DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria lifted its decades-old emergency law following weeks of unrest, the state news agency SANA said Tuesday.
The government approved a bill rescinding the law, a key demand of demonstrators who have taken to the streets in recent weeks for protests that have left an estimated 200 people dead.
The government also approved the abolition of the state security court, where trials of dissidents took place, and approved new legislation allowing the right to peaceful protest.
President Bashar al Assad still has to sign the legislation, but his signature is seen as a formality.
The emergency law, in place since 1963, restricts civil liberties, imposes restrictions on public gatherings, freedom of movement and allows the “arrest of anyone suspected of posing a threat to security.”
Activists said four people were killed overnight in the central city of Homs when an estimated 20,000 people occupied a square, prompting a violent response from security forces.
Assad, under unprecedented pressure since unrest began in March, said last weekend that the unpopular emergency law would be abolished within a week, but it remains to be seen whether this will be enough to quell a growing protest movement seeking broad reforms.
The British foreign secretary William Hague told Sky News the decision to lift the emergency law was in line with announcements made by Assad last weekend, adding that the president “still has much more to do to meet the legitimate aspirations of his people.”