Syrian doctors Mahmoud Al Refaai and Mohamad Osama Abdulsalam Al-Baroudi had been held incommunicado since their arrests on 16 and 18 February 2012 respectively. They are now held at Saydnaya prison and their cases appear to have been referred to a Military Field Court.<\/p>\n
Both doctors were arrested in February 2012 at hospitals in Damascus, Mahmoud Al Refaai<\/strong> reportedly by members of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence and Mohamad Al-Baroudi<\/strong> by the Criminal Security. The Syrian authorities did not provide the doctors’ families with any information regarding their arrest and detention or their whereabouts. A released detainee, also a doctor, has stated that shortly after their arrest the doctors were being detained at the Air Force Intelligence branch in al-Mezzeh, Damascus, where he witnessed both men being repeatedly subjected to torture or other ill-treatment. <\/p>\n A local contact has reported that approximately two months ago both Mahmoud Al Refaai and Mohamad Al-Baroudi were transferred to Saydnaya prison, north of Damascus. At the beginning of December, Mahmoud Al Refaai’s family were allowed a short visit to see him whilst in the presence of security guards. During the visit he told them that he did not have sufficient clothing for the cold temperatures and was suffering as a result. The same contact has reported that Mohamad Al-Baroudi’s family found out through unofficial sources that his health condition was overall stable but that he had lost a lot of weight. The contact said that sources from the Ministry of Defence informed Mahmoud Al Refaai’s family that his case had been referred to a Military Field Court in September and is still ongoing. The reported charges relate to his alleged work treating injured demonstrators in field hospitals. The contact said that the case of Mohamad Al-Baroudi may have also been referred to a Military Field Court. Such courts are composed of military judges where defendants have no right to legal representation or to call witnesses. The proceedings are conducted in secret and the dates of the sessions are not divulged. Verdicts handed down by the court are not subject to appeal. PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 04 FEBRUARY 2013 TO:<\/strong> Minister of Foreign Affairs<\/u> Syrian doctors Mahmoud Al Refaai and Mohamad Osama Abdulsalam Al-Baroudi had been held incommunicado since their arrests on 16 and 18 February 2012 respectively. They are now held at Saydnaya prison and their cases appear to have been referred to a Military Field Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1043\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n Please write immediately in English, French, Arabic or your own language:<\/strong>
\n n Urging the Syrian authorities to ensure that Mahmoud Al Refaai and Mohamad Al-Baroudi are protected from torture or other ill-treatment, are given immediate access to their families and lawyers of their choice, and any medical care they may require;
\n n Asking for clarification of Mahmoud Al Refaai’s and Mohamad Al-Baroudi’s legal status and the charges against them, and calling on the authorities to ensure that any legal proceedings against them fully comply with international fair trial standards. <\/p>\n
\n President<\/u>
\n Bashar al-Assad
\n Fax: +963 11 332 3410 (keep trying)
\n (fax\/phone line \u2013 say "Fax") (Fax is the only reliable communication method; please do not send letters)
\n Salutation: Your Excellency<\/strong>
\n Minister of Defence<\/u>
\n ‘Imad al-Fraij
\n Fax: +963 11 223 7842 (keep trying)
\n +963 11 666 2460 (keep trying)
\n (fax\/phone line \u2013 say "Fax")
\n Salutation: Your Excellency <\/strong><\/p>\n
\n Walid al-Mu’allim
\n Fax: +963 11 214 6253 (keep trying)
\n (fax\/phone line \u2013 say "Fax") (Fax is the only reliable communication method; please do not send letters)
\n Salutation: Your ExcellencyPlease send copies to diplomatic representatives of the Russian Federation accredited to your country, as below:<\/strong>
\n Name Address Fax Fax number Email Email address
\n Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:<\/strong>
\n Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation
\n Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date. This is the second update of UA 114\/12. Further information: http:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/library\/info\/MDE24\/037\/2012\/en<\/a>
\n URGENT ACTION<\/strong>
\n Doctors referred to military field court<\/strong>
\n Additional Information<\/strong>
\n Thousands of suspected opponents of the government have been arrested in Syria since pro-reform protests broke out in February 2011 and many, if not most, are believed to have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Amnesty International has the names of over 720 people reported to have died in custody during this period and has documented many cases of torture or other ill-treatment. See ‘I wanted to die’: Syria’s torture survivors speak out<\/em>: (Index: MDE 24\/016\/2012) http:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/library\/info\/MDE24\/016\/2012\/en<\/a>.
\n Since protests first broke out, the situation has evolved into an internal armed conflict throughout much of the country. Systematic and widespread human rights abuses, including crimes against humanity and possible war crimes have become rife, with civilians being the main victims. Amnesty International has documented numerous examples, most recently in documents such as Syria: Indiscriminate attacks terrorize and displace civilians<\/em> (Index: MDE 24\/078\/2012) http:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/library\/info\/MDE24\/078\/2012\/en<\/a>. Other bodies such as the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic have made similar findings.
\n Although the vast majority of the human rights abuses documented by Amnesty International have been committed by the state’s armed forces and pro-government shabiha<\/em> militias, abuses have also been committed by armed opposition groups. This includes the torture and killing of captured soldiers and shabiha<\/em> militia members as well as the abduction and killing of people known or suspected to support or work with the government and its forces, or the taking of civilians as hostages to try to negotiate prisoner swaps. Amnesty International condemns without reservation such abuses and has called on the leadership of all armed opposition groups in Syria to state publicly that such acts are prohibited and to do all in their power to ensure that opposition forces put an immediate stop to them.
\n In light of this, Amnesty International is continuing to call for the situation in Syria to be referred to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The organization is also calling for an international arms embargo aimed at halting the flow of weapons to the Syrian government, and an assets freeze on President Bashar al-Assad and his close associates. Additionally, states considering supplying weapons to the armed opposition should have in place the necessary mechanisms to ensure the material supplied is not used to commit human rights abuses and\/or war crimes. The Syrian government should also allow the international independent commission of inquiry, and international human rights and humanitarian organizations, unfettered access to the country.
\n Go to the interactive Eyes on Syria map (<\/strong>www.eyesonsyria.org<\/strong><\/a>) to see where human rights violations are being committed in Syria, and Amnesty International’s global activism to seek justice.<\/strong>
\n Name: Mahmoud Al Refaai and Mohamad Al-Baroudi
\n Gender m\/f: Both male <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"