<\/p>\n
\nSyrian activist Ghayath Mattar was the latest in a string of \n13 September 2011\n<\/p>\n \nFears grow for Syrian activists as deaths in custody \nThe four, who include the brothers Yahya and Ma’an Shurbaji, \nAn Amnesty International report last month listed 88 deaths \n“It is clear that these human rights activists from Daraya \n“The spiralling total of detainee deaths together with the \nThe official account given to Ghayath Mattar’s family by \nGhayath Mattar and Yahya Shurbaji were arrested by \nTwo other activists from Daraya, Mazen Zyadeh and Mohamed \n“Yahya Shurbaji is at particular risk, given his active role \nFears also continue to grow for six other activists from \nAccording to a family friend, security forces surrounded the \nSyrian authorities have not publicly said if any charges \n“If these men are being held solely on the basis of their \nSyrian activist Ghayath Mattar was the latest in a string of \n13 September 2011\n<\/p>\n \nFears grow for Syrian activists as deaths in custody
\ndeaths in custody<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n
\nincrease <\/span>Amnesty International has urged
\nthe Syrian authorities to reveal the whereabouts of four activists arrested
\nlast week near Damascus after the dead body of their friend was returned to his
\nfamily over the weekend.\n<\/p>\n
\nhave not been seen since they were detained in Daraya, a Damascus suburb, on 6
\nSeptember at the same time as Ghayath Mattar, the dead activist. There are
\ngrowing fears for their safety.\n<\/p>\n
\nin custody since April, but seven others, including Ghayath Mattar, have died
\nbehind bars in recent weeks, bringing the total to 95.\n<\/p>\n
\nare in grave danger given the very suspicious circumstances surrounding the
\ndeath of their friend and fellow activist Ghayath Mattar,” said Philip Luther,
\nDeputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Amnesty
\nInternational.\n<\/p>\n
\nSyrian authorities’ failure to conduct any independent investigations points to
\na pattern of systematic, government-sanctioned abuse in which every detainee
\nmust be considered at serious risk,” said Philip Luther.\n<\/p>\n
\nsecurity officials is that he was “shot by armed gangs” although he is known to
\nhave been in detention since 6 September and video and other evidence suggests
\nthat he was tortured prior to his death. The 26-year-old had helped to lead
\npeaceful protests in Daraya in which demonstrators responded to the security
\nforces’ violence by carrying flowers.\n<\/p>\n
\nplain-clothes officers on 6 September after Yahya Shurbaji’s brother Ma’an
\ncalled to say he had been injured when security forces raided his home. Sources
\nhave told Amnesty International that Ma’an Shurbaji was already in custody at
\nthe time, and was forced to make the call to lure his brother in for arrest.\n<\/p>\n
\nTayseer Khoulani, were reportedly arrested at the same time as Ma’an Shurbaji.
\nAir Force Intelligence confirmed Ghayath Mattar’s arrest on 6 September in a
\ntelephone call to his family days before his body was handed over to them.\n<\/p>\n
\nin organizing peaceful protests since March. Syrian authorities must
\nimmediately reveal the detainees’ whereabouts and give them access to lawyers,
\ntheir families and any needed medical assistance,” said Philip Luther.\n<\/p>\n
\nDaraya whose families have had no access to them since they were arrested in
\nJuly and August. Like those detained on 6 September, they are believed to be
\nheld by Air Force Intelligence, one of several Syrian security agencies and the
\nmain one currently operating in Daraya. <\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\ncemetery when Ghayath Mattar was buried to try and prevent the family from
\nholding a public funeral, then used live fire against mourners, killing a
\n17-year-old boy and injuring four others.\n<\/p>\n
\nhave been brought against the activists still in detention, but Amnesty
\nInternational believes that they were detained for their involvement in
\npro-reform protests.\n<\/p>\n
\npeaceful human rights activism, we would consider them to be prisoners of
\nconscience and they must be released without delay,” said Philip Luther.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\ndeaths in custody<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n
\nincrease <\/span>Amnesty International has urged
\nthe Syrian authorities to reveal the whereabouts of four activists arrested
\nlast week near Damascus after the dead body of their friend was returned to his
\nfamily over the weekend.<\/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-353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353","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=353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dchrs.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}