{"id":269,"date":"2011-06-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T00:00:00","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=269","title":{"rendered":"Syria: Targeted Arrests of Activists Across Country, Families, Neighbors of Protesters Detained to \u2018Rebuild Wall of Fear\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nFor Immediate Release<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nSyria: Targeted Arrests of Activists Across Country, Families,
\nNeighbors of Protesters Detained to ‘Rebuild Wall of Fear’<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong>(New York, May 15, 2011) – Syria’s security forces continue their
\nnationwide campaign of arbitrary arrests and intimidation against political and
\nhuman rights activists, holding them incommunicado, forcing them to sign
\nundertakings to stop protesting, and in some cases torturing them, Human Rights
\nWatch said today.  <\/span><\/p>\n

“Syria’s leaders talk about a war against terrorists, but what we see on the
\nground is a war against ordinary Syrians – lawyers, human rights activists, and
\nuniversity students – who are calling for democratic changes in their country,”
\nsaid Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Syria’s
\nemergency law may have been lifted on paper, but repression is still the rule
\non Syria’s streets.” <\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch urged Syria’s authorities to immediately reveal the
\nwhereabouts of the targeted activists, to ensure that no harm is done to them<\/a> in detention, and to
\nrelease all those held for exercising their basic rights to free expression and
\nassociation. <\/p>\n

In some cases, the security forces have resorted to detaining relatives and neighbors
\nof the government critics, in an effort to obtain information on their
\nwhereabouts or force them to stop their activism, prompting many activists to
\nsend their families into hiding.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\nOn May 13, security forces detained human rights lawyer
\nCatherine al-Talli, 32, in the Damascus suburb of Berze, at around 6 p.m. She
\nwas in a shared minivan taxi, when security forces stopped the vehicle, came on
\nboard and detained her, a family member told Human Rights Watch. The security
\nservices are holding her incommunicado and have not provided any information on
\nher whereabouts.  <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\nOn May 12, security forces in Homs detained Mohammad Najati
\nTayyara, a prominent human rights activist who frequently appeared in the media
\nto provide information on Syria’s crackdown on protests. Security forces picked
\nhim up off the streets of Homs, a friend of Tayyara told Human Rights Watch,
\nand have not provided any information on his whereabouts since then.  <\/span><\/p>\n

On May 11, security forces detained Wael Hamadeh, a political activist and
\nhusband of prominent rights advocate Razan Zeitouneh, from his office. The
\nsecurity forces had gone to the couple’s house on April 30 searching for them
\nbut detained
\ninstead Hamadeh’s younger brother<\/a> Abdel Rahman, 20, when they could not
\nfind them. The couple had been staying with different friends to avoid being
\ncaught. To date, there is still no information about Abdel Rahman Hamadeh’s
\nwhereabouts.  <\/span>Zeitouneh told Human Rights
\nWatch:\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\nI don’t know what made Wael go to work. He had stopped going
\nlately. We don’t know which security service picked him up. We just know that
\nthey showed up at his office and took him.\n<\/p>\n

\nSecurity forces also detained nine people after a peaceful
\nsit-in at Arnous Square, in central Damascus, on May 10, and released only two,
\ndermatologist Dr. Mazen al-Sayyid and student Ahmad al-Qattan. Syrian
\nauthorities have sought to try Jalal Nofal, a psychologist, and Ammar Ayruka in
\ncourt on charges of provoking a riot, for their role in the demonstration.
\nAccording to an activist, their lawyer reported seeing signs of torture,
\nincluding beatings, on their faces. The remaining five – Ammar Dayoub, Malak
\nal-Shanawani, Mohannad Amin Hussein, Ali Omar, and Omar al-Katib – have not been
\nheard from since their arrests. <\/p>\n

This is the second arrest in a month for Malak al-Shanawani, a women’s rights
\nactivist, first detained at her workplace on April 10 for participating in
\nanti-government protests. <\/p>\n

“The Syrian government is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to detain
\nand punish every last voice for civil society reform in the country,” said
\nWhitson. <\/p>\n

Activists have told Human Rights Watch that the security forces are exerting
\nenormous pressure on their families and neighbors, forcing many to send their
\nown families into hiding. A prominent opposition activist, who preferred not to
\npublish his name for fear of further reprisals against his family, told Human
\nRights Watch:\n<\/p>\n

