Syrian Activists Accuse the Government of Backtracking

Syrian activists consider 2004 as the worst year for human rights in Syria since the presidency of Bashar Al Assad. The regime continues to deny its citizens basic freedoms despite increased international pressure on Damascus to stop abuses in 2000. Although, there were some incremental improvements, such as the release of some political prisoners and a less strident criticism of political opposition by the government, the regime refuses to amend the current highly restrictive laws that violate basic political rights and thus obstructs any possibility of real democratic reform.
In 2004, hundreds of Syria's Kurdish minority were arrested and detained without charge after taking part in demonstrations calling for recognition of their basic rights as equal citizens. Human rights groups and Kurdish parties reported that most of those arrested are still in detention and many of them have been brutally tortured and humiliated. However, the government released the one hundred protesters whom it had previously arrested for publicly demonstrating against the emergency laws. Moreover, political dissent and vocal opposition to governmental policies is now more tolerated in Syria but more importantly, is that the issue of democracy is now in the public domain, largely because of the pressure exerted on Syria by the European countries over its human rights record.