The Tharwa Foundation / Tharwa
Syria Division
Last updated: September 19,
2008
The brief period of tolerated
civil activism that marked the arrival of President Bashar al-Assad to power
back in mid-2000 proved all too short and deceptive, and now serves more as a
reminder of how deeply committed Mr. Assad is to consolidating his family’s
usurpation of governance in Syria than in introducing anything resembling
reform, by any objective standard or definition. Increasing reliance on family
members and their lackeys to (mis)manage the affairs of the state, and the
growing list of detained and exiled activists, dissidents and intellectuals are
a clear testament in this regard.
In February of 2008, Syria
ratified the Arab Charter on Human Rights, but the government continues to
declare a state of emergency which it uses to exempt itself from many of the
charter’s requirements, such as the freedom of assembly and free speech, and
the prohibition against capital punishment for political crimes.
Indeed, to many observers, the
prevailing human rights conditions in Syria at this stage seem quite reminiscent
of how things used to be in the darkest days of the 1980’s when Hafiz al-Assad,
the father of the current president, was in charge: arbitrary arrests take
place every day and for no apparent reason or cause, the country’s prison
system is overflowing with political dissidents of all stripes and ages,
torture is still widely practiced, with detainees often denied access to
medical treatment, and travel bans are regularly imposed on the country’s
activists and dissidents. In other words, impunity rules the day.
In July, 2008, specifically
during the period of July 4-14, the poor conditions in Syria’s penitentiaries
led to a deadly riot in the Saydnaya prison, which houses hundreds of political
prisoners and prisoners of conscience, from all different ideological and
national backgrounds, including Jordanian, Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners,
many of whom were imprisoned under spurious charges. After some of the
prisoners allegedly protested their inhumane living conditions, guards and
police opened fire on the inmates. Many tried to escape the shooting by
crawling on the roof, where they reportedly took some hostages, including the
prison director to be used as bargaining chips. Some used confiscated mobile
phones to contact their family members and regional and international media,
including the BBC, CNN and Al-Jazeerah, to bring attention to their situation.
Still, and as the media paid scant attention to the matter, Syrian authorities
soon stormed the roof and put an end to the situation. Estimates from human
rights organizations put the death toll between 25 and 100 inmates. Syrian
authorities also cracked down on the parents of inmates who tried to protest
the government handling of the situation.
Much ambiguity continues to
surround this incident. Ironically, and despite strong protests by human rights
group in Syria and the world, the Syrian President was still invited to take
part in the Bastille Day celebrations and the inauguration ceremonies of the
Mediterranean Union in Paris, where he met with French President, Nicolas
Sarkozy, and other European and regional leaders, effectively ending his
regime’s years-long isolation.
Unsurprisingly, no accurate
reports exist as to how many prisoners are currently hosted in Syrian jails,
but most credible reports estimate those numbers to be in the thousands.
Prisoners include Arabs, Assyrians and Kurds, Islamists and secularists,
leftists and liberals, and even scores of non-Syrian prisoners, including
Lebanese, Jordanians and Palestinians. The presence of non-Syrian political
prisoners in Syrian jails, comes as a reflection of the Syrian regime’s
long-standing habit of interfering in the affairs of its neighbors, creating
ideological enemies and then punishing them by intimidation, kidnapping and
unlawful imprisonment, just as it treats its Syrian critics.
More noticeably in recent times,
youth and student activists were also specifically targeted by the regime.
Indeed, young activists tend to be treated much more harshly than others at
this stage, their relative obscurity serving to facilitate the matter.
Considering the increasingly
young demographics in the country, the dismal state of the educational system,
and the high rate of unemployment among the youth, the regime must be trying to
send a strong and intimidating message to the country’s younger generations in
order to preempt the development of any activist movements in their ranks.
Hence the unjustifiably harsh sentences of 5-7 years in prison doled out to the
eight leading members of the unofficial movement “Syrian Youth for Justice.”
