SYRIA: Detention and harassment of Syrian human rights
defenders amid harsh repression of protests in the country

 Paris-Geneva, August 9, 2011. 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), vehemently condemns the ongoing repression of Syrian
human rights defenders, amid harsh and generalised repression in the country.

On August 8, 2011, at least twenty members of
Syria’s Intelligence Agency (Mukhabarat) arrested Mr. Walid Al Bunni,
a member of the Syrian Organisation for Human Rights (SWASIAH) as well as of
the Founding Committee for the National Dialogue Forum and of the Committees
for the Revival of Civil Society, together with his two sons, while at his
house in the city of Al Tal, Damascus governorate. One of his sons was later
released but as of August 8, 2011, no information could be obtained about the
whereabouts of Mr. Al Bunni and his other son.

Moreover, on August 2, 2011, Mr. Mohamed
Najati Tayara, a human rights activist and former Vice-President of the
Syrian Association for Human Rights, was subjected to physical assault
in the central prison of Homs, where he has been detained since May 12, 2011.
Members of the Syrian security forces violently assaulted eight detainees,
including Mr. Najati Tayara, after a sit-in was organised by some prisoners to
denounce their arbitrary detention. Mr. Najati Tayara was severely injured and
was suffering from severe bleeding as of the end of last week.

Previously, on July 5, 2011, Mr. Ahmad
Tomeh, elected member of the General Secretariat of the National Council of
the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change (NCDD), was arrested by
the security forces while working at his medical clinic near Der Al-Zor. He was
subsequently released in the course of last week, putting an end to a month of
incommunicado detention. No information could be obtained as to whether charges
are pending against him. Prior to his arrest, Mr. Tomeh had been reporting on
human rights violations committed in Der Al-Zor.

The Observatory was also informed of acts of
judicial harassment against the brother and husband of the human rights
lawyer Ms. Razan Zaitouneh, Messrs. Abd Al-Rahman Hammada and Wa’el
Hammada. On July 31, 2011, Mr. Wa’el Hammada was released on bail after two
and a half months of arbitrary detention, but he remains charged with
alleged “affiliation to a secret society” and for having “initiated
sectarianism”. On June 27, 2011, Mr. Abd Al-Rahman Hammada was also released on
bail after his arrest on April 30. He was detained incommunicado in the
facilities of the Air Force Security and the Adra prison near Damascus, and was
reportedly subjected to ill-treatment during his first two weeks of detention.
Mr. Al-Rahman Hammada is currently facing several charges including “weakening
national sentiment” and “conveying within Syria false information that could
hinder the morale of the nation”, pursuant to Articles 285 and 286 of the Syrian
Criminal Code. 

The Observatory firmly condemns the acts of
harassment against the above-mentioned human rights defenders, as they provide
further evidence of the continued repression of dissenting voices in Syria.
Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon the Syrian authorities to guarantee in
all circumstances their physical and psychological integrity, to disclose the
whereabouts of Mr. Walid Al Bunni and his son and to release them and Mr.
Mohamed Najati Tayara immediately and unconditionally, in conformity with the
provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. 

For further information, please contact:

·        
FIDH: Karine Appy, Arthur Manet: + 33 1 43 55 25 18

·        
OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: + 41 22 809 49 39