{"id":302,"date":"2011-07-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-24T00:00:00","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=302","title":{"rendered":"Testimony prepared for delivery to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nTestimony prepared for delivery to the Tom Lantos Human
\nRights Commission (TLHRC)<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nClick Here to Download and Read Full Tesimony – PDF File <\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nU.S. House of Representatives\n<\/p>\n

\nBy Radwan Ziadeh\n<\/p>\n

\nDamascus Center for Human Rights Studies in Syria\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Commission hearing on human rights in Syria\n<\/p>\n

\nTuesday July12, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. in room 340\n<\/p>\n

\nCannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\nMr. Chairman,\n<\/p>\n

\n           <\/span>Thank you
\nfor the opportunity to testify before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on
\nthe situation of human rights under Asad regime’s during four-month crackdown
\non Syria’s pro-democracy protestors.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n          <\/span>As
\nnonviolent popular uprisings began to sweep across the Middle East started from
\nTunisia then Egypt, Syria joined this wave of Arab Democratization at the
\nmiddle of March.  <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n           <\/span>The spark
\nof the Syrian uprising was lit in Daraa on March 6, 2011, following the
\narbitrary arrest of 15 schoolchildren, who were subsequently detained and
\ntortured for painting anti-government slogans on a wall. The sentence: “People
\nwant to topple the regime!" echoed some of the slogans heard by the
\nchildren during the uprisings in Tunis and Cairo. On March 18, 2011, some
\ninhabitants of the city of Daraa organized a march calling for the release of
\nthese children. The march was violently repressed by the Syrian authorities,
\nwho used lethal weapons against the peaceful crowd. Within a week of the first
\nprotest, the Security Forces had killed at least 55 demonstrators in and around
\nthe city of Daraa. Protests remained localized in the South of the country for
\nat least a month, before the wave of demonstrations could make its way up,
\nsweeping the unrest across Syria, from the West coast to the Eastern province
\nof Haska, to reach the inner walls of the University of Damascus and Aleppo and
\nfinally the northern province of Idleb, near the Turkish border.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n            
\n<\/span>Demonstrations have and are still breaking out all across Syria in
\nunprecedented numbers. In total, thousands of people have now already
\nchallenged the regime calling for freedoms and change and for the very most
\npart, peacefully. These demonstrations are explained by the deterioration of
\nthe economic, political and social conditions in Syria, against the financial
\nand political corruption, and amid the general demands for reforms across the
\nArab world. What started as peaceful demands for political reform transformed
\ninto a quest for regime change, and it is in the face of these demands that the
\nSyrian government started exerting an increasingly tough repression.  <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n             <\/span>Entire
\npopulations have been subjected to repression, notably in the cities that were
\nand are still besieged by the army. In some of them, inhabitants suffer from a
\nhumanitarian crisis, in lack of water, food, and medical supplies. Many of these
\ninhabitants are furthermore being denied access to medical personnel. As an
\nillustration, the unrestricted access to the areas and people affected by the
\nunrest was denied to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) until
\nJune 21, 2011.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n    <\/span>          <\/span>The Syrian government has now blocked
\nterritorial access to international journalists, independent NGOs, as well as
\nto the Fact finding mission on the situation in Syria mandated by the Human
\nRights Council of the United Nations. Media personnel, human rights defenders,
\nlocal journalists and civil society organisations are also targeted by the
\nregime and often subjected to recurrent measures of repression.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>Overall in
\nthe last four months and as of July 15th, 2011 over 1,800 individuals died,
\nincluding at least 84 children. Over 12,000 people were also allegedly arrested
\nand the total number of Syrian refugees is said to have surpassed 20 thousand
\npeople.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>In turn,
\nthe Syrian regime has escalated its crackdown to a degree rivaled only by the
\nLibyan leadership. In doing so, Assad has lost the legitimacy to rule.
\nUnfortunately, the United States has yet to take steps that are commensurate
\nwith the severity of the violence. The U.S. leverage with Syria may be limited,
\nbut there are nonetheless steps that Washington can take, in coordination with
\nthe international community, to help ease Assad out of power.  <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n                <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>The UN
\nCommittee against Torture (CAT) in May 2010, after its first review of Syria,
\nhas concluded that there are “numerous, ongoing, and consistent allegations
\nconcerning the routine use of torture by law enforcement and investigative
\nofficials, at their instigation or with their consent, in particular, in
\ndetention facilities.”\n<\/p>\n

