Obstacles to Dr. Ammar Qurabi's freedom of movement

November 28, 2007

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), requests your urgent intervention on the following situation in Syria.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about obstacles to the freedom of movement of Dr. Ammar Qurabi, Chairman of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria (NOHR-S).

According to the information received, on November 19, 2007, Syrian authorities prevented Dr. Ammar Qurabi from travelling while he was on his way to Jordan to participate in a seminar entitled “The role of civil society organizations in political reform in the Arab world”, organized by the Amman Centre for Human Rights Studies and the Aspen Institute of Berlin, on the basis of two notes from two different security apparatuses dated March 7, 2006 and April 5, 2006, without providing any explanation for this decision.

Furthermore, the Observatory recalls that on November 1, 2007, Syrian security authorities arrested Mr. Jihad Msoti, a member of the Al-Atassi Forum[1], at Damascus International Airport, as he was heading to Cairo (Egypt) to attend a workshop organised from November 2 to 4, 2007 by FIDH, in collaboration with the Cairo Center for Human Rights Studies and with the participation of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, before releasing him two days later.

Moreover, in the evening of November 1, 2007, the Syrian government also prevented several other Syrian human rights defenders from leaving the Damascus International Airport and therefore from participating in the above-mentioned workshop. These are: Mr. Radeef Mustafa, Chairman of the Kurdish Human Rights Committee, Mr. Mustafa Ouso, Head of the Kurdish organization for the Defence of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in Syria (DAD), and Mr. Hasan Masho, a board member of the Organisation of Human Rights in Syria (Mav), as well as Mr. Khalil Maatouk and Mr. Muhannad Al Husni, human rights lawyers (For more information, see Observatory Press Release, dated November 7, 2007).

The Observatory denounces these obstacles to the freedom of movement imposed to the above-mentioned human rights defenders and strongly condemns this new step in the harassment against human rights defenders in Syria, which only aims at muzzling their freedom of expression.

The Observatory recalls that these restrictions on the freedom of movement of the above-mentioned human rights defenders violate Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Syria has ratified, as well as the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular of its article 5 (c), which states that “for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at national and international levels (...) to communicate with non-governmental or intergovernmental organisations”, article 6 (b) regarding the right “to freely publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms”, as well as article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides that “everyone shall be free to leave any country, including his own”.

Actions requested:

Please write to the Syrian authorities, urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Dr. Ammar Qurabi;
2. Put an end to any obstacle to the freedom of movement of Dr. Amman Qurabi and all human rights defenders in Syria;
3. Ensure in all circumstances that Syrian human rights defenders are able to carry out their work without unjustified hindrances;
4. Put an end to the harassment against all human rights defenders in the Syrian Arab Republic;
5. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 1, which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, and above-mentioned Articles 5 (c), 6 (b) and Article 12.2, which provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”;
6. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards and international instruments ratified by the Syrian Arab Republic.

Addresses:

• President, His Excellency Bashar al-Assad, Presidential Palace, al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: + 963 11 332 3410
• Minister of Defence, His Excellency General, Hassan Ali Turkmani, Ministry of Defence, Omayyad Square, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 223 7842
• Minister of Justice, His Excellency Muhammad al-Ghafari, Ministry of Justice, Al-Nasr Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 666 2460
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Walid Mu’allim, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: + 963 11 332 7620
• Ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the UN in Geneva, 72 rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 738 42 75, Email: mission.syria@ties.itu.in
• Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in Brussels, 1 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Tel: + 32 2 554 19 22; Fax: +32 2 648 14 85

Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in your respective country.

Geneva - Paris, November 28, 2007

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] This discussion forum was created by Mohamed Ali Al-Atassi along with Syrian intellectuals and human rights activists who fight for the democratisation of the country.