was a delay in handing over his body because he was not identified. Syrian state TV aired a programme about the teenager on Tuesday night in which coroner Akram al-Shaar blamed the state of the body on decomposition, adding: "There are no marks on the surface of the body that show violence, resistance or torture."

According to State TV, the teenager's father and family were invited to meet President Assad. A man who identified himself as Hamza's father said: "The president considered Hamza his own son and was deeply affected."

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped the death would persuade Syria to begin a transition to real democracy. The President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, also condemned the killing of the boy and said violence against civilians must be stopped.

"The reports about the killing of Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, a 13-year-old Syrian boy, are beyond description, beyond imagination. I am deeply appalled by the inhuman brutality, which the regime has carried out against a boy and against the Syrian people," Buzek said.

In mid-March, pro-democracy demonstrations began in Syria and have continued across the country, which has been ruled by the Baath Party since 1963. Protesters are demanding the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, who took over his father in 2000.

At least 830 people have been killed in the protests, according to the Syrian Human Rights Information Link. The number, however, does not include security personnel, many of whom have been killed in attacks by "armed groups," according to the Syrian government.

It is also estimated that about 10,000 protesters have been arrested in violent crackdowns by Syrian security forces. The events have been condemned by the international community.

The United States imposed sanctions on President al-Assad and other senior officials that froze any assets they have under U.S. jurisdiction and banned U.S. citizens from doing business with them. The sanctions also included Vice-President Farouk al-Shara, Prime Minister Adel Safar, Defense Minister Ali Habib, Interior Minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar, Head of the Military Intelligence Department Gen. Abdul-Fattah Qedssiyeh and Head of the Political Security Department Gen. Mohammad Deeb Zaitoun.

The European Council adopted a regulation that provided for an embargo on exports to Syria of arms and equipment that could be used for internal repression, as well as a visa ban and an assets freeze for 13 persons responsible for the violent repression.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-06-02