\nURGENT ACTION\n<\/p>\n
\nACTIVIST DETAINED, RISKS TORTURE<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nSyrian political activist George Sabra has been detained \nTanks and armed men moved into Qatana, south-west of the \nGeorge Sabra’s son, Chadi Sabra, who lives in exile in \nThe Syrian authorities have not revealed why he was \nAmnesty International believes that George Sabra is probably \nPlease write immediately in Arabic, English, French or your \n– \n– \n– \nPLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 24 AUGUST 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 \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 \nAlso send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to \nName Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email \nPlease check with your section office if sending appeals \nURGENT ACTION\n<\/p>\n \nACTIVIST DETAINED, RISKS TORTURE\n<\/p>\n \nADDITIONAL INFORMATION\n<\/p>\n \nPro-reform protests had been taking place daily in Qatana \nAccording to Qatana residents the situation escalated when \nQatana residents also reported that a seven-month-old child, \nGeorge Sabra was imprisoned twice before for his peaceful \nAs part of his leading role within the Democratic People’s \nName: George Sabra\n<\/p>\n \nGender m\/f: m\n<\/p>\n \nUA: 224\/11 Index: MDE 24\/036\/2011 Issue Date: 20 July 2011\n<\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nACTIVIST DETAINED, RISKS TORTURE<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nSyrian political activist George Sabra has been detained
\nincommunicado at an unknown location since 20 July as part of mass arrests by
\nthe Syrian army and security forces in the town of Qatana, south-west of the
\ncapital, Damascus. He is at serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\ncapital, on 16July, opening fire on unarmed residents and carrying out raids,
\nrandomly arresting dozens of men between the ages of 18 and 40. Political
\nactivist George Sabra, aged 64, is among those held incommunicado at unknown
\nlocations. Amnesty International is particularly concerned for his safety given
\nreports of widespread torture across Syria.\n<\/p>\n
\nFrance, told Amnesty International that a number of armed men in plain clothes
\narrested his father at the family’s flat at 1am on 20 July without allowing him
\nto change out of his pyjamas or take his ID card. Ten minutes later another
\ngroup of armed men arrived at the flat and confiscated his personal computer
\nand mobile phone after introducing themselves as members of the security
\nforces. They also took some of his clothes and his ID card.\n<\/p>\n
\narrested. According to Chadi Sabra, however, his father’s arrest is likely to
\nbe related to the senior position he holds within the unauthorized Democratic
\nPeople’s Party in Syria and his publicly expressed support for peaceful
\nprotests and refusal to engage in dialogue with the authorities unless the
\nsecurity forces refrain from further violence against peaceful protesters.\n<\/p>\n
\na prisoner of conscience, detained solely for legitimately exercising his
\nrights to freedom of expression and association.\n<\/p>\n
\nown language:\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Expressing concern that
\nGeorge Sabra has been held incommunicado at an unknown location since 20 July,
\nand calling on the authorities to ensure that he is fully protected against
\ntorture or other ill-treatment;\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Expressing concern that
\nGeorge Sabra is held for supporting the protests in Qatana and noting that, if
\nthis is the case, Amnesty International would consider him a prisoner of
\nconscience detained solely for peacefully exercising his rights to freedom of
\nexpression and association and call for his immediate and unconditional
\nrelease;\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Urging the Syrian
\nauthorities to take immediate steps to name and disclose the whereabouts of all
\ndetainees arrested in connection with ongoing protests, to give them immediate
\naccess to lawyers of their choosing and their families and any medical
\ntreatment they may require, and to safeguard them from torture and other
\nill-treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\nyour country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:\n<\/p>\n
\nEmail address Salutation Salutation <\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\nafter the above date. This is the <number> update of UA XXXXX. Further
\ninformation: www.amnesty.org\/xxxxx\n<\/p>\n
\nfrom 9 to 15 July, following four months of unrest across Syria. The protesters
\nclashed with supporters of President Bashar al-Assad on a number of occasions
\nwhen both sides threw stones at each other.\n<\/p>\n
\nthe Syrian army and security forces entered the town with tanks early on 16
\nJuly and opened fire on residential areas, injuring a number of people
\nincluding some of those who were leaving the Mosque of Mariam Ben ‘Omran after
\nSaturday morning prayers. A curfew was imposed at around 11am, internet,
\nelectricity and water were cut off in at least some parts of the town and the
\narmy and security forces began carrying out door-to-door raids and arresting
\nmen.\n<\/p>\n
\nMohammed Ahmed Sabboura, was shot dead and his mother injured while attempting
\nto flee Qatana.\n<\/p>\n
\nactivities as a senior member of the Democratic People’s Party, previously
\ncalled the Syrian Communist Party – Political Bureau, most recently for a
\nmonth, between 10 April and 10 May 2011, when he was released on bail, and
\npreviously for eight years between 1987 and 1995, during which time he was
\nconvicted in a grossly unfair trial before the Supreme State Security Court. He
\nspent the first three years of that period of detention at the State Security
\nbranch in Damascus where he was not allowed visits from his family or lawyer.
\nHe was later transferred to Saydnaya Military Prison, near Damascus, where he
\nspent the remaining five years and was allowed family visits.\n<\/p>\n
\nParty, George Sabra is the party’s representative in the Damascus Declaration
\nfor Democratic National Change (DDDNC), an unauthorized umbrella body of
\nopposition groups that calls for democratic reform and greater respect for
\nhuman rights in Syria.\n<\/p>\n
\nincommunicado at an unknown location since 20 July as part of mass arrests by
\nthe Syrian army and security forces in the town of Qatana, south-west of the
\ncapital, Damascus. He is at serious 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-300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300","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=300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}