URGENT ACTION
SYRIAN BROTHERS HELD BY INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Syrian brothers ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada and Wa’el Hammada,
who have been detained since 30 April and 12 May respectively, are now believed
to be held incommunicado at one of the three Air Force Security branches in the
capital Damascus. Reports suggest that they have been tortured or otherwise
ill-treated.
Wa’el Hammada’s wife, Razan Zaitouneh, a prominent human
rights activist who has been in hiding since April , told Amnesty International
today that she learned through reliable sources that her husband and his
brother ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada are both held in Damascus by the Air Force
Security, an intelligence agency.
“Air Force Security has three branches in Damascus; I do not
know in which one Wa’el and ‘Abd al-Rahman are being held,” she said. “Some
told me that both of them are being badly tortured, while others did not have
information about ‘Abd al-Rahman but said that they knew that Wa’el was
tortured in the first few days of his detention and that he was interrogated
three times. I’ve been pressing for information about their wellbeing for some
time, but only recently managed to get anywhere as people avoided telling me
things so as not to upset me.”
‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada and Wa’el Hammada were arrested on 30
April and 12 May respectively. To date, the Syrian authorities have not
revealed why they are holding them. Amnesty International believes, however,
that Abd al-Rahman Hammada was arrested to pressure Wa’el Hammada to hand
himself over and that Wa’el Hammada is partly held because of his peaceful
involvement in the popular protests calling for political reform. In addition,
Razan Zaitouneh told Amnesty International that she heard that during his
interrogation Wa’el Hammada was asked extensively about her human rights
activities in relation to the current unrest.
Amnesty International believes that both men are prisoners
of conscience, with Wa’el Hammada detained for legitimately exercising his
rights to freedom of expression and association and his marriage to Razan
Zaitouneh, and ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada apparently detained solely on account of
his family relationship with Wa’el Hammada.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Arabic, English, French or your
own language:
–
Expressing concern at
reports that ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada and Wa’el Hammada have been tortured or
otherwise ill-treated and calling on the authorities to immediately ensure that
both men are protected from further such treatment and that they have immediate
access to legal counsel of their own choosing, and any medical attention they
may require;
–
Urging the authorities to
investigate the allegations of torture and to ensure that anyone found
responsible is brought to justice;
–
Calling on them to
immediately and unconditionally release Wa’el Hammada and ‘Abd al-Rahman
Hammada as Amnesty International considers them prisoners of conscience.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 22 JULY 2011 TO:
President
Bashar al-Assad
Presidential Palace
al-Rashid Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11 332 3410
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Walid al-Mu’allim
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
al-Rashid Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11 214 6251
Salutation: Your Excellency
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to
your country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after
the above date. This is the 1st update of UA 149/11 (MDE 24/020/2011). Further
information: http://amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE24/020/2011/en
URGENT ACTION
SYRIAN BROTHERS HELD BY INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Since popular protests calling for political reform in Syria
began to be violently repressed in mid-March, more than 1,000 people, including
children, are believed to have been killed. Many of them appear to have been
killed as a result of the security forces using live ammunition on peaceful
protests or during military operations by the Syrian army in a number of Syrian
cities. Thousands of others have been arrested by the Syrian army and security
forces, of whom hundreds remain detained incommunicado, despite a “general
amnesty” that was issued on 31 May. Please see http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/syria-must-release-all-prisoners-conscience-under-amnesty-2011-06-02
The arrests have targeted people perceived to have organized
or openly supported the protests, whether orally in public gatherings, in the
media, on the internet or elsewhere. They include political and human rights
activists, mosque imams and journalists. These mass arrests have forced a
number of political and human rights activists to go into hiding. Amnesty
International believes that many of those detained are likely to be prisoners
of conscience, held merely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression
and association by peacefully supporting or taking part in protests. Amnesty
International has documented accounts of torture and other ill-treatment
reported by some recently released detainees.
The Air Force Security is one of the four main intelligence
agencies in Syria. They have a history of arbitrarily arresting and detaining
people on suspicion of dissent and are widely reported to practise torture and
other ill-treatment with impunity.
UA: 149/11 Index: MDE 24/023/2011 Issue Date: 10 June 2011