\nURGENT ACTION\n<\/p>\n
\nSYRIAN ACTIVIST AND HIS BROTHER DETAINED <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nSyrian brothers, ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada and Wa’el Hammada, \nPolitical activist Wa’el Hammada, aged 35, and his wife, \nOn 30 April, ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada, a 20-year old \nBoth men continue to be detained. They are held \nAmnesty International believes that both men are prisoners \nPLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Arabic, English, French or your \n <\/span>Calling \n <\/span>Expressing \n <\/span>Urging \nPLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 4 JULY 2011 TO:\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 \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 \n \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 \nAlso send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to \n <\/span>\n<\/p>\n \nURGENT ACTION\n<\/p>\n \nSYRIAN ACTIVIST AND HIS BROTHER DETAINED\n<\/p>\n \nADDITIONAL INFORMATION\n<\/p>\n \nThe Syrian army and security forces have been carrying out \nAmnesty International believes that many of those detained \nDespite the fear of arrest Razan Zaitouneh described the \n“‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada, went to our flat on 30 April to get \n‘Abd al-Rahman then called Wa’el and asked him to come to \nSince the beginning of the unrest, we have been living in \nUA: 149\/11 Index: MDE 24\/020\/2011 Issue Date: 23 May 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nSYRIAN ACTIVIST AND HIS BROTHER DETAINED <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nSyrian brothers, ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada and Wa’el Hammada,
\nhave been detained incommunicado at an unknown location since 30 April and 12
\nMay respectively. They are at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\nRazan Zaitouneh, a leading human rights activist, went into hiding in April.
\nThey feared being arrested because of their peaceful activities in relation to
\nthe current popular protests calling for political reform.\n<\/p>\n
\naccountant student, went to the couple’s flat to get them some clothes. Armed
\nmen from one of Syria’s security and intelligence agencies arrived a few
\nminutes after his arrival and forced ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada to phone his
\nbrother to ask him to come to the flat. Wa’el Hammada did not go however, as he
\ncorrectly guessed it was a trap. The armed officials then arrested ‘Abd
\nal-Rahman Hammada although, according to the family, he has not been involved
\nin the protests. Twelve days later Wa’el Hammada was arrested at his workplace.\n<\/p>\n
\nincommunicado and their whereabouts are unknown; the Syrian authorities have
\nnot said where they are being held. They are at high risk of torture; torture
\nof detainees is routine and systematic in Syria and committed with impunity.
\nRazan Zaitouneh told Amnesty International, “We are constantly distressed as we
\nhave not heard anything about my husband or his brother since their arrests.”\n<\/p>\n
\nof conscience, with Wa’el Hammada detained solely for legitimately exercising
\nhis rights to freedom of expression and association and ‘Abd al-Rahman Hammada
\napparently detained solely on account of his family relationship with Wa’el
\nHammada.\n<\/p>\n
\nown language:\n<\/p>\n
\nfor the immediate and unconditional release of Wa’el Hammada and ‘Abd al-Rahman
\nHammada who Amnesty International considers to be prisoners of conscience;\n<\/p>\n
\nconcern that they have been held incommunicado at unknown locations since 30
\nApril and 12 May respectively, and calling for them to be fully protected
\nagainst possible torture or other ill-treatment;\n<\/p>\n
\nthe Syrian authorities to take immediate steps to name and disclose the
\nwhereabouts of all political detainees and to give them immediate access to
\nlawyers of their choosing and their families and any medical treatment they
\nneed, and to safeguard them from torture or other ill-treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\nyour country. Please check with your section office if sending appeals after
\nthe above date.\n<\/p>\n
\nmass arrests since mid-March, when popular protests called for political reform
\nand increasingly for the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, to step down. The
\narrests particularly took place in the cities and towns that witnessed the
\nheight of popular protests. In the coastal city of Banias for example, all
\nmales above the age of 15 were rounded up. The arrests have also targeted
\npeople perceived to have organized or openly supported those protests, whether
\norally in public gatherings, in the media, on the internet or elsewhere. They
\ninclude political and human rights activists, mosque imams and
\njournalists. <\/span>These mass arrests have
\nforced a number of political and human rights activists to go into hiding.\n<\/p>\n
\nare likely to be prisoners of conscience, held merely for exercising their
\nrights to freedom of expression and association by peacefully supporting or
\ntaking part in protests. For more information on the mass arrests, see the
\nrecent Urgent Action: http:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/library\/info\/MDE24\/019\/2011\/en.\n<\/p>\n
\narrest of her brother-in-aw to Amnesty International as follows:\n<\/p>\n
\nus some clothes as we were already in hiding. Minutes after his arrival armed
\nmen showed up. ‘Abd al-Rahman immediately called my husband, Wa’el, and told
\nhim that armed men are surrounding the building and on the roof. He said that
\nthey are hammering at the door and threatening to break it if he does not allow
\nthem in. ‘Abd al-Rahman was trapped there for a whole hour and only opened the
\ndoor, according to eye witnesses, after the armed men apparently told him that
\nthey would do him no harm. <\/span>We later
\nlearned that once ‘Abd al-Rahman opened the door, the armed men broke in
\nviolently and turned the flat upside down!\n<\/p>\n
\nthe flat as he needs money. Wa’el replied that the money is in the drawer. ‘Abd
\nal-Rahman then said that that is not enough. We knew that it was a trap as we
\nleft plenty of money in the flat. So Wa’el immediately asked his brother: Are
\nyou ok? What is happening? At that point the phone turned off and we never
\nheard from ‘Abd al-Rahman after that.\n<\/p>\n
\nconstant fear of arrest and intolerable agony over the safety of those
\narrested. So far thousands have been detained.”\n<\/p>\n
\nhave been detained incommunicado at an unknown location since 30 April and 12
\nMay respectively. They are at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment.<\/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-258","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258","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=258"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}