Without identifying the security chief by name, SANA said Tayara had been a member of the National Defence, a militia affiliated with the former government in Homs [GETTY]
Syrian authorities have opened an investigation and vowed no leniency after a detainee died in Homs, state media reported on Saturday, less than two months after rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad.
The man, identified as Louai Tayara, was arrested on Wednesday for “not settling his legal status and for carrying undeclared weapons”, the SANA news agency said, citing the head of the General Security department in the central Syrian city.
Without identifying the security chief by name, SANA said Tayara had been a member of the National Defence, a militia affiliated with the former government in Homs.
The city has seen security sweeps since Assad was toppled, with hundreds of people arrested.
Tayara was transferred to a detention centre, but “some security personnel assigned with transporting him” carried out “violations”, leading to his death, the news agency reported.
“An official investigation was opened”, and “all personnel responsible were arrested and referred to the military judiciary”, it said.
SANA cited the security official saying the incident “is being dealt with in all seriousness, and there will be no leniency”.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Tayara had been “hit in the head with a sharp object”.
Since the rebels toppled Assad on 8 December, Syria’s new authorities have sought to provide assurances that there will be no revenge for Assad-era brutality.
However, they have also begun operations against “regime remnants” amid reports of violence, including extra-judicial killings.
Assad ruled Syria with an iron fist, and his bloody crackdown down on anti-government protests in 2011 sparked a war that has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.
The new authorities have also sought to reassure religious and ethnic minorities that they will not be harmed, with members of Assad’s Alawite sect in particular fearing a backlash.
Civil Peace Group, a civil society organisation, called Tayara’s death a “crime” and an “attack on human values and dignity and the right to life”.
In a statement, it described the incident as a “threat to stability in the city”.
SANA reported the official saying, “General Security affirms its full commitment to protecting citizens’ rights… and all legal measures will be taken to guarantee justice and transparency”.
“Justice will take its complete course, irrespective of the identity of the person concerned or their previous affiliation,” it said, adding that the investigation results would be announced promptly.
The Observatory said on Saturday that it had documented 10 deaths in custody in Homs province since Tuesday, including Tayara.
It also said that gunmen on Friday killed 15 people in a “massacre” in an Alawite village in Hama province, north of Homs.
