An investigation will be launched into the death of a 13-year-old Syrian boy who was allegedly tortured and killed by security forces in the flashpoint Daraa region, state television has announced.
"The interior ministry has decided to establish a commission of inquiry to determine the circumstances of the (death of) boy martyr Hamza al-Khatib," the channel reported.
Pro-democracy activists charged on Saturday that the boy, for whom they set up a Facebook page, had been tortured and murdered in the southern province of Daraa, hub of protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
They called for fresh protests to be held in the boy's memory.
The activists' Facebook site, Syrian Revolution 2011, a driving force behind the anti-government protests, said Hamza's body was returned to his family on Wednesday following his disappearance after a demonstration on April 29.
"There were a few bullets in his body used as a way of torture rather than to kill him with. Clear signs of severe physical abuse appeared on the body such as marks done with hands, sticks, and shoes. Hamza's penis was also cut off," the Facebook site said.
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