A/HRC/18/53 prevented the transport of the wounded to hospitals for treatment. In one incident, between 20 and 25 demonstrators reportedly bled to death in the Um Al Hassan garden area as no one could reach them.39 Dozens of demonstrators were reportedly killed, while others who were wounded were said to have died owing to the lack of adequate or timely medical attention.40 49. According to many accounts, the heightened tensions in Hama after 3 June led the security forces to withdraw from the streets to avoid any further friction with protestors.41 In the ensuing weeks, tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Hama (an estimated 200,000 people participated in a demonstration in the city on 24 June) with no visible security presence. This relative calm was broken by a series of night raids on homes that began on 3 July.42 Among those targeted were activists and organizers of demonstrations in the Hader and Al Sabouniyah neighbourhoods. Witnesses confirmed that security forces raided homes and arrested individuals on the basis of lists of names, and looted and damaged property at the same time. According to multiple accounts, at least 22 civilians were killed in the period leading up to 8 July during search and arrest operations. 5. Idlib Governorate 50. The largest demonstrations in Idlib Governorate took place in the towns of Jisr Al Shughour and Ma’arrat an Nu’man. Protests were also organized from the surrounding villages into the towns.43 The section below describes incidents reported in Al Mastuma, Saraqeb, Jisr Al Shughour and Ma’arrat an Nu’man.44 Most of the incidents involved the killing of peaceful demonstrators by security forces using live ammunition.45 51. On 20 May, demonstrators heading for the town of Ariha were met with security forces based at a Baath party youth camp in the village of Al Mastuma, several kilometres south of Idlib. Witnesses described a peaceful march by demonstrators carrying olive branches, who were however fired upon with live ammunition without warning. Some of the estimated 20 security personnel had hidden behind trees, while others were positioned on rooftops.46 An estimated 200 people were injured and 30 killed, some of whom were reportedly “finished off” with knives as they lay on the ground. Some of the witnesses assisted in collecting the bodies and taking the injured to hospital, adding that they were turned away at the hospital in Ariha. One witness claimed that he attended the funeral of a demonstrator who had the word Maher – in reference to Maher Al Assad, brother of the President – carved into his stomach. 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 14 Eyewitnesses reported having found the bodies of the demonstrators in the Um Al Hassan garden area with pools of blood around them, suggesting they had bled to death. Some of the injured reportedly refused to go to public hospitals because they feared that they would be arrested by security officers stationed there. To this end, security forces removed a statue of former President Al Assad from the city centre, both to avoid further clashes and to prevent it being attacked and toppled by protestors. The security forces carrying out the arrests were believed to belong to Political Security and Military Intelligence. A number of predominantly Alawite villages in the area did not participate in the protests. Details of incidents reported in Ariha, Sallet Al Zuhour and other locations researched by OHCHR are not given in the present report. Several of those injured were examined by the mission’s forensic physician during a field visit to Turkey. Some of the personnel wore dark green military uniforms, while others were dressed in black. The latter had shaved heads and long beards and, according to witnesses, looked “foreign”.