A/HRC/19/69 12 48. During their deployment from 24 December 2011 to 20 January 2012, League of Arab States observers witnessed several peaceful opposition demonstrations, which were held without State interference. The observers considered that their presence may have dissuaded State forces from using violence to disperse demonstrators. The observers also noted that citizens in Homs and Dar‟a pleaded with them not to leave, which the observers attributed to a possible fear of reprisals. 49. In a televised interview broadcast on 7 December 2011, the President stated that the military and security forces had received “no command to kill or be brutal”, while acknowledging that some members of the State forces had gone “too far”. 50. The Govern...