Syrian President Bashar Assad pardoned all those arrested during the suppression of protests in the southern city of Dera’a.
“Everyone who has been detained in recent events, is free” Syrian television reported.
This step followed a statement by Damascus that the Government intended to implement fundamental political, administrative and social reforms.
Essential in this regard was the promise to cancel the state of emergency, adopt new laws on political parties and the press as well as judicial reform.
Authorities decided to increase salaries and pensions, improve social and health insurance, create new jobs and develop an effective mechanism to combat corruption. However, several local human rights activists rushed to cast doubt that the program announced by the leadership will be realized.
“It seems that the authorities only want to do away with pockets of unrest”, the head of the Arab League for the Protection of Human Rights, Abel Karim al-Rechab, told the RIA Novosti News Agency.