URGENT ACTION
Human rights activist Mohammed Najati Tayyara, aged 65, has
been held since 12 May following media interviews he gave about the abuse of
pro-reformist protesters by the Syrian government. Despite a judge ordering his
release on bail on 29 August, he was reportedly re-arrested the same day by Air
Force Intelligence and beaten in custody.
Mohammed Najati Tayyara, a retired school teacher, was
arrested on 12 May by officers of Syrian Political Security, who stopped the
car in which he and a friend were travelling in the city of Homs, north-western
Syria. According to a source in Syria, he was referred to a criminal court
judge and charged under Article 286 of the Syrian Penal Code for “convey[ing]
within Syria false news that could debilitate the morale of the nation”. He was
taken to Homs Central Prison and kept in severely cramped conditions,
reportedly in a cell with about 300 other detainees and with only one toilet
between them.
On 29 August a judge ordered his release on bail pending his
trial. However, according to a source in Syria, while in prison awaiting his
release, he was re-arrested by Air Force Intelligence officers, who took him to
the Military Intelligence-run detention centre known as “al-Boloneh Prison” in
Homs. It appears that he was subjected there to beatings to the head and face
during interrogation and returned to Homs Central Prison 11 days later, where
he remains. Mohammed Najati Tayyara requires daily medication for high blood
pressure and is apparently suffering from prostate cancer, heightening concerns
for his wellbeing.
Mohammed Najati Tayyara recently gave several media
interviews, including to Al Jazeera and the BBC, about attacks by Syrian
security forces on pro-reformist demonstrators in Homs. He publicly called for
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop using violence against protesters.
Amnesty International is concerned that he may be held for peacefully
exercising his right to freedom of expression, in which case he would be considered
a prisoner of conscience.
Please write immediately in English, Arabic, French or your
own language:
Express
concern that Mohammed Najati Tayyara may be held solely for peacefully
expressing his views on the actions of the security forces against pro-reform
protesters, in which case he is a prisoner of conscience and should be released
immediately and unconditionally;
Express
concern also that his continuing detention appears to be unlawful by breaching
a court order for his release;
Urge the
authorities to take all measures to ensure he is protected from torture and
other ill-treatment, and is given any medical attention he needs.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 26 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 Defence
His Excellency General Dawood Rajiha
Ministry of Defence
Omayyad Square, Damascus
Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11 666 2460
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
Minister of Interior
His Excellency Major General Mohamad Ibrahim al-Shaar
Ministry of Interior
‘Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 113110554
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to
your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:
Please check with your section office if sending appeals
after the above date.
URGENT ACTION
SYRIAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST RE-ARRESTED
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Syria’s various security and intelligence forces have for
decades enjoyed wide-ranging special powers outside judicial control resulting
in the widespread use of arbitrary and incommunicado detention, torture and
other ill-treatment of political suspects. Since March 2011, reports of torture
and other ill-treatment in detention have escalated significantly.
Since pro-reform demonstrations evolved into large-scale
protests in mid-March, thousands have been arrested throughout the country by
the Syrian security forces. The mainly peaceful protests are generally calling
for increased rights and freedom as well as to an end to President Bashar
al-Assad’s rule. The authorities have responded with wide-scale brutality to
suppress dissent. Amnesty International has received numerous accounts of
detainees being tortured or otherwise ill-treated including reports of over 90
deaths in custody, in many cases as an apparent result of such abuses and
affecting those aged from 13 to 72 years. Amnesty International has also
obtained some 2,100 names of people reported to have died or been killed during
or in connection with the protests since mid-March. The majority appear to have
been shot by security forces using live ammunition during peaceful protests and
even when attending funerals of others killed in protests.
Homs has seen repeated large-scale protests followed by repression
by the security forces. It has been severely affected by an escalating
crackdown on pro-reform protests, with over 430 individuals recorded by Amnesty
International as having died there during or in connection with the protests up
to mid-August, over 200 of whom died during the first two weeks of August
alone. Among the dead are 40 individuals reported to have died in custody, 11
of them during the first two weeks of August. On 1 September, Amnesty
International published an Urgent Action on the incommunicado detention of
Mohammed Najati Tayyara’s nephew, Mohamed Iyyad Tayyara, also a human rights
activist. He was arrested on 28 August and has since been held incommunicado.
He is believed to be held by Military Intelligence where he is in danger of torture
and other ill-treatment. As far as Amnesty International is aware the
authorities have not said why they are holding him, but prior to his arrest he
had been documenting human rights abuses in Homs and passing the information to
human rights organizations as well as attending peaceful protests see
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE24/046/2011/en
Mohammed Najati Tayyara is a founding member of the Human
Rights Association of Syria.
Name: Mohammed Najati Tayyara
Gender M