{"id":247,"date":"2011-05-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T00:00:00","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=247","title":{"rendered":"ARRESTS SURGE AS PROTESTS CONTINUE"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nURGENT ACTION\n<\/p>\n

\nARRESTS SURGE AS PROTESTS CONTINUE<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nHundreds of people are believed to be held incommunicado at
\nunknown locations across Syria, following a new peak in arrests by Syrian
\nauthorities as protests continue. Those held are at serious risk of torture and
\nother ill-treatment. Hundreds of others who were being held in connection with
\nthe protests are known to have been released in recent weeks.\n<\/p>\n

\nThose released in April include Bara’ah Kalziyeh, Mohammed
\nMounir al-Faqir, Mohammed Darwich, Khaled Sid Mohand, Nawras ‘Awdat Allah, and
\nQasem ‘Abd al-Latif. Concerns over the safety of the hundreds believed to be
\nheld incommunicado are heightened by reports of torture and other ill-treatment
\nfrom detainees who were recently released. Among the detainees known to Amnesty
\nInternational, there is particular concern for the following individuals:\n<\/p>\n

\nMohammed Hasan al-Labwani, who suffers from a pituitary
\ntumour, was arrested from his home on 2 May as part of a house-to-house raid in
\nthe town of al-Zabadani, near Damascus. According to some detainees who were
\nheld with him and released on 4 May, Mohammed Hasan al-Labwani has been
\ntortured. Mohammed Hasan al-Labwani is the brother-in-law of prisoner of
\nconscience Kamal al-Labwani.\n<\/p>\n

\nPolitical activists Hassan ‘Abd al-‘Adhim, aged 79, and
\n‘Omar Qashaash, aged 85, were arrested on 28 and 30 April respectively,
\napparently for statements they made to the media in support of the protests.
\nHassan ‘Abd al-‘Adhim is a lawyer and the Secretary General of the Democratic
\nArab Socialist Union Party in Syria. He was arrested at his office in Damascus
\nby State Security. He reportedly suffers from diabetes, for which he needs
\nregular medication. ‘Omar Qashaash was arrested in Aleppo and is the leading
\nmember of the Syrian Democratic People’s Party and a long-standing union
\nactivist.\n<\/p>\n

\nAmnesty International is not aware whether the three men are
\nreceiving appropriate medication and medical supervision or an adequate diet.\n<\/p>\n

\nPLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Arabic, English, French or your
\nown language:\n<\/p>\n

\n             <\/span>Expressing
\nconcern about the detention at unknown locations of hundreds of people in
\nrelation to popular protests, and the reported torture or other ill-treatment
\nof some of those detained;\n<\/p>\n

\n             <\/span> Calling
\nfor the immediate and unconditional release of all those detained for
\npeacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association;\n<\/p>\n

\n             <\/span>Seeking
\nclarification as to the whereabouts of all those detained and urging the Syrian
\nauthorities to ensure that all are protected from torture and other ill-treatment
\nwhile held, and are granted immediate access to their families, lawyers of
\ntheir choosing and any medical treatment they may need.  <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\nPLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 17 JUNE 2011 TO:\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPresident\n<\/p>\n

\nBashar al-Assad                <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nPresidential Palace\n<\/p>\n

\nal-Rashid Street                <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDamascus, Syrian Arab Republic                <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFax: +963 11 332 3410\n<\/p>\n

\nSalutation: Your Excellency\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\nMinister of Interior\n<\/p>\n

\nMajor General Mohamed Ibrahim al-Sha’aar      <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMinistry of Interior\n<\/p>\n

\n‘Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar Street         <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nDamascus, Syrian Arab Republic\n<\/p>\n

\nFax: +963 11 222 3428\n<\/p>\n

\nSalutation: Your Excellency\n<\/p>\n

\nAnd copies to:\n<\/p>\n

\nMinister of Foreign Affairs\n<\/p>\n

\nWalid al-Mu’allim             <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs\n<\/p>\n

\nal-Rashid Street\n<\/p>\n

\nDamascus, Syrian Arab Republic                <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFax: +963 11 214 6251\n<\/p>\n

\nSalutation: Your Excellency\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\nAlso send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to
\nyour country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after
\nthe above date. This is the third update of UA 87\/11. Further information: http:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/library\/info\/MDE24\/016\/2011\/en<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nURGENT ACTION\n<\/p>\n

