Will Hamza al-Khateeb, the 13-year-old child tortured and killed by the government become Syria’s equivalent of Tunisia’s Mohamed Bouazizi whose immolation sparked a revolution that swept several Arab countries? Although the circumstances are different, the anger provoked by little Hamza’s torture and assassination will have serious consequences in the events now taking place in Syria. With Hamza’s cruel death, the Syrian government has crossed the Rubicon.

When Bashar al-Assad became Syria’s president in 2000, after the death of his father Hafez al-Assad, who had brutally ruled Syria for 29 years, there was hope that he would introduce drastic changes aimed at improving the human rights situation in the country. Those hopes were reinforced when soon after taking office he stated that he saw democracy as Syria’s tool to a better life, shut down the notorious Mezzeh prison, and released hundreds of political prisoners.

However, such hopes were soon dashed. Security crackdowns and the arrest of political opponents started again within a year of assuming power. Although in 2007, during an interview with ABC News he said that Syria didn’t have any political prisoners, it was reported in December of that year that 30 political opponents had been arrested.

In addition, several human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International have documented how Bashar’s regime and its secret police routinely torture, imprison and kill political opponents and those who dare to speak out against the regime. After more than a decade in power, Bashar has led a repressive government, oblivious of the population’s most basic human rights. As stated by HRW, “Syria is still a de facto single-party state with only the Ba’ath Party holding effective power."

This situation has become even more evident following the last wave of protests which started on January 26. Although the Syrian government has ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment on July 1, 2004, torture has been widespread since the last uprising and, more ominously, has even included children, as Hamza’s torture and assassination demonstrate.

As indicated in HRW recent report "‘We've Never Seen Such Horror: Crimes against Humanity in Daraa," based on more than 50 interviews with victims and witnesses to abuses in Daraa governorate, security forces have killed hundreds of protesters and arbitrarily arrested thousands, subjecting many of them to brutal torture in detention. Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has strongly criticized Syria’s government actions, calling them an “outright disregard for basic human rights.”

In addition, Pillay states, “[the government’s] resort to lethal or excessive force against peaceful demonstrators not only violates fundamental human rights, including the right to life, but serves to exacerbate tensions and tends to breed a culture of violence.” As a response, Syria’s deputy foreign minister accused Western powers of seeking a return to the “colonial era” by initiating action against his country at the UN.

In an unusual move, UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, called on Syria to investigate report of “horrific acts” of violence against children detained during the current wave of unrest in the country. According to UNICEF, the use of live ammunition against demonstrators had reportedly killed at least 30 children, although it said it could not independently confirm that figure or circumstances of their death.

UNICEF stated that it was “particularly disturbed by the recent video images of children who were arbitrarily detained and suffered torture or ill-treatment during their detention leading in some cases to their death.

One of those children, Hamza al-Kateeb, whose case has drawn strong international condemnation against the actions of the Bashar regime, may become the iconic figure the protest movement needs to help overthrow this vicious regime.

Dr. Cesar Chelala is a co-winner of an Overseas Press Club of America award.