Seven human rights activists detained by the Syrian authorities in a security crackdown last month have been freed, a lawyer announced on Tuesday.

"The judge freed two of the 34 people arrested on March 16 (during a pro-democracy demonstration) and only one, Kamal Sheikho, now remains in custody," lawyer Khalil Maatouk told AFP.

Sheikho, a Kurdish blogger, has been detained a number of times in the past.

The others who were released were three who were arrested in the Al-Hamadiye market in the old town in Damascus on March 15, and two Kurdish militants who were detained on March 12 after staging a minute's silence at the gates of Damascus university in memory of Kurdish victims of a kidnapping in 2004.