{"id":344,"date":"2011-09-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-01T00:00:00","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=344","title":{"rendered":"Relatives of activists targeted in retaliation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nSYRIA: Relatives of activists targeted in retaliation<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nClick here to Access the Report<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nCopenhagen, Geneva, Paris. September 1, 2011- The
\nEuro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), the Observatory for the
\nProtection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International
\nFederation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture
\n(OMCT), and the Euromediterranean Federation against enforced disappearances
\n(FEMED) strongly condemn the Syrian authorities for intensifying arbitrary
\narrests and systematic acts of harassment against human rights defenders as
\nwell as pro-democracy activists and members of their families.\n<\/p>\n

\nOn August 30 2011, the Air Force Intelligence, one of the
\nmany security bodies active in Syria, arrested Mr. Yassine Ziadeh in the Damascus
\narea of Daraya. His whereabouts remained unknown at the time of publication.
\nOur organizations fear that he may be subjected to acts of ill treatment or
\ntorture in the current intensification of the repression against the social
\nprotest movement and their alleged supporters.\n<\/p>\n

\nMr. Yassine Ziadeh is the brother of Mr. Radwan Ziadeh,
\nPresident of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies (DCHRS), a member
\norganisation of EMHRN and FIDH. He is a businessman and has reportedly not been
\ninvolved in the movement of protest nor in human rights activities.\n<\/p>\n

\n“This arrest is a new illustration of the systematic
\ncampaign of repression led by the Syrian authorities against all dissenting
\nvoices and human rights defenders”, stated Kamel Jendoubi, EMHRN President.
\n“The Syrian authorities should immediately stop the targeting of relatives of
\nhuman rights defenders. Clearly this is done to intimidate them or to force
\nthem to surrender.”\n<\/p>\n

\n“Again the authorities demonstrate the little consideration
\nthey have for the respect of basic human rights standards. This calls for a
\nstrong condemnation by the international community”, said Souhayr Belhassen,
\nFIDH President.\n<\/p>\n

\nSince the beginning of the unrest in Syria, Mr. Radwan
\nZiadeh – who is exiled in the US – has played an active role in denouncing the
\ncontinuous degradation of the human rights situation in the country. Due to his
\nactivities, Mr. Radwan Ziadeh has been repeatedly submitted to threats as well
\nas smearing campaigns in Syria[1]. Members of his family who still live in
\nSyria have been banned from traveling abroad since February 2007.\n<\/p>\n

\n“The fight of Radwan Ziadeh to shed light on international
\ncrimes committed in Syria and for the truth to be made in cases of enforced
\ndisappearances should be encouraged not hindered!”, said Nassera Dutour, FEMED
\nPresident.\n<\/p>\n

\nSince the beginning of the uprising in the country, the
\nSyrian security apparatus has, on numerous occasions, targeted human rights and
\npro-democracy activists through members of their families. On August 20, 2011,
\nthe security apparatus arrested Mr. Mohammed Khair Ghalioun, the brother of
\npro-democracy activist Bourhan Ghalioun, based in France. A few weeks before
\nthat, Mr. Wael Hamada, the husband of prominent human rights lawyer Razan
\nZeituna and Wael´s brother Abdulrahman Hamada were also arrested in a bid to
\nforce her to surrender. Family members of activist Dana Ibrahim Aljawabra and
\nhuman rights and pro-democracy activist Ali Al Abdallah were also subjected to
\nsimilar arrests in July 2011. These cases are not isolated and appear to lie in
\nthe framework of a systematic and deliberate strategy.\n<\/p>\n

\n“Targeting family member brings us back to the Middle Ages”,
\nsaid Gerald Staberock, OMCT Secretary General. “The fact that these events come
\nonly days after the UN Human Rights Council had condemned Syria for its human
\nrights violations following the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human
\nRights shows the defiance to the human rights system. We need urgently an end
\nto such violations. And we need international accountability for those
\nresponsible for such atrocious acts”, he added.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe EMHRN, the Observatory and the FEMED urge the Syrian
\nauthorities to put an end to all acts of harassment against human rights
\ndefenders and pro-democracy activists to immediately and unconditionally
\nrelease all persons arbitrarily detained and to conform in all circumstances
\nwith the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (1998) as well as
\ninternational human rights instruments, which bind the Syrian authorities.\n<\/p>\n

\nFor more information, please contact\n<\/p>\n

\n• EMHRN : Mathieu Routier : +33 6 87 02 02 70\n<\/p>\n

\n• FIDH : Arthur Manet : +33 1 43 55 25 18\n<\/p>\n

\n• OMCT : Delphine Reculeau : +41 22 809 49 39\n<\/p>\n

\n• FEMED : Nassera Dutour, President : +33 6 13 07 29 13<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\nJoint Press Release<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n

\nClick here to Access the Report<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

\nOn August 30 2011, the Air Force Intelligence, one of the
\nmany security bodies active in Syria, arrested Mr. Yassine Ziadeh in the Damascus
\narea of Daraya. His whereabouts remained unknown at the time of publication.
\nOur organizations fear that he may be subjected to acts of ill treatment or
\ntorture in the current intensification of the repression against the social
\nprotest movement and their alleged supporters. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","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\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}