{"id":236,"date":"2011-04-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/?p=236","title":{"rendered":"Arbitrary detention and judicial harassment against Mr. Rasim Al-Atassi Suleyman\u00fe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nArbitrary detention and judicial harassment against Mr.
\nRasim Al-Atassi Suleyman<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a>‏<\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nSYR 005 \/ 0411 \/ OBS 071\n<\/p>\n

\nArbitrary detention \/ Judicial harassment\n<\/p>\n

\nSyria\n<\/p>\n

\nApril 29, 2011\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
\nDefenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights
\n(FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent
\nintervention in the following situation in Syria.\n<\/p>\n

\nDescription of the situation:\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about
\nthe arbitrary detention and the judicial harassment against Mr. Rasim Al-Atassi
\nSuleyman, member of the board of directors of the Arab Organisation for Human
\nRights in Syria (AOHR-S) and former President of the same organisation.\n<\/p>\n

\nAccording to the information received, on April 27, 2011,
\nMr. Rasim Al-Atassi appeared before the Military Public Prosecutor of Homs
\nafter having been summoned. There, he was questioned by the military prosecutor
\nand formally charged of "inciting riots" and
\n"vandalism"[1]. He was then taken to the Central Prison of Homs where
\nhe is currently detained.\n<\/p>\n

\nMr. Rasim Al-Atassi Suleyman was allegedly denounced by two
\ndemonstrators arrested approximately two weeks ago in Homs, by officers from
\nthe Intelligence and Security services. They declared that Mr. Rasim Al-Atassi
\nSuleyman was financially supporting the protest movements and supplying
\nweapons. Later, they retracted their declarations.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Observatory expresses its deepest concern about the
\narbitrary detention of Mr. Rasim Al-Atassi Suleyman and the judicial harassment
\nhe is facing which seem to merely aim at sanctioning his human rights
\nactivities.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Observatory further calls upon the Syrian authorities to
\ntake prompt action in order to immediately and unconditionally drop the charges
\nagainst him as they are baseless and release him, as well as all human rights
\ndefenders presently detained in the country. This arbitrary arrest illustrates
\nonce more the extreme harassment faced by human rights defenders in a context
\nof increasing violent crackdown against peaceful protesters by army and
\nsecurity forces in Syria since March 16, 2011.\n<\/p>\n

\nActions requested:\n<\/p>\n

\nPlease write to the Syrian authorities, urging them to:\n<\/p>\n

\ni. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and
\npsychological integrity of Mr. Rasim Al-Atassi Suleyman;\n<\/p>\n

\nii. Drop the charges pending against Mr. Rasim Al-Atassi
\nSuleyman as they are arbitrary ;\n<\/p>\n

\niii. Ensure the immediate and unconditionally release of Mr.
\nRasim Al-Atassi Suleyman since his detention is arbitrary as it only aims at
\nsanctioning his human rights activities;\n<\/p>\n

\niv. Put an end to any acts of harassment, including at the
\njudicial level, against Mr. Rasim Al-Atassi Suleyman and more generally against
\nall human rights defenders in Syria;\n<\/p>\n

\nv. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on
\nHuman Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations
\non December 9, 1998, especially:\n<\/p>\n

\n– its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right,
\nindividually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the
\nprotection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the
\nnational and international levels”,\n<\/p>\n

\n– its Article 6 (b) and (c), which states that “Everyone has
\nthe right, individually and in association with others […] as provided for in
\nhuman rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish,
\nimpart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human
\nrights and fundamental freedoms and […] to study, discuss, form and hold
\nopinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights
\nand fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to
\ndraw public attention to those matters”.\n<\/p>\n

\n– and its Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall
\ntake all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent
\nauthorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against
\nany violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination,
\npressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her
\nlegitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;\n<\/p>\n

\nvi.Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and
\nfundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards
\nand international instruments ratified by the Syrian Arab Republic.\n<\/p>\n

\nAddresses:\n<\/p>\n

\n·President, His Excellency Bashar al-Assad, Presidential
\nPalace, al Rashid Street, Damascus, Syria Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 332 3410\n<\/p>\n

\n·Minister of Defence, His Excellency General, Ali Habib
\nMahmud, Ministry of Defence, O mayyad Square, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic,
\nFax: +963 11 223 7842\n<\/p>\n

\n·Minister of Justice, His Excellency Mr. Tayzeer Qala Awwad,
\nDamascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 666 2460\n<\/p>\n

\n·Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Wallid
\nMu’allim, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab
\nRepublic, Fax: +963 11 332 7620\n<\/p>\n

\n·Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari, Permanent Mission of the Syrian
\nArab Republic to UN in Geneva, 72 rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland,
\nFax: +41 22 738 42 75, Email: mission.syria@ties.itu.in\n<\/p>\n

\n·Embassy the Syrian Arab Republic in Brussels, 1 avenue F.D.
\nRoosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Tel: +32 2 554 19 22; Fax: +32 2 648 14 85\n<\/p>\n

\nPlease also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of
\nthe Syrian Arabic Republic in your respective country.\n<\/p>\n

\nParis-Geneva, April 29, 2011\n<\/p>\n

\nKindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code
\nof this appeal in your reply.\n<\/p>\n

\nTo contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:\n<\/p>\n

\n    <\/span>* E-mail:
\nAppeals@fidh-omct.org\n<\/p>\n

\n    <\/span>* Tel and fax FIDH
\n+ 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 \/ +33 1 43 55 18 80\n<\/p>\n

\n    <\/span>* Tel and fax OMCT
\n+ 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 \/ + 41 22 809 49 29<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nArbitrary detention and judicial harassment against Mr.
\nRasim Al-Atassi Suleyman<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a>‏<\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights
\nDefenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights
\n(FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent
\nintervention in the following situation in Syria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236","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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}