URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
SYR 002 / 1207 / OBS 169
Arbitrary detentions
Syria
December 18, 2007
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Syria.
Brief description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by the Committees for the Defence of Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria (Comite pour la defense des droits de l'Homme en Syrie - CDF) about the arbitrary detention of Mr. Jaber Al Shoufie, member of the executive board of the CFD, Mr. Akram Al Bunni, a well known human rights defender, member and founder of the Committee for the Revitalization of Civil Society in Syria and brother of Mr. Anwar al-Bunni, member and founder of the Syrian Human Rights Association and member of the Committees for the Defence of Prisoners of Conscience who is detained since may 2006, and Mr. Ali Al-Abdullah, also a member of the Committee for the Revitalisation of Civil Society in Syria.
According to the information received, 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[1]. 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 remains in detention 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, Mr Ali Al-Abdullah was arrested for the same reason.
The Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the arbitrary detention of Messrs. Akram Al Bunni, Jaber Al Shoufie and Ali Al-Abdullah, which seems to merely aim at sanctioning their activities in favour of human rights in Syria. The Observatory also fears for Messrs. Akram Al Bunni, Jaber Al Shoufie and Ali Al-Abdullah's 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.
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 and Ali Al-Abdullah;
ii. Eelease immediately the people arrested and arbitrarily detained in the aftermaths of the meeting of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration, among which Messrs. Akram Al Bunni, Jaber Al Shoufie and Ali Al-Abdullah;
iii. Ensure in all circumstances that Syrian human rights defenders can enjoy their freedom of peaceful gathering ;
iv. Put an end to the harassment against all human rights defenders in the Syrian Arab Republic;
v. 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";
vi. 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, December 18, 2007
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[1] The "Damascus Declaration for Democratic and National Change" was issued on October 16, 2005 by a wide coalition of political reform activists and members of civil society, and calls for establishing a democratic system that respects citizens' rights, ensures freedom of speech and association, and ends discrimination based on religious or political beliefs.
