Rights groups denounce convictions of Islamist activist

Local human rights organisations condemned verdicts issued Sunday by a security court against Abdul-Sattar Qattan, a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, and Kurdish activist Riad Drar. NGOs including the National Organisation for Human Rights, the Human Rights Association in Syria, the Committee for Defending Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria and the Syrian Organisation for Human Rights demanded Qattan’s and Drar’s immediate release, along with the release of all political prisoners in the country. On Sunday, Qattan was condemned to death under Law 49, which stipulates the death penalty for members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. His sentence, however, was later commuted to 12 years in prison. A former prisoner who spent 16 years in jail for his affiliation with the group before being released in 1996, Qattan was re-arrested a year ago for alleged participation in the banned group’s activities. On the same day, the same court sentenced Drar, a member of the Committee for Reviving Civil Society, to eight years in prison on charges of spreading false information, inciting sectarian strife and forming a secret organisation. Drar’s sentence was also commuted, however, to five years’ imprisonment. Drar was arrested last June, shortly after the funeral of prominent Kurdish cleric Mohammad Mashouk al-Khaznawi, an Islamic scholar abducted and murdered last year. Drar delivered a eulogy at al-Khaznawi’s funeral in which he demanded that Syrian Kurds be granted the same rights as other citizens, particularly in regard to issues of citizenship. There are currently about 1.5 million Kurds in Syria, a nation of 18.5 million. This includes some 200,000 residents who are ineligible for Syrian citizenship, which makes it difficult for them to find work in the state-controlled economy. On Monday, Ammar Qurabi, a leading member of the National Organisation for Human Rights, called the sentences "unjustified", urging Damascus to try the defendants in civil law courts. Decisions by the State Security Court – created under Syria's 1963 emergency laws, and where cases are often heard by military judges – cannot be appealed. Anwar al-Bunni, a lawyer and member of the Human Rights Association in Syria, said that the sentences served to demonstrate that "the government has no intention at all of carrying out real reforms in the country”. In addition, Amnesty International called on the Syrian government to immediately "release all those arrested for peacefully expressing their opinions." "This new crackdown on suspected government opponents is deeply troubling," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme. "We are particularly concerned that many of these people are being held in incommunicado detention, where they are at risk of torture." State officials, who routinely decline to discuss security issues, were not available for comment. Since taking office in July 2000, President Bashar al-Assad has released hundreds of political prisoners. Rights groups complain, however, that he has simultaneously clamped down on pro-democracy activists.