A/HRC/18/53 37. Following these developments, numerous protests were staged elsewhere in the governorate, with inhabitants of nearby villages and towns marching towards Dar’a to demand an end to the siege. One of the largest demonstrations was held on 29 April, when thousands of people headed for Dar’a. Security forces opened fire on the demonstrators, killing at least 60 people, according to multiple witness accounts. Damascus and Rif Dimashq29 2. 38. The majority of incidents involving violent dispersal of demonstrators and widespread arrests took place in towns and villages in the governorate of Rif Dimashq, including Dumah, Al Tal, Darayya, Dmair and Madaya. Similar incidents took place in several suburbs of Damascus, such as Harasta and Zamalka. In the capital, the heavy security presence militated against larger gatherings, but a number of demonstrations were held nevertheless, followed by waves of arrests.30 39. On 15 March, security forces made a number of arrests during a demonstration in the Souq Al Hamidiyya marketplace in Damascus. The following day, security forces arrested 16 demonstrators who were among some 150 protestors gathered outside the Ministry of the Interior. During another protest, on 18 March, several demonstrators were beaten and arrested as they gathered outside the Omayyad Mosque. 40. On 25 March, in Dumah, north-west of Damascus, security forces started shooting randomly at civilians as they left a local mosque to begin a protest, reportedly killing 11 demonstrators. Witnesses claimed that the four main security and intelligence agencies (see paragraph 30 above) participated in the operation, and that snipers who were positioned on rooftops targeted the protestors. 41. On 1 April, around 300 people marched from a mosque in Zamalka, a suburb east of Damascus, and gathered peacefully in a central square. They were soon surrounded by an estimated 500 security personnel, many of whom were dressed in civilian clothes and who proceeded to attack them with electric batons. On 22 April, a demonstration of some 70 people in Damascus in support of the people of Dar’a was violently dispersed by security forces and 30 of the participants arrested. On the same day, a demonstration in Barzeh Al Balad, a suburb in northern Damascus, was repressed violently as security forces, including snipers, reportedly shot at demonstrators. 42. From 29 April to 2 May, Madaya, a resort town some 40 kilometres north-west of Damascus, was kept under siege. Witnesses described a large military campaign in which more than 2,000 soldiers were deployed to secure the town and set up checkpoints on its outskirts. Security forces as well as the Fourth Armoured Division of the First Corps were present, accompanied by ambulances from the Syrian Red Crescent. After cutting off all means of communication, security forces carried out widespread arrests in the town during house-to-house searches. Scores were arrested either randomly or on the basis of lists of wanted persons. According to witnesses, the detainees were beaten as they were made to 29 30 Rif Dimashq, literally “Damascus countryside”, is a separate governorate to the capital. It lies south of the governorate of Homs, and is divided into nine districts. On 16 February, a spontaneous demonstration took place in the Al Hariqa market in Damascus after a young man was beaten by a police officer. In protest, some 2,000 demonstrators gathered at the scene and refused to disperse until the Minister for the Interior arrived and gave assurances that he would personally investigate the case. 11