URGENT ACTION
ACTIVIST CONTINUES TO BE HELD INCOMMUNICADO
Syrian political activist George Sabra has been detained
incommunicado at an undisclosed location since security forces arrested him on
20 July in Qatana, Syria. He appears to be a victim of enforced disappearance
and is at serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
The Syrian authorities have not disclosed any information
about George Sabra since he was arrested more than six weeks ago. His son Chadi
Sabra, who lives in France, was told by a detainee recently released from the
Damascus State Security branch that he saw George Sabra being forced into a car
by security officials there on 11 August; another source has reported that
George Sabra was recently seen at the Air Force Intelligence branch in Damascus
and may currently still be detained there, but neither of these reported
sightings of George Sabra can be confirmed and it is not known where he is
currently detained..
He is, effectively, a victim of enforced disappearance by
the Syrian authorities, placing him at grave risk, including a high risk of
torture and other ill-treatment.
No charges are known to have been brought against George
Sabra by the Syrian authorities but it appears that he has been detained in
connection with the mass public protests that have been taking place in Syria
since mid-March. According to his son in France, George Sabra publicly
expressed support for peaceful protests in Qatana prior to his arrest. Amnesty
International believes that he may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely
for legitimately exercising his rights to freedom of expression and
association, and he should be released immediately and unconditionally.
Please write
immediately in Arabic, English, French or your own language:
Express
concern that George Sabra appears to be a victim of enforced disappearance and
that he has been held incommunicado at an unknown location since 20 July 2011;
Urge the
Syrian authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts and legal status,
allow him access to his family and a lawyer of his choice, and ensure he is
fully protected against torture or other ill-treatment, and provided with any
medical attention he may require.
Call for
George Sabra to be released immediately and unconditionally if he is a prisoner
of conscience detained solely for the legitimate exercise of freedom of
expression or other human rights;
Urge the
Syrian authorities to take immediate steps to publicly disclose the names,
whereabouts and legal status of all detainees arrested in connection with
ongoing protests, to give them immediate access to lawyers of their choosing
and their families and any medical treatment they may require, and to safeguard
them from torture and other ill-treatment.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 18 OCTOBER 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 insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email
Email address Salutation Salutation
Please check with your section office if sending appeals
after the above date. This is the first update of UA 224/11. Further
information: www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE24/0362011/en
URGENT ACTION
ACTIVIST CONTINUES TO BE HELD INCOMMUNICADO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Pro-reform demonstrations began in Syria in February 2011
and evolved into mass protests in mid-March. Since then, the protests, which
are generally calling for greater rights and freedom and an end to the regime
of President Bashar al-Assad, have spread nationwide on an unprecedented scale
and with a momentum that shows no sign of abating despite severe government
repression which has seen many hundreds of people killed. The protests have
been largely peaceful, yet the Syrian authorities have responded in the most
brutal manner in their efforts to suppress them. The security forces have
repeatedly used grossly excessive force, using snipers to shoot into crowds of
peaceful protesters and deploying army tanks to shell residential areas while
seeking to justify such force on the pretext that the government is under
attack by armed gangs. Amnesty International has obtained the names of more
than 2010 people reported to have died or been killed during or in connection
with the protests since mid-March; many are believed to have been shot by
security forces using live ammunition while participating in peaceful protests
or attending funerals of people killed in earlier protests.
Thousands of other people have been arrested, with many held
incommunicado at unknown locations at which torture and other ill-treatment are
reported to be rife. At least 88 men died in detention in highly suspicious
circumstances during the period from 1 April and 15 August 2011. In at least 52
of these cases, there is evidence that torture caused or contributed to the
deaths, a concern exacerbated by reports of widespread torture in detention
centres in recent months. Some of the dead, who include children, were also
mutilated either before or after death in particularly grotesque ways
apparently intended to strike terror into the families to whom their corpses
were returned. The victims in all cases appear to have been detained in the
context of the protests, though the circumstances of their arrest are often
hazy, and to have died while held in the custody of the security forces in
prisons or other places of detention, both recognized and unrecognized, or
after being removed to hospitals while they remained in custody. Some clearly
suffered gunshot wounds suggesting that they may have been victims of
extrajudicial executions. Many of the deaths became known only when the
victims’ bodies were handed to their families by the authorities or families
were contacted and told to collect their relatives’ bodies from the morgue. Syria
has a history of high levels of deaths in custody, including many cases where
torture or other ill-treatment is alleged to have caused or contributed to the
deaths. See the report Deadly Detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest
in Syria (Index: MDE 24/0352011).
Name: George Sabra
Gender m/f: m
Further information UA: 224/11 Index: MDE 24/049/2011 Issue
Date: 6 September 2011