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News Release Issued by the
International Secretariat of Amnesty
International
AI Index: MDE 24/076/2004 7
December 2004
Syria: End persecution of human
rights defenders and human rights
activists
Amnesty
International is urging the Syrian
authorities to cease the on-going
harassment, arrests, unfair trials,
imprisonment and prevention from
travelling of human rights defenders
and human rights activists.
On 6 December,
the trial continued before the Hama
Criminal Court of 'Abd al-Karim
Dha'oun, a trustee of the Committee
for the Defence of Democratic
Liberties and Human Rights (CDDLHR).
He was arrested on 12 September in
connection with a report he had
written as a health inspector, on
conditions inside Hama Prison.
CDDLHR President, human rights
lawyer Aktham Nu'aysa remains on
trial before the Supreme State
Security Court (SSSC) on charges
which could carry a sentence of up
to 15 years' imprisonment.
On 23 November,
two human rights defenders from the
Arab Organisation of Human Rights -
Syria (AOHR-S) were prevented from
travelling to a human rights
conference in Cairo, Egypt. AOHR-S
President, human rights lawyer
Mohammad Ra'dun and his colleague Dr
Mahmoud al-'Aryan, were stopped at
Damascus Airport. Human rights
defenders are frequently prevented
from travel outside the country and
Amnesty International has previously
called upon the Syrian authorities
to lift travel restrictions imposed
on human rights defenders and
lawyers Haytham al-Maleh, Anwar al-Bunni
and Razan Zaytouneh.
Also on 23
November, Amnesty International
learnt that the family of prisoner
of conscience 'Abdel Rahman al-Shaghouri
was denied access to visit him at
Sednaya Prison, having already
received permission from Military
Intelligence to do so. He has not
been allowed any visits from his
family, or from his lawyer, since
his arrest in February 2003. On 20
June 2004 he was sentenced to two
and a half years' imprisonment for
e-mailing to friends and relatives
articles, mainly from the Akhbar al-Sharq
internet site, on human rights and
politics in Syria.
Also on 23
November, Amnesty International
received information confirming
serious health concerns for two of
the six prisoners of conscience held
since the summer of 2001. Lawyer
Habib 'Isa, 62, is suffering from
chronic back pain and is in need of
a hernia operation. Dr. 'Aref
Dalilah, 64, has developed a serious
heart condition which requires an
operation, possibly to fit a
pacemaker. It came to light in
September that Habib 'Isa was beaten
severely by guards in May 2002, the
same month, it was already known,
that Dr. 'Aref Dalilah had also been
beaten. They were arrested in 2001
and sentenced to five and ten years'
imprisonment respectively for their
involvement in the short-lived
pro-democracy and human rights
movement known as the "Damascus
Spring". All six men remain in
prolonged, solitary detention.
A number of other
prisoners of conscience are held for
their human rights-related
activities. Among these, students
Muhammad 'Arab and Muhannad al-Dabas
remain detained and on trial before
the SSSC for their involvement in
peaceful activities such as
protesting a new law ending
guaranteed employment for
engineering graduates. On 27 June
2004 three Kurdish human rights
activists were sentenced to two
years' imprisonment for their
participation in a peaceful
demonstration in front of the UNICEF
building in Damascus, calling for
the rights of Syrian Kurds to be
respected. Four young men from Darya,
near Damascus, were sentenced on 1
April 2004 to between three and four
years' imprisonment after their
participation last year in peaceful
activities such as establishing a
free library, discouraging people
from smoking, and participating in a
silent demonstration in 2003
opposing the expected US-led
invasion of Iraq.
mnesty
International calls for the dropping
of all charges against 'Abd al-Karim
Dha'oun, Aktham Nu'aysa, Muhammad
'Arab and Muhannad al-Dabas and the
immediate and unconditional release
of all prisoners of conscience in
Syria. The organisation urges the
Syrian authorities to ensure that
the legislation, under which
prisoners of conscience have been
imprisoned, be brought in line with
Articles 18 - 22 of the
International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), to which
Syria has been a party since 1969,
guaranteeing the right to freedom of
conscience, expression, assembly and
association and the right to
exercise these freedoms without
undue interference. In addition,
Amnesty International urges the
Syrian authorities to respect the UN
Declaration on Human Rights
Defenders adopted by the UN General
Assembly on 9 December 1998 which
states in Article 1 that "everyone
has the right, individually and in
association with others, to promote
and to strive for the protection and
realization of human rights and
fundamental freedoms at the national
and international levels".
View all
documents on Syria at
http://amnesty-news.c.topica.com/maacWU7abcmIechukF1b/
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