\nThey went to my home and broke the door; when they couldn’t
\nfind anyone there, they went to my neighbor. They asked him if he could tell
\nthem where they could find me, my wife, or one of my children. He refused, so
\nthey arrested him. But he is a known Ba`ath supporter, so they released him
\nafter 10 hours. They then went to my wife’s shop and did the same thing with
\ntwo men who own a grocery store and electronics shop near her workplace. One
\nwas in prison for two days, and the other is still in prison now. My wife and
\nsmall child are now living in one place, and my other two children in another.
\nI am in hiding in Damascus, changing my location every two days.\n<\/p>\n

\nRazan Zeitouneh told Human Rights Watch that she had asked
\nher elderly parents to go into hiding because she could not bear the thought of
\nthe security forces detaining them to exert pressure on her. <\/p>\n

A veteran 67-year-old human rights activist from Salamiyeh, a city in central
\nSyria that is home to the Middle East largest group of Isma`ili muslims, told
\nHuman Rights Watch that a group of 30 young men, many on motorcycles, drove up
\nto his house on May 13 at around 3pm:\n<\/p>\n

\nThey drove up and started throwing stones on my house. I was
\nout, and only female members of the family were inside. They had to rush to
\nclose the shutters. They kept throwing rocks for 15 minutes. They want to
\nterrorize us. I am worried for my family. We were able to recognize some of the
\nattackers. Some work as bodyguards for the head of local branch of the Ba`ath
\nparty.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Salamiyeh activist, whom security services had detained
\nfor 24 hours on May 10 along with another 69 protesters and activists from the
\ntown, told Human Rights Watch that the aim of the arrest and intimidation
\ncampaign was to force activists to sign undertakings to stop protesting. <\/p>\n

Another Damascus-based activist who was recently detained and released
\nconcurred:\n<\/p>\n

\nThey are obsessed with the protests. They just want them to
\nstop and are willing to do anything to make them stop. Those refusing to sign
\nthe undertakings get referred to criminal trials for inciting riots or risk
\nseeing security forces showing up at their home, office, or even their spouse’s
\noffice.\n<\/p>\n

\n“When families and neighbors of wanted activists are fair
\ngame for the security services and their Ba`ath thug agents, you know that the
\ngovernment is morally bankrupt,” said Whitson “Behind the empty rhetoric of
\npromises and national dialogue, there is a systematic campaign to rebuild
\nSyria’s wall of fear with only one purpose: allowing Asad and his cronies to
\nmaintain their absolute grip on power.” <\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch has called for sanctions against Syrian officials who bear
\nresponsibility for the use of lethal force against peaceful protesters and the
\narbitrary detention and torture of hundreds of protesters and for an
\ninternational investigation into the grave human rights violations in Syria.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe United States and European Union have imposed sanctions
\non certain high-ranking officials in the regime but have so far avoided
\nimposing sanctions on President Bashar al-Asad. On April 29, the UN Human
\nRights Council called for an urgent investigation by the UN high commissioner
\nfor human rights into killings and other human rights violations in Syria.\n<\/p>\n

\nFor more Human Rights
\nWatch reporting on Syria, please visit:
\n<\/strong>http:\/\/www.hrw.org\/middle-eastn-africa\/syria<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nFor more information,
\nplease contact:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn Beirut,
\nNadim Houry (English, Arabic, French): +961-1-447833; or +961-3-639244
\n(mobile); or houryn@hrw.org<\/a><\/span>
\nIn Dubai, Sarah Leah Whitson (English): +1-718-362-0172 (mobile); or whitsos@hrw.org<\/a><\/span>
\n
\nIn Washington, DC, Joe Stork (English): +1-202-612-4327; or
\n+1-202-299-4925 (mobile); or storkj@hrw.org<\/a>
\nIn Berlin, Wenzel Michalski (English, German): +49-151-419-24256 (mobile); or michalw@hrw.org<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn Paris,
\nJean-Marie Fardeau (French, English, Portuguese): +33-1-43-59-55-35; or
\n+33-6-45-85-24-87 (mobile); or fardeaj@hrw.org<\/a><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn Washington,
\nDC, Tom Porteous (English): +1-202-612-4336; or +1-646-203-3090 (mobile); or porteot@hrw.org<\/a><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn London, David
\nMepham, (English): +44-20 7713 2766; +44-7572 603995 (mobile); or mephamd@hrw.org<\/a><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn
\nBrussels, Reed Brody (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): +32-49-8625-786
\n(mobile); or brodyr@hrw.org<\/a><\/span>  <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

(New York, May 15, 2011) – Syria’s security forces continue their
\n nationwide campaign of arbitrary arrests and intimidation against political and
\n human rights activists, holding them incommunicado, forcing them to sign
\n undertakings to stop protesting, and in some cases torturing them, Human Rights
\n Watch said today.\n<\/p>\n

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