Activists welcome prisoner releases

The recent release of 190 political prisoners in Syriawas lauded by local human rights activists and lawyers, although they say the government must put an end to the country’s 42-year-old emergency law and its wide use of security courts. “We welcome all prisoner releases,” said Anwar al Bunni, a human rights lawyer and Chairman of the Syrian Centre for Judicial Research. “But the fact that they didn’t release all prisoners suggests the regime is only interested in improving its image.” He added: “The government is playing for time rather than coming to a clear decision to release all political prisoners and cancel the use of exceptional courts.” The prisoners were pardoned by Syrian President Bashar Assad on 2 November in a move which state news agency SANA reported was meant to “fortify national unity.” Significantly, the release comes in the wake of intense international pressure following a recent UN resolution demanding full Syrian cooperation in an ongoing investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Since coming to power in 2000, President Assad has released hundreds of political prisoners, but it remains unclear how many continue to be held in Syrian jails. Estimates vary from between 1,500 to 2,500, mostly Kurdish and Islamist detainees, held mainly in the infamous Seidnaya prison, 50 km north of Damascus. Prisoners are also reportedly held at a number of local security prisons administrated by the 15 different branches of Syria’s intelligence services. According to human rights lawyers, 101 of the recent releases were members of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, which was outlawed in 1980 after the organisation led an armed uprising against the state. Six members of the radical Hizb ul-Tahrir, the Islamic Liberation Party, were also released. According to a statement from the group issued on 5 October, members of the party were tortured while in prison. Syrian authorities, meanwhile, have not responded to these claims. Also released were some 50 Kurds, arrested after clashes with Arab groups in the northern city of Qamishli in March 2004; 20 members of Palestinian organisations; 20 members of the Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party; and six people accused of espionage. Muhammad Ra’dun, head of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in Syria, was also released, having been held since May for openly criticising human rights abuses by the regime. Ali al-Abdullah, a dissident writer also jailed in May after publicly reading a statement from an exiled leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, was pardoned. Veteran human rights activist Haithem Maleh welcomed the releases, but pointed out that six remaining detainees from the so-called “Damascus Spring” group were still imprisoned. The group emerged in 2000 following a brief thaw in political life in the wake of President Assad’s assumption of power, but was soon subject to a crackdown by the authorities. “This step is not enough. There is no reason for the remaining prisoners to be in jail,” said Maleh. When questioned on whether any of the released detainees had complained of torture while in prison Maleh, said: “Anyone who is arrested is automatically tortured. Torture is normal.” In a 4 November statement from Amnesty International, the organisation stated that it “greatly welcomes” the release, but continues its call for the “immediate and unconditional release” of remaining “prisoners of conscience.” The statement urged Syrian authorities to “promptly implement meaningful reform of the justice sector and significantly curtail the powers of the security forces.” In a September 2004 report, Amnesty International cited “38 types of torture and ill-treatment” that had been documented in Syrian prisons. Human rights lawyers also re-issued a longstanding call for the government to open a file on the hundreds of suspected opponents of the state, both Syrian and foreign, who have “disappeared” over the years after being detained by Syrian security forces. Syrian emergency laws allow for the use of security courts, where cases that “threaten the national interest” are tried quickly and without recourse to appeal. According to the UN Human Rights Committee, such courts are “incompatible with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Syria is a state party.” The official Syrian news agency promised “further steps to be taken in this regard.”