The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Syria.
New information :
According to the information received, on January 28, 2008, the above-mentioned defenders were brought before an ordinary court in Damascus and accused of breaching provisions of the Syrian Criminal Code, namely Articles 285 and 286 (on “weakening the national sentiment”), 304, 306 and 327 (on illegal activities of associations), as well as 307 (on racial hatred and sectarian incitement). Some of these provisions provide for prison sentences of at least seven years.
Some of the above mentioned defenders were reportedly ill-treated in the framework of their detention. Thus, Mr. Ali Abdullah would have been beaten so much that he would now have a hole in his windpipe. He requested a medical examination. Other detainees would bear several bruises on their faces, because of the beatings.
It has further been reported that the lawyers of the detainees were denied access to their clients, one of them being prevented from visiting them at the arrest station in spite of a permission for that.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the latest acts of judicial harassment against Messrs. Akram Al Bunni, Jaber Al Shoufie, Ali Al-Abdullah, Fayez Sarah and Mohammed Haj Darwish, and fears that such accusations aim at merely sanctioning their activities in favour of human rights in Syria. The Observatory further recalls that, so far, their fundamental rights to legal counsel, to defend oneself in open court and to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, have not been respected in the present case, therefore giving the deprivation of liberty an arbitrary character, in line with the definition adopted by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention [1]. The Observatory also fears for their physical and psychological integrity as an increasing number of human rights defenders have been subjected to torture or ill-treatments by the authorities over the past years and months.
Background information :
On December 9, 2007, Syrian security services began a series of arrests that followed the gathering, outside of Damascus, of 163 persons who have been part to the Damascus Declaration [2]. This meeting resulted in the creation of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration, a collective movement of political opposition gathering political activists, including the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as human rights defenders. The Council is composed of 17 elected members, among which CDF representatives.
On December 9, 2007, in the aftermaths of the meeting, the security services arrested 37 people who were released few hours later. But Mr. Jaber Al Shoufie remained detained in State Security centres outside of Damascus.
On December 11, 2007, Mr. Akram Al Bunni was arrested for his participation in the meeting. He is currently detained in the State Security prison in Damascus. On December 17, 2007, Mr. Ali Al-Abdullah was arrested for the same reason.
On January 3, 2008, the Syrian Security Forces arrested Mr. Fayez Sarah and, on January 7, 2008, Mr. Mohammed Haj Darwish was summoned to the State Security in Damascus and subsequently arrested.
Actions requested:
Please write to the Syrian authorities, urging them to:
i.Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Messrs. Akram Al Bunni, Jaber Al Shoufie, Ali Al-Abdullah, Fayez Sarah and Mohammed Haj Darwish;
ii.Release immediately the people arrested in the aftermaths of the meeting of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration, among which Messrs. Akram Al Bunni, Jaber Al Shoufie, Ali Al-Abdullah, Fayez Sarah and Mohammed Haj Darwish, as their detention is arbitrary as it seems to merely aim at sanctioning their human rights activities;
iii. Put an end to the harassment against all human rights defenders in the Syrian Arab Republic;
iv.Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states 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”, and Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
v.Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by the Syrian Arab Republic.
Addresses:
President, His Excellency Bashar al-Assad, Presidential Palace, al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: + 963 11 332 3410
Minister of Defence, His Excellency General, Hassan Ali Turkmani, Ministry of Defence, Omayyad Square, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 223 7842
Minister of Justice, His Excellency Muhammad al-Ghafari, Ministry of Justice, Al-Nasr Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 666 2460
Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Walid Mu’allim, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: + 963 11 332 7620
Ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the UN in Geneva, 72 rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 738 42 75, Email: mission.syria@ties.itu.in
Embassy and Mission to the European Union of the Syrian Arab Republic in Brussels, 1 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 648 14 85.
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Paris-Geneva, January 30, 2008
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29