Syria
30.08.02
Urgent Interventions
'Syria: Condemnation to 5 years in prison for Human Rights activist
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
SYR 001/0802/OBS 052
Prison sentence
SYRIA
29 August 2002
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Syria:
Brief description:
The Observatory has been informed by the Committees for the Defence of Human Rights in Syria (CDF), that, on 28 August 2002, Mr. Kamal Labwani, a medical doctor and a member of the Administration Board of the CDF, was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with deprivation of his civil and political rights by the Syrian Supreme State Security Court, a special Court whose decisions cannot be appealed.
Mr. Kamal Labwani was arrested on 10 September 2001 and has been detained since then. He was charged with “attempting to change the Constitution by illegal means, incitation to sedition, confessional dissension and spreading false information, which could undermine the State’s image”. Two opposition activists, Hassan Saadoun, a teacher, and Fawaz Tello, an engineer, were sentenced on 28 August to two years and five years in prison, respectively.
Mr. Kamal Labwani had been arbitrarily arrested during a wave of arrests of 10 human rights and/or political activists in August and September 2001, including in particular, Mr. Aref Alilah, a professor and human rights activist, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on 31st July 2002 and Habib Issa, a political opponent and a member of the founding committee of the Human Rights Association of Syria, who was sentenced on 19 August to 5 years imprisonment with deprivation of his civil and political rights.
All of them are detained under extremely precarious conditions putting their physical and psychological integrity in danger (isolation, ill treatment, restrictions on visits from family members and lawyers).
The Observatory is gravely concerned by the attempts of the Syrian authorities to hinder human rights activities in the country. The Observatory stresses in particular that the CDF members, including Akhtam Naisse, the organisation’s President, have increasingly been subjected to acts of harassment during the past months, which include being summoned by the Police, having their phones tapped, their mail intercepted and being put under surveillance,…
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities of Syria urging them to :
i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of human rights activists Labwani, Dalilah and Issa, as well as the other persons that were arrested at the same time, as the charges against them are arbitrary and the guarantees of a fair trial were not granted;
ii. Put an immediate end to the persecution and the harassment of the Syrian independent human rights defenders and allow them to act without hindrance;
iii. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1998, in particular its Article 1 which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with other, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels";
iv. Conform with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and of Human rights regional and international instruments to which Syria is party.
Addresses:
-President Bashar al-Assad, Presidential Palace, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Telegrams:President al-Assad, Damascus, Syria, Telexes: 419160 prespl sy
· Nabil al-Khatib, Ministry of Justice, Al-Nasr Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Telegrams: Justice Minister, Damascus, Syria, Fax: + 963 11 224 6250
· Dr Muhammad Harba, Minister of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior, Merjeh Circle, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Telegrams: Interior Minister, Damascus, Syria,
Faxes: + 963 11 222 3428, Telexes: 411016 AFIRS SY
· Nasser Qaddur, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: + 963 11 332 0686
Please also write to the embassies of Syrian Arab Republic in your respective country.
Paris-Geneva, 29 August 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
*************
The Observatory, a joint 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29
SYR 001/0802/OBS 052
Prison sentence
SYRIA
29 August 2002
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Syria:
Brief description:
The Observatory has been informed by the Committees for the Defence of Human Rights in Syria (CDF), that, on 28 August 2002, Mr. Kamal Labwani, a medical doctor and a member of the Administration Board of the CDF, was sentenced to 5 years imprisonment with deprivation of his civil and political rights by the Syrian Supreme State Security Court, a special Court whose decisions cannot be appealed.
Mr. Kamal Labwani was arrested on 10 September 2001 and has been detained since then. He was charged with “attempting to change the Constitution by illegal means, incitation to sedition, confessional dissension and spreading false information, which could undermine the State’s image”. Two opposition activists, Hassan Saadoun, a teacher, and Fawaz Tello, an engineer, were sentenced on 28 August to two years and five years in prison, respectively.
Mr. Kamal Labwani had been arbitrarily arrested during a wave of arrests of 10 human rights and/or political activists in August and September 2001, including in particular, Mr. Aref Alilah, a professor and human rights activist, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on 31st July 2002 and Habib Issa, a political opponent and a member of the founding committee of the Human Rights Association of Syria, who was sentenced on 19 August to 5 years imprisonment with deprivation of his civil and political rights.
All of them are detained under extremely precarious conditions putting their physical and psychological integrity in danger (isolation, ill treatment, restrictions on visits from family members and lawyers).
The Observatory is gravely concerned by the attempts of the Syrian authorities to hinder human rights activities in the country. The Observatory stresses in particular that the CDF members, including Akhtam Naisse, the organisation’s President, have increasingly been subjected to acts of harassment during the past months, which include being summoned by the Police, having their phones tapped, their mail intercepted and being put under surveillance,…
Action requested :
Please write to the authorities of Syria urging them to :
i. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of human rights activists Labwani, Dalilah and Issa, as well as the other persons that were arrested at the same time, as the charges against them are arbitrary and the guarantees of a fair trial were not granted;
ii. Put an immediate end to the persecution and the harassment of the Syrian independent human rights defenders and allow them to act without hindrance;
iii. Conform with the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1998, in particular its Article 1 which states that "everyone has the right, individually and in association with other, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels";
iv. Conform with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and of Human rights regional and international instruments to which Syria is party.
Addresses:
-President Bashar al-Assad, Presidential Palace, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Telegrams:President al-Assad, Damascus, Syria, Telexes: 419160 prespl sy
· Nabil al-Khatib, Ministry of Justice, Al-Nasr Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Telegrams: Justice Minister, Damascus, Syria, Fax: + 963 11 224 6250
· Dr Muhammad Harba, Minister of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior, Merjeh Circle, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Telegrams: Interior Minister, Damascus, Syria,
Faxes: + 963 11 222 3428, Telexes: 411016 AFIRS SY
· Nasser Qaddur, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: + 963 11 332 0686
Please also write to the embassies of Syrian Arab Republic in your respective country.
Paris-Geneva, 29 August 2002
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
*************
The Observatory, a joint 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.
To contact the Observatory, call the Emergency Line:
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
Tel and fax FIDH +33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / 01 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 4122 809 49 39 / 41 22 809 49 29