By Massoud A. Derhally

Bloomberg

BEIRUT: President Bashar Assad ordered Syria’s 48-year-old state of emergency lifted and abolished the Supreme State Security Court, moves that some anti-government activists said fell short of what is needed to resolve the country’s political crisis.

The Syrian leader also issued a decree that “allows peaceful protests,” state-run television reported. The measures follow a decree by Assad Thursday in which he named a new governor for Homs, the site of deadly clashes.
At least 130 people have been killed in the unrest, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.
Syrian forces have tortured protesters and it is impossible to verify how many remain in detention, HRW said. Activists say more than 200 were killed.

The new Cabinet approved a draft of the decree that scrapped the emergency law. Their endorsement this week failed to quell the protests that have become the greatest challenge to Assad’s rule since he inherited power from his father 11 years ago.

“The issue is not about canceling a law but more about a prevailing environment that has characterized the state and its security apparatus,” Yassin al-Haj Saleh, a Syrian writer and political activist, said in a telephone interview after Thursday’s announcement.

“How can the security services change their behavior from one day to the next? People have been used to such an atmosphere that makes it very difficult to trust and believe change is real and forthcoming.”

Under the emergency law, most constitutional protections were suspended, rallies were banned, media freedom was restricted and the authorities could arbitrarily detain people.
Assad’s decrees were issued as security was tightened in anticipation of large anti-government demonstrations tomorrow marking the sixth week of demonstrations.

“Everyone knows these concessions came as a result of the precious blood of the Syrians who protested,” Ammar Qurabi, head of Syria’s National Organization for Human Rights, said in a telephone interview. “What’s happened is good, however it’s not enough.”
Army units began deploying Wednesday at the entrances and streets of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the government, reported Thursday.

A group of “subversive elements,” attacked two mosques in Homs at dawn [Wednesday] in an attempt to seize their minarets, where people are called for prayer, and use them as means to “incite sedition,” the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said Thursday.
“I still think people will go out in large numbers [Friday],” Razan Zaitouneh, a Damascus-based human rights lawyer and activist, said in a telephone interview.

Josh Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, who specializes in Syria, said the steps by Assad won’t be enough to mollify dissenters and will result in a wider crackdown.
The Assad government has “already begun to say the protests have been driven by Islamist groups and people who are trying to destroy the nation,” Landis said in a telephone interview.

Assad “has used very tough language so far and he’s demonstrated by the events in Homs that he’s willing to use muscle. That’s what’s going on now – he is going to crack down hard, as he can’t allow this movement to snowball. He’s made some concessions but he doesn’t want to look weak.”
At least 18 protesters had been killed in clashes at anti-government rallies since an April 16 address by Assad, Qurabi said this week.

In the speech, the president ordered ministers to prepare the legal framework for ending the state of emergency, without referring to the protesters’ other demands, including the release of political prisoners.
More than 20,000 people took to the streets of Homs city April 18 and held a sit-in at its central square. On April 19, the Interior Ministry announced a ban on street protests in Syria.

“There is tension pretty much in all the cities and a heavy security presence in preparation for the Friday prayers,” Abdul-Karim Rihawi, head of the Syrian Human Rights League, said Thursday in a telephone interview.
“After the ministry banned the right to demonstrate, I don’t believe there is any tolerance for any demonstrations even if peaceful, which is regrettable.”

Thursday’s decrees also include legislation governing law enforcement and the investigation of crimes.
r BEIRUT: Amnesty International Thursday urged the Syrian authorities not to respond with violence to mass demonstrations planned across the country Friday.

“It is imperative that these demonstrations are policed sensibly, sensitively and in accordance with international law to avoid further bloodshed on Syria’s streets,” Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement emailed to The Daily Star.

“These ‘Great Friday’ protests could be the largest yet. If government security forces resort to the same extremely violent tactics they have used over the past month, the consequences could be exceedingly grave.”