The “crime” that this group of 20-somethings committed was to publish a number
of commentaries critical of the regime on an internet youth forum known as
Akhawiya (now closed). Other active members in the organization have been
detained then released, only to be dragged to various interrogations centers on
almost weekly basis, while others have simply fled the country.
The Syrian authorities have also
been quite wary of any attempt by its dissidents to reach out to the
international community, or even neighboring countries, such as Lebanon. For
this reason, Syrian authorities moved against Dr. Kamal Labwani, sentencing him
to 12 years in prison in 2007, following his return from a world tour during
which he met with high level European and American officials, including
National Security Advisor, Mr. Stephen J. Hadley. In April 2008, an appeals
court in Syria upheld the previous ruling, which is the longest jail sentence
against an activist since Bashar took office.
Shortly after Labwani’s
sentencing, the Syrian authorities moved against signatories of the
Damascus-Beirut Declaration, a public statement calling for the establishment
of full diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon, among other measures
meant to normalize ties between the two countries. Jailed dissidents included
such famous writers as Michel Kilo and Fayiq al-Mir, and human rights lawyer,
Dr. Anwar al-Bounni, among many others who joined their colleague, the
economist, Dr. Aref Dalilah, a long time critic of Assad economics, based on
corruption, mismanagement, monopoly and nepotism.
More recently, beginning in
December 2007, the Syrian authorities moved swiftly against the top leaders of
the country’s largest opposition coalition, the Damascus Declaration Council,
putting all 12 members of its recently elected General Secretariat in prison,
including coalition leaders, former MP Mr. Riad Seif, one of the better-known
icons of the Syrian opposition, and Dr. Fida al-Horani, one of the most active
and respected women in the oppositional scene in Syria. The ability of this
group to defy the authorities and organize internal elections under their nose
and in the face of their constant monitoring and harassment took the
authorities by surprise and made it clear that the Council is getting more
sophisticated in terms of its organizational structure and its
intercommunication tactics. This was a dangerous development as far as the
Assad regime is concerned, and merited an all-out crackdown that began in early
December 2007, with the arrest of more than 40 of its signatories, 33 of whom
were released after a few days. But, the suppression of those who support the
declaration continues unabated to this day, and of the 12 detained
members of the group’s General Secretariat, eight have reported being beaten
while in jail. Furthermore, the authorities are pressing hard against the
group’s known members, investigating them, and harassing their families on a
daily basis. In 2008 the harassment has been followed by arrests of several
members, including Fayez Sarah, Mohammad Haji Darwish, and Talal Abu Dan, among
many more. Every week seems to bring with it news of new arrests.
This new wave of suppression and
arbitrary arrests is serving to complete the roundup of the country’s top
dissidents who took part in the Damascus Spring Movement that briefly
flourished in 2000-2001. The remaining members of the movement now live in
constant fear for their freedom and their lives, not to mention the lives and
freedoms of their loved ones.
In addition to a zero-tolerance
policy toward democratic activists, the regime has extended its crackdown to
include those who peacefully advocate for minority rights. In July 2008, the
military security services in Damascus arrested Mohammed Mussa, secretary
general of the Kurdish Left Party, under the previously mentioned emergency
law. In August, Talal Mohammad of the banned Wifaq party, an offshoot of the
Kurdish Workers Party was arrested and has not been heard from since.
Authorities had also earlier arrested Mashaal Tammo who was charged on Aug. 27,
2008 with arming Syrians to start a civil war, an accusation that carries the
death penalty and is rarely directed against well-known political activists.
The fabricated charge and Tammo’s arrest was condemned by the U.S. State
Department. Each of these three activists represents groups that advocate for
democracy and equal rights for Syria’s large Kurdish population.
