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3,000 people missing in Syrian uprising


FILE- In this Friday, July 22, 2011, a citizen journalism image made on a mobile phone and provided by Shaam News Network, Syrian anti-regime protesters gather during a rally in al-Assy square in the western city of Hama, Syria. The Arabic on banner reads:"we will never forget our martyrs and prisoners." Activist Ibrahim Qashoush's lyrics moved thousands of protesters in Syria who sang his jaunty verses at rallies, telling President Bashar Assad, "Time to leave." So when his body was dumped in the river flowing through his hometown, his killers added an obvious message: His throat was carved out. Qashoush's slaying underlines how brutal Syria's turmoil has become as authorities try to crush a persistent uprising. His fellow activists are convinced he was killed by security forces and fear it could mark a new campaign to liquidate protest leaders.(AP Photo/Shaam News Network, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTO
A global campaigning organization says that almost 3,000 people have gone missing in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad more than four months ago.
A survey by the online activist group Avaaz.org estimates that one person is disappearing in Syria every hour. The group released the survey results in a statement on Thursday.
It says it has identified 2,918 Syrians arrested by security forceswhose whereabouts are now unknown.
Activists say more than 1,600 people have been killed, most of them unarmed protesters.
Although the uprising began in mid-March with calls for reform, the steadily climbing death toll and slow pace of reform has enraged the protest movement now calling for Assad's ouster.