http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/04/22/syria.unrest/CNN) -- Thousands of Syrian protesters spilled onto the streets on Friday, another showing of mass discontent toward the government.
Witnesses reported demonstrations in the capital of Damascus, where people chanted slogans and tear gas was fired amid a moderate security presence. In the southern city of Daraa, where the protests got their start last month, people shouted "dignity and freedom."
Amateur video obtained by CNN show demonstrations in Baniyas, Kiswah, and Homs. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the material.
There was no immediate comment from the government about the gatherings.
There have been daily demonstrations across Syria for weeks and huge rallies have been common in the authoritarian state after Friday prayers across the predominantly Muslim nation. As people gathered to express their grievances toward the government, they've frequently been greeted with police force.
Amnesty International says the death toll has exceeded 228 since the demonstrations began in mid-March.
Human rights groups have been urging the government to refrain from cracking down on peaceful turnouts during what is a Facebook-inspired outpouring dubbed "Great Friday."
The turnouts come a day after President Bashar al-Assad lifted the country's 48-year-old state of emergency and abolish the state security court, both key demands of demonstrators who've taken to the streets.
"It is imperative that these demonstrations are policed sensibly, sensitively and in accordance with international law to avoid further bloodshed on Syria's streets," Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa, said on Thursday.
"These 'Great Friday' protests could be the largest yet. If government security forces resort to the same extremely violent tactics they have used over the past month, the consequences could be exceedingly grave."
Human Rights Watch also called on authorities "to permit Syrians to exercise their right to peaceful assembly" on Friday.
It said the president's decision to lift the state of emergency "will only be meaningful if Syria's security services stop shooting, detaining and torturing prisoners," Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch said on Thursday.
The group says it has "documented a regular pattern of arbitrary detention of protesters, activists and journalists, many of whom have been tortured and mistreated."
The emergency law permitted the government to make preventive arrests and override constitutional and penal code statutes. The security court was a special body that prosecuted people regarded as challenging the government.
Al-Assad's decrees on Thursday also included recognizing and regulating the right to peaceful protest. They also extended the period that security forces can hold suspects in certain crimes.
Human Rights Watch says the decrees don't "address the extensive immunity that Syrian law provides to members of its security services."
It urged al-Assad to undertake more change, such as releasing political prisoners and those arrested for peaceful protests, order probes in security force violations, ensure detainees "prompt access to a lawyer," and amend repressive provisions of the penal code.
It said the government, which is controlled by the Baath Party, should "enact a political parties' law in compliance with international human rights norms." Such a law would allow the establishment of independent political parties.
"The Syrian people want real reforms, and such reforms cannot take place as long as Syria's security services are above the law and can violate people's basic rights at will," Stork said.
Topic: Mass protests unfold on 'Great Friday' in Syria (Read 538 times)