\nThe CAT committee expressed particular concern that torture
\ntakes place with impunity provided by the Emergency Law which attributes broad
\nemergency powers to various branches of the security forces outside any
\njudicial control. According to the committee experts, the State of Emergency has
\ntaken on a “quasi permanent nature and allows the suspension of fundamental
\nrights and freedoms.”\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n         <\/span>This was
\nbefore the Syrian uprising started, this was the daily life of the Syrians for
\nalmost 47 years, but when the Syrian rose up against the Asad regime to stop
\nthese practices the Asad regime responded with policies beyond our imagination
\nespecially the methods of torture used against the peaceful protesters.     <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n          <\/span>I want to
\nshare with you two stories to give you an idea about the level of torture has
\nbeen used against the civilian in Syria today.\n<\/p>\n

\n          <\/span>The first
\ncase, the case of Dr. Sakher Hallak, he is prominent physician in Aleppo, he
\nwas in Penn-USA to attend a medical conference, then he backed to Syria, where
\nhe arrested by the Syrian security forces on Wednesday, May 25, 2011, on his
\nway home from work, at 11:30 at night.\n<\/p>\n

\n     <\/span>On Thursday, his
\nwife called a person she knew, a relative who worked in the Syrian Parliament.
\nHe assured her that he is at one of the security services in Aleppo, and that
\nhe will ensure that he will be released soon. And Dr. Hallak himself called his
\none of his best friends and told him that he is at the security and he will be
\nreleased soon.\n<\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>On Friday, the
\nsecurity forces interviewed Sakher’s wife and daughter. They were told them
\nthat everything would be OK, and that he would be released on Saturday.  <\/span>On Saturday, his wife called again, and she
\nwas told that he should be on his way home, but he had to stop at the
\ncourthouse to sign some documents. His body was found freshly dead on Friday at
\n6 PM in a village 20 miles south of Aleppo. It was dumped in a ditch in an area
\nthat was very hard to find.\n<\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>On Saturday
\nevening, the police’s office called his family, and told them that they have a
\nbody in the morgue, and that it might belong to Sakher. Indeed, the body was
\nthat of Sakher. There was evidence of multiple injuries, consistent with
\ntorture and direct trauma to the head. His eyes and his penis were mutilated.
\nAll the bones in his body were broken, and marks from 4 different types of
\nboots were imprinted on his body. He died by strangulation. There was rope mark
\non his fingers, suggesting that he was trying to dislodge the rope off of his
\nneck.\n<\/p>\n

\n <\/span>In the morgue, the
\nsecurity told his family that they never had Dr.Halak in their custody, but,
\nthat, instead, they found him dead on the street. And then refused to release
\nthe body for burial until the family accepted that story. They printed the
\nstory in the daily paper, quoting his family with the official security forces
\nstory.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n           <\/span>The
\nsecurity wrapped the body with gauze, like a mummy, making sure that only his
\nface, with his eyes closed, and his feet were showing, to prevent any
\nincriminating photos. The family was not allowed to be alone with his body.
\nThey also prevented people from attending his funeral. They used their cars for
\ntransporting the body to the funeral and made sure that no photos were taken,
\nuntil he was burried.\n<\/p>\n

\n           <\/span>Dr.Halak
\ndid not participate in any anti-government protests or meetings. He was
\ntortured and mutilated, just like the 13 years old boy Hamza Alkhataib.\n<\/p>\n

\n          <\/span>The second
\nstory is the story of the 15 years old boy Tamer Mohammed al-Sharei from Daraa,
\nhis father was talking to me almost every day asking me for help, I told him I
\nwill tell the story may the world will know about the practices that Asad
\nregime is implementing everyday to suppress his own people.\n<\/p>\n

\n          <\/span>Inside a
\nfilthy detention center in Damascus, according to Associated Press in Jul 7,
\n2011, where eight or nine interrogators repeatedly bludgeoned a skinny teenager
\nwhose hands were bound and who bore a bullet wound on the left side of his
\nchest. They struck his head, back, feet and genitals until he was left on the
\nfloor of a cell, bleeding from his ears and crying out for his mother and
\nfather to help him.\n<\/p>\n

\n         <\/span>Ibrahim Jamal
\nal-Jahamani, a fellow prisoner who said he witnessed the brutal scene in Syria
\nin May, heard the interrogators demand that the 15-year-old proclaim strongman
\nBashar Assad as his "beloved" president.\n<\/p>\n

