{"id":363,"date":"2011-09-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-09-26T00:00:00","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=363","title":{"rendered":"Syrian Men Detained Incommunicado"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nURGENT ACTION<\/strong>
\nFour men from the Damascus suburb of Daraya are being held incommunicado after their arrest by Syrian security forces on 23 September. Amnesty International fears for their safety, particularly because one was threatened with death during their arrest. <\/strong>
\nHaytham Al Hamwi, a Syrian pro-reform activist in exile, told Amnesty International that, according to information he had received, more than 20 members of the security forces believed to belong to Air Force Intelligence arrived at his family’s home on 23 September looking for his 22-year-old younger brother, Muhammad Muhammad Al Hamwi<\/strong>. His brother was with neighbours at the time, but the security forces arrested his 65-year-old father, Muhammad Yassin Al Hamwi<\/strong>. They also confiscated digital equipment from the flat and destroyed property. His mother was reported to have been threatened by the man in charge, who said, “I will crush the throat of your son with my foot. I will return him to you like Ghayath Mattar.” Ghayath Mattar is an activist who died in custody four days after his arrest on 6 September.
\nThe security forces then found Muhammad Muhammad Al Hamwi and arrested him along with two other men he had been visiting: 34-year-old Ahmad Kuraitem<\/strong> and 22-year-old Shaker al-Masri<\/strong>. Ahmad Kuraitem was said to have been beaten so badly that he lost consciousness before he was arrested. Amnesty International is gravely concerned about the safety of the four men, especially as Muhammad Yassin Al Hamwi suffers from high blood pressure and requires regular medication.
\nMuhammad Yassin Al Hamwi was previously detained for almost a month in May before being released on bail for participating in a pro-reform demonstration. Muhammad Muhammad Al Hamwi sometimes filmed protests and uploaded these to the internet. His arrest could be related to this. The other two men are each believed to have attended one or two demonstrations. Amnesty International believes that all four men may be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly.
\nPlease write immediately in Arabic, English, French or your own language:<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n