- Dec 5, 2010
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Two videos posted by activists on YouTube showed decaying bodies being dug up from a pit in Daraa.
Dissident Ammar Qurabi said people in Daraa have reported finding four burial sites in their region in recent days, including two mass graves in the city itself. Since March 15, the area has been the flash point of a pro-democracy movement against Assad, whose family has been in power for 40 years.
Last month, Daraa came under siege when security forces occupied the area with army tanks. Human Rights Watch says the government has killed as many as 1,000 people.
Images of unrest in Syria
"We discovered 34 bodies, mostly male, scattered in the fields. Most were killed by a bullet or shrapnel during the military raid about five days ago," said Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria.
Seven bodies were later discovered at a different location, he said. Residents found the grave because of the smell.
More bodies were dug up on a hill, he said. They were members of the family of Abdallah Abdel Aziz Abou Zaid, a local man, and among them were four of his children.
"The bodies of an unknown Bedouin woman and her child were also found there," Qurabi said.
The allegations could not be verified; Syrian authorities have banned foreign journalists from the country.
After the graves were discovered, Syrian authorities quickly cordoned off the area and confiscated witnesses' mobile phones before retrieving the bodies, Qurabi said.
Activists say mass graves found in Syria - USATODAY.com
Assad is a serial killer of his own people.