Despite these recent high-profile
arrests, the plight of the 350,000 denaturalized Syrian-born Kurds continues
unaddressed despite repeated promises by Mr. Assad to resolve this
unjustifiable situation. Furthermore, Kurdish detainees tend to receive particularly
harsh treatment in prison. Indeed, there were a number reported deaths under
torture over the years, with the most recent such case taking place on February
18, 2008, when the well-known Kurdish activist Othman Suleiman, died in
hospital a few days after his release from an interrogation center in Aleppo.
He was never charged with a crime.
There is also the episode on
March 21st, 2008, when Syrian security officers opened fire on unarmed Kurdish
youths gathered in the center of the northern city of Qamishly to celebrate
Nowruz, a national Kurdish holiday commemorating the advent of Spring. Three
Kurdish civilians were killed and eight were wounded as a result. The event was
never mentioned by the Syrian media and the Syrian authorities offered no explanation.
Suppression and detention is not
reserved for those who actively challenge the government, but is liberally
applied to those who simply express a critical view of the regime as well, even
journalists who should be protected under the guarantee of freedom of speech.
However, this is far from the case. As the case of Mazen Darwish, President of
the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, shows, the government is
now even taking steps to preemptively arrest reporters before they have published
their work. Journalist Darwish was sentenced to ten days in prison simply for
being on hand to cover riots in Adra, a suburb of Damascus. He will not be able
to renew his passport or identification papers for three to seven years.
The Syrian government vigilantly
monitors foreign reporters as well, and in July 2008 denied entry to a group of
journalists from Reporters Without Borders, an international organization that
exposes abuses of free speech and cases of imprisoned journalists around the
world. The government later commented that the group would never be given visas
to enter Syria. This is evidence that the regime realizes how far out of step
Syria is with international human rights standards and fears the repercussions
that exposure of such abuses could have as Syria has recently reappeared on the
global scene.
The White House, the State
Department and the European Parliament, along with all major international
human rights organizations, have been monitoring the situation over the past
year and have issued numerous statements and reports describing and criticizing
this dismal state of affairs. But so far, all statements and reports have
fallen on deaf ears.
Some human rights and opposition
groups argue that French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s newfound friendship with
Bashar al-Assad, which has ushered in the end of Syria’s isolation from the
West, could undermine the pressure the international community has been putting
on the regime to make fundamental changes. However, the August release of political
prisoner Dr. Aref Dalilah, who was in failing health after having served seven
of his ten year sentence, shows that international pressure is working. Many
rights groups hope that this release could be a preview of more to come, but so
far the Dalilah case seems to be nothing more than a PR move by the regime
which has recently felt the heat of the international spotlight.
Indeed, unless the Assad regime
knows that improving its relations with the rest of the world will be made
contingent on specific measures to improve its human rights record — including
releasing all political prisoners, lifting travel bans,
allowing for all exiles to return home, and establishing a proper legal
framework to prevent the recurrence of such abuses, which necessitates the
lifting of the country’s long-standing state of emergency, in effect since the
Baath coup of 1063, — it is highly unlikely that the regime will refrain
from such practices of its own volition and initiative.
Engaging the Assad regime should
have a clearly defined prerequisite: a drastic improvement of the country’s
dismal human rights record.
In order for the ruling regime in
Syria to get this message, an international consensus is required. Meanwhile,
policymakers in the United States, Europe and elsewhere in the free and
democratic world, should behave with a greater degree of responsibility towards
the Syrian people, and should refrain from sending mixed messages that help
shore up the regime’s sagging morale, while undercutting the efforts of the democracy
activists, driving the Syrian people deeper and deeper into despair.
Regardless of the regime’s
current dismissive attitude towards international condemnations of its
behavior, every statement made by a government or an internationally recognized
organization will go a long way in helping achieve the required international
consensus, and the regime will be hard-pressed to comply, especially if such
moves continued to coincide with growing internal civic agitation for reform
and democratization.
