URGENT ACTION
Date: 13 September 2011
Syrian activist Ghayath Mattar, aged 26, is reported to have
been killed in custody following his arrest by Syrian security forces on 6
September. His dead body was returned to his family on 10 September. Four other
activists arrested at the same time are in grave danger.
Syrian security forces returned Ghayath Mattar’s body to his
family on 10 September, four days after his arrest. The official reason given
for his death is that he was “shot by armed gangs”. However, there was bruising
and other signs of ill-treatment on his body. Amnesty International has seen
video film of the body showing injuries.
Ghayath Mattar was a prominent activist in Daraya, a suburb
of Damascus, who is said to have previously received threats against his life
from members of the security forces. He is reported to have been detained on 6
September, apparently by members of Air Force Intelligence, and is believed to
have died in the custody of the security forces – bringing the total number of
reported deaths in detention since April to more than 90.
His death heightens concern for four other activists from
Daraya who were detained at the same time and who are at grave risk. They are
Yahya Shurbaji and his brother Ma’an Shurbaji, Mohamed Tayseer Khoulani and
Mazen Zyadeh. All four have been held incommunicado at an unknown location
since their arrest.
Please write immediately in English, Arabic, French or your
own language:
n Express deep
concern at the reported death in custody of Ghayath Mattar and call for an
immediate independent investigation of the cause and circumstances of his death
and for those responsible to be brought to justice;
n Express
concern about the continuing detention of Yahya Shurbaji, Ma’an Shurbaji, Mazen
Zyadeh and Mohamed Tayseer Khoulani and urge the Syrian authorities to
immediately disclose their whereabouts in detention, allow them immediate access to their
families, lawyers and any medical care they need, and to protect them against
possible torture or other ill-treatment;
n Urge that the
four detainees are released immediately and unconditionally if they are
prisoners of conscience detained solely
for the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression or other human
rights.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 25 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 268/11:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE24/050/2011/en
URGENT ACTION
DEATH IN CUSTODY OF SYRIAN ACTIVIST
Additional Information
Since the beginning of the popular protests in mid-March,
the Syrian security forces have arrested thousands of people and activists
across the country. Amnesty International has received numerous accounts of
detainees being tortured or otherwise ill-treated as well as reports of at
least 88 deaths in custody between April and mid-August 2011, in many cases as
an apparent result of such abuses.
According to human rights activists, Air Force Intelligence
oversees arrests in Daraya. Along with the other Syrian intelligence services,
it regularly detains people suspected of opposing the government and holds them
incommunicado for lengthy periods in detention centres that are notorious for
torture and other ill-treatment.
Activists from Daraya have told Amnesty International that
all of those involved in organizing protests there went into hiding soon after
the outbreak of the popular protests in mid-March, and only go out in public to
take part in the protests. They include Yahya Shurbaji, who went into hiding in
April following repeated raids on his house by security forces. For further
information on the arrests of other activists from Daraya, please see Urgent
Action: Protesters at risk of torture after arrest (Index: MDE 24/041/2011).
For Amnesty International’s report on deaths in custody, please see Syria:
Deadly Detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria (Index: MDE
24/035/2011).
Amnesty International was informed that roughly 300 people
attended Ghayath Mattan’s funeral, despite reported attempts of the security
forces to prevent his family from organising a public funeral. During the
funeral, contacts reported a heavy presence of security forces both at his home
and at the graveyard where he was buried. Four people are said to have been
shot by the security forces at the funeral, one fatally. Ghayath was married;
his widow is expecting a child.
Name: Yayha Shurbaji, Ma’an Shurbaji, Ghayath Mattar,
Mohamed Tayseer Khoulani and Mazen Zyadeh
Gender m/f: All male
Further information on UA: 268/11 Index: MDE 24/052/2011
Issue Date: 13 September 2011
————————————-
East Mediterranean Team
Amnesty International, International Secretariat
Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom
E-mail: Eastmed@amnesty.org
Tel: +44 (0)20
7413 5500
Fax: +44 (0)20
7413 5719