Tarif is executive director of the Spain-based human rights group Insan , which says more than 630 people have been killed and 8,000 jailed in the clampdown . Dissidents meet unmolested in Damascus hotel amid clampdown . `` We must change this tyrannical regime , '' a former political prisoner says . Other activists say the Syrian street was n't represented . The government has been cracking down on peaceful protests since mid-March and is now detaining more than 100 people at a time.
Dissidents meet unmolested in Damascus hotel amid clampdown . `` We must change this tyrannical regime , '' a former political prisoner says . Other activists say the Syrian street was n't represented . The government has been cracking down on peaceful protests since mid-March and is now detaining more than 100 people at a time.