\n          <\/span>The youth,
\nlater identified as Tamer Mohammed al-Sharei, refused. Instead, he chanted an
\noften-heard slogan from anti-regime street protests calling for "freedom
\nand the love of God and our country." Tamer’s refusal apparently was the
\nfinal straw for the interrogators. “Guards broke his right wrist, beating him
\nwith clubs on his hands, which were tied behind his back," al-Jahamani
\ntold The Associated Press after his release from detention, referring to the
\nbeatings as torture. "They also beat him on the face, head, back, feet and
\ngenitals until he bled from the nose, mouth and ears and fell
\nunconscious," he recalled.\n<\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>"He
\npleaded for mercy and yelled: ‘Mom, dad, come rescue me!’" al-Jahamani
\nsaid. "He was lying like a dog on the floor in his underwear, with blood
\ncovering his body. But his interrogators had no compassion that they were
\nsavagely beating a boy," al-Jahamani added, his voice breaking with
\nemotion.\n<\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>Al-Jahamani
\nwitnessed the beating from a corridor lined with cells while he was waiting for
\ntwo hours for the prison guards to take him to his cell. He said the corridor
\nreeked from the stench of blood and dirty toilets and the cell beds were
\ncovered in dirty sheets.\n<\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>At the lockup
\nrun by Syria’s Air Force Intelligence, security forces kept Tamer bound and
\nnearly naked, his body covered in blood and bruises, while interrogators broke
\nhis forearm and teeth. At one point, a doctor was brought in to revive him,
\nal-Jahamani said. "He gave him an injection and they started beating him
\nagain," concentrating on his feet and genitals, and the boy started
\nbleeding from his ears, al-Jahamani said.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe next day, the teenager’s screams abruptly stopped and
\nal-Jahamani said he never heard a sound from him again.\n<\/p>\n

\n       <\/span>On the first
\nday, al-Jahamani saw a bruised Tamer face down on the floor of the corridor.
\nLater that day, they were placed in different cells near each other on that
\nsame corridor, and al-Jahamani could hear Tamer’s screams.\n<\/p>\n

\n         <\/span>Tamer’s death
\nbecame known in June, when blurry cellphone videos showed the teen’s bruised
\nand bullet-pocked body, missing most of his teeth, in a wooden coffin. In one
\nclip, a woman cries out: "This is my son! I swear this is my son!",
\nAl-Jahamani said he saw the video after his release and instantly recognized
\nthe dead youth as the teen from the detention center. He had heard
\ninterrogators call him "Tamer."\n<\/p>\n

\n         <\/span>Tamer and
\nanother youth, Hamza al-Khatib, 13, both from the southern village of Jiza in
\nDaraa province, disappeared April 29. The province is where the uprising began
\nafter security forces arrested high school students who scrawled anti-regime
\ngraffiti on a wall.\n<\/p>\n

\n         <\/span>Hamza was
\narrested at a demonstration and not seen again until his mutilated body, with
\nhis penis severed, was delivered to his family weeks later. He, too, has become
\na symbol of the revolt against Assad, driving thousands of protesters into the
\nstreets.\n<\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>The deaths of
\nTamer and Hamza in particular enraged Syrians who have lived under a brutal
\ndictatorship led by the Assad family dynasty for more than four decades. The
\nprotests have grown larger and drawn a broader cross section of society every
\nweek.\n<\/p>\n

\n          <\/span>The torture
\nin Syrian today has been used as a means to exert pressure upon civilians, for
\nthem to stop demonstrating and denounce other demonstrators.\n<\/p>\n

\n          <\/span>Confessions
\nfrom these detainees confirm the inhumane conditions of detention and the
\nregular recourse to different forms of ill-treatment. These include:
\npsychological trauma, solitary confinement, and physical torture of different
\nkinds, including punching, beating, slapping, burning and tearing apart the skin,
\npulling the nails, and torture using electric devices.\n<\/p>\n

