A rare demonstration by hundreds of Syrian university students turned violent Monday when security forces beat up and arrested several protesters who were shouting for freedom and unity as the country's three-week uprising gathered strength despite a government crackdown, witnesses said.
Video footage posted online showed what appears to be plainclothes security forces beating protesters and forcefully pulling others away as they marched inside the campus of Damascus University. An activist in touch with students who witnessed the demonstration corroborated the footage, but he spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
"The Syrian people are one!" the students shouted in the video. Protests erupted in Syria more than three weeks ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms to President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime. More than 170 people have been killed, according to human rights groups.
International and Arab reaction to the violence in Syria had been relatively subdued, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has suggested America would not be getting involved. She said late last month that Assad is a a "different leader" than Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, and that many members of Congress who have visited the country "believe he's a reformer." But with the mounting casualties, others in the international community have begun voicing criticism.