{"id":240,"date":"2011-05-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T00:00:00","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=240","title":{"rendered":"Put an End Now to Arbitrary Detentions and Enforced Disappearances!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nSYRIA:
\nPut an End Now to Arbitrary Detentions and Enforced Disappearances!<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nCopenhagen,
\nDamascus, Paris, 5 May 2011. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network
\n(EMHRN), the Euro-Mediterranean Federation Against Enforced Disappearances
\n(FEMED) and the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS) are deeply
\nconcerned by the indiscriminate repression characterised by the systematic use
\nby the Syrian government of arrests, arbitrary detentions and enforced
\ndisappearances,<\/a>[1]<\/sup> as the
\nprotest movement continues to grow all across the country.<\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nSecurity
\nforces are currently carrying out mass arrests of people who are suspected of
\nhaving taken part in the protests and are pursuing their crackdown against
\nbloggers, journalists, political activists, human rights activists and
\nphysicians. <\/span>Many
\nactivists have gone into hiding, and the security forces have been arresting
\nrelatives of wanted people when they are not at home, including women and
\nchildren.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the
\noverwhelming majority of cases, no one knows, at the moment, where those who
\nhave been arrested have been taken nor what accusations have been laid against
\nthem. Numerous demonstrations held by family members testify to the
\npsychological impact of these disappearances on the relatives of the victims,
\nwho are helpless because they are left in the dark about the whereabouts of
\ntheir loved ones and because of the possibility that they may be tortured.
\nAccording to Syrian human rights organisations, up to 500 people have been
\narrested arbitrarily daily since the army and security forces have been
\ndeployed in a number of cities and towns. In all, several thousand people are
\nbelieved to be detained.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOur
\norganisations are dismayed by the use of arbitrary detention and enforced
\ndisappearance, which appears to be part of a deliberate and systematic strategy
\nby the Syrian government aimed at intimidating the people by terrorising them,
\nat blocking the dissemination of information, in particular videos showing the
\nuprising that were shown widely over the internet, and at preventing those who
\nare ill or injured from receiving the care they need.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOur
\norganisations remind Syria of its obligation to comply with the principles of
\ninternational law and Conventions which it has freely adhered to, including the
\nInternational Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
\nTreatment or Punishment, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and
\nPolitical Rights, which states that “Everyone has the right to liberty and
\nsecurity of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention.
\nNo one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance
\nwith such procedure as are established by law<\/em>”<\/span> (Article 9.1).<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOur
\norganisations call upon: <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Syrian
\nauthorities:<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–       
\n<\/span>To put an immediate
\nstop to arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–       
\n<\/span>To release immediately
\nall persons who are arbitrarily detained, including all prisoners of opinion;<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–       
\n<\/span>To guarantee the
\nphysical and psychological integrity of the detainees by putting an end to the
\npractice of torture and ill treatment;<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–       
\n<\/span>To sign and ratify the
\nInternational Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced
\nDisappearances;<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–       
\n<\/span>To cooperate fully with
\nthe fact-finding mission established by the Human Rights Council’s 29 April
\nresolution, and in particular to give the mission access to all the locations
\nit wants to visit. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Human
\nRights Council of the United Nations: <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–         
\nTo implement quickly the resolution S-16\/1 adopted on April 19th<\/sup>
\n2011 by sending a fact-finding mission in Syria, and draw conclusions of this
\nmission by referring if necessary referral cases to the commission of crimes
\nagainst Humanity at the Security Council. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Member
\nStates of the European Union:<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–         
\nTo freeze the <\/sup>assets of Syrian officials responsible of the
\nrepression;<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–         
\nTo establish a fully forbidding visa on the EU territory against responsible of
\nthe repression <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–         
\nTo order a comprehensive\/exhaustive embargo on arms trading with Syria;<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n–         
\nTo summon Syria’s ambassadors in European capitals.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFor more
\ninformation, please contact <\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nEMHRN : Henriette Irminger Sonne, +45 30828337 ; Shaima
\nAbou Alkheir: +20 101077207\n<\/p>\n

\nFEMED : <\/strong>Nassera Dutour, president : + 213 7 74
\n55 18 82\n<\/p>\n

\nDCHRS : Radwane Ziadeh, director : + 001 571 205
\n3590  \n<\/p>\n

\nBackground
\ninformation<\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nSince 25th
\nApril, the army, the security forces and the regime’s auxiliary militias (Chabbiha<\/em>)
\nhave successively occupied several cities where large protests have taken
\nplace. <\/span>After
\nsurrounding the city of Deraa, the security forces deployed in a large number
\nof cities such as Banyas and Homs, as well as in suburbs of Damascus (Douma,
\nHarasta, etc.), where they conducted home invasions and numerous arbitrary
\narrests.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIt is
\ndifficult to determine how many people have been arrested. The Syrian Human
\nRights Information Link <\/span>(SHRIL)
\nhas drawn up a list of 1800 names of people who have been arbitrarily detained,
\nbut the total number is much higher.<\/a>[2]<\/sup>
\nAccording to DCHRS, more than 4000 people have been detained in all.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn Harasta,
\nthe security forces on 24 April arrested a 14-year old child and the three
\nbrothers of a person they were seeking\/looking for. Two days later, in the town
\nof Tal, a 21-year old man was also arrested although the security forces were
\nafter his father. <\/span>There
\nhave also been reports of detention of wives, mothers and daughters of wanted
\nmen. These are not isolated cases but common\/emblematic practice among security
\nforces.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMany
\ndemonstrations held by family members concerned about the fate of their
\nrelatives have taken place in a number of Syrian governorates, as well as in
\nthe Banyas region, following the arrest of virtually all males in the village
\nof Bayda on 12 April, and on Arnous Square in Damascus, where dozens of women
\nhave met several times since 1 May near the Parliament building to demand the
\nrelease of their loved ones.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Syrian
\ngovernment has always refused to throw light on the massive enforced
\ndisappearances that occurred during the 1980s, when hundreds of real or assumed
\nmembers of the Muslim Brotherhood disappeared after being arrested by the State
\nsecurity services.<\/span><\/a>[3]<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nSYRIA:
\nPut an End Now to Arbitrary Detentions and Enforced Disappearances!<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nCopenhagen,
\nDamascus, Paris, 5 May 2011. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network
\n(EMHRN), the Euro-Mediterranean Federation Against Enforced Disappearances
\n(FEMED) and the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS) are deeply
\nconcerned by the indiscriminate repression characterised by the systematic use
\nby the Syrian government of arrests, <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240","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\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}