Cases that require immediate
intervention:
- Prior to his recent arrest, Mr. Riad Seif was
diagnosed with prostate cancer. Still, the Syrian authorities insisted on
including him in their swelling travel ban lists, despite the
unavailability of suitable treatments inside the country. The current
arrest, therefore, comes, in effect, as a death sentence for Mr. Seif,
especially when we take under consideration the inhuman conditions of his
imprisonment: Mr. Seif is made to sleep on the bare concrete floor in a
dark and cold hallway, and has been denied access to medical supervision.
To boot, he was reportedly beaten and his head was recently shaven by way
of humiliation.
- Shortly after her arrest, Dr. Fida al-Horani was
reportedly slapped and beaten, sustaining injuries to her left eye. She
has more recently been reported to have developed a case of high blood
pressure and irregular heart palpitations.
Current High Profile
Prisoners:
- The twelve members of the General Secretariat of the Damascus Declaration Council’s: Riad Seif, Dr. Fidaa Al-Horani, Ahmad Tomei, Akram al-Bounni, Ali Al-Abdallah, Yasser al-Eiti, Jabr Al-Shoofi, Walid al-Bounni, Muhammad Hajji Darweesh, Marwan al-Ish, Fayiz Sarah.
- The members of the Damascus-Beirut Declaration members: Michel Kilo, Dr. Kamal Labwani, Lawyer Anwar al-Bounni, Fayik al-Mir, Riyad Darrar and Nizar Rastanawi, among others.
- The Kurdish activists: Fatimah Tayfur, Maarouf Ahmad Malla Ahmad, Nazmi Muhammad Abdel Hannan, Yesha Kader Khaled, Dalkoush Memmo Shimmo, Ahmad Darweesh Khalil, Tahseen Mahmoud Khairi, Mohammad Mussa, Talal Mohammad, and Mashaal Tammo, among many others.
- The members of the Syrian Youths for Justice: Husam ‘Ali Mulhim (22, a student in the Faculty of Law at Damascus University, sentenced to 5 years), Tareq al-Ghorani (21, an associate engineer, sentenced to 7 years), Maher Isber Ibrahim (26, shop-owner, sentenced to 7 years), Ayham Saqr (30, works in a beauty salon, sentenced to 5 years), Allam Fakhour (29, a student in the sculpture section of the Art Faculty of Damascus University, sentenced to 5 years), Omar ‘Ali al-‘Abdullah (21, a second-year philosophy student at Damascus University and son of prominent dissident and former political prisoner, Ali Abdallah, sentenced to 5 years), Diab Siriyeh (21, a part-time student, sentenced to 5 years).
- Karim Arbaji (29), manager of the web-forum Akhawiyah.com on which the eight prisoners above made their comments. Mr. Arbaji’s exact whereabouts are still unknown after months in detention.
- The young blogger Tarek Bayasi whose exact
whereabouts remain unknown as well.
Note: Syrian
authorities are also reported to detain large numbers of Lebanese, Palestinian
and Jordanian prisoners, as well as prisoners from various other Arab and
neighboring countries. Albeit the Syria authorities continue to deny this, the
recent release of a number of Jordanian and Lebanese prisoners as well as
reports from other released prisoners, confessions by security guards, and the
unofficial visits that some families were allowed with their loved ones (bribes
facilitating the way) serve to confirm these accounts.
Crackdown methods and tactics:
- Repeated interrogation of activists, their friends,
families and neighbors
- Travel bans
- Kidnapping
- Imprisonment
- Torture
- Vandalism and illegal confiscation of property
- Violent suppression of nonviolent demonstrations,
especially in Kurdish areas
- Increased censorship of the press
- Restricting internet access, including closing of
internet cafes and blocking key sites such as opposition portals as well
as useful networking sites such as Facebook and Youtube, and more recently
Amazon.com, Haaretz (a well-known liberal Israeli newspaper) and the
Arabic-language version of Wikipedia
- Spying on internet users and web traffic with a filter called Thundercache.