<\/p>\n
\nURGENT ACTION\n<\/p>\n
\nACTIVIST CONTINUES TO BE HELD INCOMMUNICADO<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \nSyrian political activist George Sabra has been detained \nThe Syrian authorities have not disclosed any information \nHe is, effectively, a victim of enforced disappearance by \nNo charges are known to have been brought against George \n <\/span>Please write \n <\/span>Express \n <\/span>Urge the \n <\/span>Call for \n <\/span>Urge the \nPLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 18 OCTOBER 2011 TO:\n<\/p>\n \n <\/span>President\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 \n <\/span>\n<\/p>\n \nURGENT ACTION\n<\/p>\n \nACTIVIST CONTINUES TO BE HELD INCOMMUNICADO\n<\/p>\n \nADDITIONAL INFORMATION\n<\/p>\n \nPro-reform demonstrations began in Syria in February 2011 \nThousands of other people have been arrested, with many held \nName: George Sabra\n<\/p>\n \nGender m\/f: m\n<\/p>\n \nFurther information UA: 224\/11 Index: MDE 24\/049\/2011 Issue \n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nURGENT ACTION\n<\/p>\n \nSyrian political activist George Sabra has been detained
\nincommunicado at an undisclosed location since security forces arrested him on
\n20 July in Qatana, Syria. He appears to be a victim of enforced disappearance
\nand is at serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\nabout George Sabra since he was arrested more than six weeks ago. His son Chadi
\nSabra, who lives in France, was told by a detainee recently released from the
\nDamascus State Security branch that he saw George Sabra being forced into a car
\nby security officials there on 11 August; another source has reported that
\nGeorge Sabra was recently seen at the Air Force Intelligence branch in Damascus
\nand may currently still be detained there, but neither of these reported
\nsightings of George Sabra can be confirmed and it is not known where he is
\ncurrently detained..\n<\/p>\n
\nthe Syrian authorities, placing him at grave risk, including a high risk of
\ntorture and other ill-treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\nSabra by the Syrian authorities but it appears that he has been detained in
\nconnection with the mass public protests that have been taking place in Syria
\nsince mid-March. According to his son in France, George Sabra publicly
\nexpressed support for peaceful protests in Qatana prior to his arrest. Amnesty
\nInternational believes that he may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely
\nfor legitimately exercising his rights to freedom of expression and
\nassociation, and he should be released immediately and unconditionally.\n<\/p>\n
\nimmediately in Arabic, English, French or your own language:\n<\/p>\n
\nconcern that George Sabra appears to be a victim of enforced disappearance and
\nthat he has been held incommunicado at an unknown location since 20 July 2011;\n<\/p>\n
\nSyrian authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts and legal status,
\nallow him access to his family and a lawyer of his choice, and ensure he is
\nfully protected against torture or other ill-treatment, and provided with any
\nmedical attention he may require.\n<\/p>\n
\nGeorge Sabra to be released immediately and unconditionally if he is a prisoner
\nof conscience detained solely for the legitimate exercise of freedom of
\nexpression or other human rights;\n<\/p>\n
\nSyrian authorities to take immediate steps to publicly disclose the names,
\nwhereabouts and legal status of all detainees arrested in connection with
\nongoing protests, to give them immediate access to lawyers of their choosing
\nand their families and any medical treatment they may require, and to safeguard
\nthem from torture and other ill-treatment.\n<\/p>\n
\nyour country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:\n<\/p>\n
\nEmail address Salutation Salutation\n<\/p>\n
\nafter the above date. This is the first update of UA 224\/11. Further
\ninformation: www.amnesty.org\/en\/library\/info\/MDE24\/0362011\/en\n<\/p>\n
\nand evolved into mass protests in mid-March. Since then, the protests, which
\nare generally calling for greater rights and freedom and an end to the regime
\nof President Bashar al-Assad, have spread nationwide on an unprecedented scale
\nand with a momentum that shows no sign of abating despite severe government
\nrepression which has seen many hundreds of people killed. The protests have
\nbeen largely peaceful, yet the Syrian authorities have responded in the most
\nbrutal manner in their efforts to suppress them. The security forces have
\nrepeatedly used grossly excessive force, using snipers to shoot into crowds of
\npeaceful protesters and deploying army tanks to shell residential areas while
\nseeking to justify such force on the pretext that the government is under
\nattack by armed gangs. Amnesty International has obtained the names of more
\nthan 2010 people reported to have died or been killed during or in connection
\nwith the protests since mid-March; many are believed to have been shot by
\nsecurity forces using live ammunition while participating in peaceful protests
\nor attending funerals of people killed in earlier protests.\n<\/p>\n
\nincommunicado at unknown locations at which torture and other ill-treatment are
\nreported to be rife. At least 88 men died in detention in highly suspicious
\ncircumstances during the period from 1 April and 15 August 2011. In at least 52
\nof these cases, there is evidence that torture caused or contributed to the
\ndeaths, a concern exacerbated by reports of widespread torture in detention
\ncentres in recent months. Some of the dead, who include children, were also
\nmutilated either before or after death in particularly grotesque ways
\napparently intended to strike terror into the families to whom their corpses
\nwere returned. The victims in all cases appear to have been detained in the
\ncontext of the protests, though the circumstances of their arrest are often
\nhazy, and to have died while held in the custody of the security forces in
\nprisons or other places of detention, both recognized and unrecognized, or
\nafter being removed to hospitals while they remained in custody. Some clearly
\nsuffered gunshot wounds suggesting that they may have been victims of
\nextrajudicial executions. Many of the deaths became known only when the
\nvictims’ bodies were handed to their families by the authorities or families
\nwere contacted and told to collect their relatives’ bodies from the morgue. Syria
\nhas a history of high levels of deaths in custody, including many cases where
\ntorture or other ill-treatment is alleged to have caused or contributed to the
\ndeaths. See the report Deadly Detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest
\nin Syria (Index: MDE 24\/0352011).\n<\/p>\n
\nDate: 6 September 2011\n<\/p>\n
\nincommunicado at an undisclosed location since security forces arrested him on
\n20 July in Qatana, Syria. He appears to be a victim of enforced disappearance
\nand 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-349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349","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=349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}