\nARRESTS SURGE AS PROTESTS CONTINUE\n<\/p>\n

\nADDITIONAL INFORMATION\n<\/p>\n

\nDespite the lifting of the state of emergency on 21 April,
\nthe Syrian army and security forces continue to carry out mass arrests,
\nespecially in the cities and towns where large popular protests have taken
\nplace. The arrests have also targeted people perceived to have organized or
\nopenly supported those protests, whether orally in public gatherings, in the
\nmedia, on the internet or elsewhere. They include political and human rights
\nactivists, mosque imams and journalists. Amnesty International believes that
\nmany of those detained are likely to be prisoners of conscience, held merely
\nfor exercising their rights to freedom of expression and association by
\npeacefully supporting or taking part in protests.\n<\/p>\n

\nThose recently detained and who remain incommunicado include
\nthe following individuals:\n<\/p>\n

\nDorothy Parvaz, an Al Jazeera journalist, was arrested upon
\narrival at Damascus International Airport on 29 April. According to Al Jazeera,
\nshe flew from Qatar  <\/span>to help cover the
\nongoing events. Firas Fayyad, a film director, was arrested on 30 April at an
\ninternet cafe in Damascus. ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada, a 20-year-old student, was
\ntaken from his home in Damascus on 30 April by security forces who were
\nsearching for his brother Wa’el.\n<\/p>\n

\nWa’el Hammada and his wife, Razan Zaitouneh, a human rights
\nactivist and leading human rights lawyer respectively, have gone into hiding.
\n‘Abdullah Khalil, a human rights lawyer, was arrested in the city of al-Raqqa
\non 1 May, apparently for appearing on Al Jazeera TV on 30 April when he spoke
\nabout the widespread arrests and advocated a democratic resolution of the
\nsituation. Ahmed Haji Khalaf, a member of the board of directors of the Arab
\nOrganization for Human Rights was also arrested in al-Raqqa, on 2 May,
\napparently for his activities in support of the protests. Human rights activist
\nManhal Mahmoud Barish and his two brothers, Ayham and Shadi Barish, were
\narrested on 3 May as part of a widespread house-to-house raid in the town of
\nSaraqeb.\n<\/p>\n

\nFor more than 20 years Amnesty International has documented
\nthe widespread torture and other ill-treatment which is committed with impunity
\nin Syrian detention centres. The disturbing first-hand reports of torture that
\nAmnesty International has obtained recently heighten concern for the safety of
\nthe above detainees and others held incommunicado. Two men from the coastal
\ncity of Banias, for example, who were recently released, said that members of
\nthe security forces beat them and many other detainees viciously on the neck
\nand collarbone with rifle butts. One detainee said that after being stripped
\nand beaten he was made to lick his blood off the floor. He said that he and
\nothers detained with him had been beaten with sticks and cables as well as
\nkicked and punched. Held without food for three days in overcrowded conditions
\nin one detention centre, he said they had to resort to drinking dirty water
\nfrom a toilet.\n<\/p>\n

\nAmnesty International has also received reports that, out of
\nfear of arrest, a number of other activities have gone into hiding. In addition
\nto Wa’el Hammada and Razan Zaitouneh mentioned above, Amnesty International is
\naware that Haytham al-Maleh, a prominent human rights lawyer, Hind and ‘Omar
\nal-Labwani, human right activists and children of prisoner of conscience Kamal
\nal-Labwani, Suhair al-Atassi, President of the unauthorized Jamal Atassi Forum,
\nWalid al-Bunni, a member of the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National
\nChange opposition coalition and twice a prisoner of conscience, and Jwan Yousef
\nKhorshid, a Syrian Kurd and member of the unauthorized Kurdish Committee for
\nHuman Rights in Syria (RASED), have all gone into hiding. In the case of Jwan
\nYousef Khorshid, it was reported that Military Security threatened to arrest
\nhis wife on 5 May if he did not hand himself over within 24 hours.\n<\/p>\n

\nAmnesty International has learned that Mahmoud ‘Issa, a
\nhuman rights activist who was detained by Political Security officials on 19
\nApril, has been referred to court. Amnesty International is still trying to
\nverify which court he was referred to and what charges have been brought
\nagainst him.\n<\/p>\n

\nFurther information on UA: 87\/11 Index: MDE 24\/019\/2011
\nIssue Date: 06 May 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nARRESTS SURGE AS PROTESTS CONTINUE<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nHundreds of people are believed to be held incommunicado at
\nunknown locations across Syria, following a new peak in arrests by Syrian
\nauthorities as protests continue. Those held are at serious risk of torture and
\nother ill-treatment. Hundreds of others who were being held in connection with
\nthe protests are known to have been released in recent weeks.<\/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-247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247","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=247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}