\n         <\/span>Other ill
\ntreatments were also reported, including: mental torture, death threats, the
\ndenial of medical care for the sick and wounded, isolation from the outside
\nworld and being blindfolded, handcuffed and placed in unknown locations or in
\nmilitary camp prisons. These arbitrary measures fulfil the definition of the
\nConvention Against Torture (CAT).\n<\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>Acts of
\nphysical and mental torture may have been committed to extract information but
\noften also to intimidate and repress the population.  <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n         <\/span>A number of
\nthose arrested, impossible to estimate, reportedly died while in detention as a
\nresult of the infliction of torture. As of June 3rd, at least 148 detainees
\nallegedly died as a result of torture. This was evidenced by the state of the
\ncorpse of those arrested, as they were in some case returned to the families by
\nthe Security Forces. Evidence of torture was indeed most often reported via
\nvideos and pictures of the corpses brought back after detention. Visual
\nevidence continues to testify of this free infliction of pain, used in some
\ncases as a means of pressure or intimidation.\n<\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>April 29th
\nmarked a turn in the degree and scale of the repression by the Syrian
\nauthorities, as a number of dead bodies were returned to families following
\nseveral raids of arrest across Syria . The corpses of an important number of
\nthose arrested on April 29th, especially in Daraa, were indeed subsequently
\nreturned to the families, evidencing that death of the detainees was subsequent
\nto torture inflicted during the time of detention.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n         <\/span>The situation
\nin Syria has taken a turn for the worse in an unprecedented way since the
\nbeginning of the protests. As the protests have spread, the response of the
\nsecurity forces has hardened, leading up to the deployment of tanks in several
\ncities (Deraa, Homs, Douma, Banyas. Jisr Ashagour, Hama etc.). The use of live
\nammunition by security forces against demonstrators has led to the deaths of
\naround 1800 people since mid-March and hundreds are missing and more than 12000
\nhave been detained.    <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n        <\/span>The gap
\nbetween the official stance claiming the adoption of long awaited reforms
\nincluding the lift of the state of emergency, issuance of a law on peaceful
\ndemonstrations and opening dialogue with the opposition and the systematic and
\nviolent repression on the ground is more blatant than ever.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n <\/span>Policy
\nRecommendations\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\nWhile the Obama administration is correct in acknowledging
\nits limited leverage with Syria, the U.S. should use its position as a global
\nleader to mobilize the international community much as it did in Libya. In
\nparticular, the United States, in concert with its allies, should:\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n•             <\/span>Have
\nPresident Obama make a live, televised statement calling on Bashar al-Assad to
\nstep down immediately. President Obama made three televised statements pushing
\nfor an immediate transition in Egypt and seven public remarks or speeches on
\nLibya. Such bold, public rhetoric affects the will of the protesters, who are
\nclosely following the response of the international community and that of the
\nU.S. in particular.  <\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n•             <\/span>Continue
\nto pressure Syria at the United Nations Human Rights Council. The
\nadministration should be commended for playing a key role in the adoption of an
\nUN HRC resolution condemning Syria. Now, the U.S. must follow up on the mission
\nthat investigates Syria’s human rights violations and ensure that it completes
\nits report. This report will enable the U.S. to work with other nations to
\nrefer Assad to the International Criminal Court. Currently, Russia and China
\noppose a strong UN Security Council resolution, but a damning report from the
\nUN HRC may help convince them otherwise.\n<\/p>\n

\n•             <\/span>Encourage
\nEU leaders to expand targeted sanctions on officials responsible for violence,
\nas well as a trade embargo. Such a move will send a strong message and
\nencourage others to defect. Although the U.S. has already imposed targeted
\nsanctions, their impact is negligible. In contrast, Europe is Syria’s main
\ntrading partner and provides Syria with substantial loans each year. EU
\nsanctions will cause significant damage to the already battered economy and
\nultimately persuade those on the fence to abandon the regime.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n•             <\/span>Harness
\nthe role of the Ambassador to identify credible civil society activists and
\nopposition leaders. After almost six years of a diplomatic boycott, the U.S.
\nAmbassador to Damascus arrived in January. The administration should take
\nadvantage of his presence in the country to meet with reformers, which will belie
\nAssad’s argument that there is no viable alternative to his leadership.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n•             <\/span>Work with
\nTurkey to arrange for a transfer of power. In recent years, Turkey and Syria
\nhave grown increasingly close. Since protests broke out, the Turkish government
\nhas sent officials to Damascus three times to encourage the Syrian regime to
\nreform with no result. While Turkey has a strong relationship with Assad, it is
\nalso deeply concerned with stability on its borders. Nearly 15 thousands
\nSyrians escaped to Turkey seeking refuge. With no visa requirements between the
\ntwo countries, a protracted government assault on civilians could lead to an
\ninflux of Syrian refugees into southeastern Turkey. The U.S. should outline the
\npotential negative repercussions for Turkey if Assad remains in power, which
\nmay compel the Turkish government to push for a transition, particularly if it
\nis able to play a lead role in brokering the accord.\n<\/p>\n

\n \n<\/p>\n

\n–              <\/span>The U.S
\nshould lead the negotiations at the security council to adopt a resolution
\ncondemn the gross and systematic violation of human rights by the Syrian
\nauthorities and urge them to put an immediate end to the violence. An
\nindependent international commission of inquiry must also be urgently set up in
\norder to investigate all alleged violations of international human rights law
\nand identify the alleged perpetrators. Those responsible should be brought to
\njustice. The UN Security Council should refer the situation in Syria to the ICC
\nand take other appropriate measures, such as individual sanctions to halt
\nmassive targeting of civilians by the authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nTestimony prepared for delivery to the Tom Lantos Human
\nRights Commission (TLHRC)<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nClick Here to Download and Read Full Tesimony – PDF File <\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nU.S. House of Representatives\n<\/p>\n

\nBy Radwan Ziadeh\n<\/p>\n

\nDamascus Center for Human Rights Studies in Syria\n<\/p>\n

\nThe Commission hearing on human rights in Syria\n<\/p>\n

\nTuesday July12, 2011, at 10:00 a.m. in room 340\n<\/p>\n

\nCannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302","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\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}