2 May 2007
Amnesty International
Incommunicado detention, torture and unfair trial
of pro-democracy discussion group members
Seven young men who were engaged in developing a youth discussion group
and for having some articles published on the Internet have been detained for
more than a year, mostly in incommunicado detention, and reportedly subjected
to torture. They are facing an unfair trial before the Supreme State Security
Court (SSSC). Their next trial session will be on 17 June, when the verdict is
expected. Amnesty International considers the seven young men to be prisoners
of conscience detained solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs, and
calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
One of the websites for the poems, articles and cartoons of some of
these young men was www.akhawaia.net , which has since
closed down. In a posting by one of the detainees, Tareq
al-Ghorani wrote: “I believe in democracy, real
democracy…which is not something that is the same for all countries. I believe
in moral standards arising from Syrian society.”
The seven young men, Husam 'Ali Mulhim, Tareq al-Ghorani, Maher Isber Ibrahim, Ayham Saqr, 'Allam Fakhour,
‘Omar ‘Ali al-‘Abdullah and Diab Siriyeh
– as well as ‘Ali Nizar 'Ali who alone was released
in December 2006 - were arrested agents of Air Force Intelligence (AFI) between
26 January and 18 March 2006 and face two charges: “taking action or making a
written statement or speech which could endanger the State or harm its
relationship with a foreign country, or expose it to the risk of hostile action”
(Article 278 of the Syrian Penal Code, which carries a maximum sentence of 15
years’ imprisonment); and “broadcasting of false news” deemed to be harmful to
the state (Article 287, which carries a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment).
All the defendants deny the charges and told the court in November 2006 that
they had been tortured while detained. As with all other such allegations of
torture made over the years before the SSSC, Amnesty International is not aware
of any action being taken by the court or by the authorities to investigate the
allegations.
‘Ali Nizar 'Ali and Husam
'Ali Mulhim were arrested on 26 January 2006; Tareq al-Ghorani was arrested on 20
February 2006; Maher Isber Ibrahim,
Ayham Saqr and 'Allam Fakhour were arrested on 23
February 2006; and ‘Omar ‘Ali al-‘Abdullah and Diab Siriyeh were re-arrested on 18 March 2006, having been
initially detained for several hours on 14 February. Since their arrests they
have been almost entirely cut off from the outside world. The detainees were
reportedly held in solitary confinement at the AFI Branch in Harasta, near
They were subsequently transferred to Sednaya
Prison, and finally brought before the SSSC on 26 November. There they briefly
met their lawyers for the first time, in the presence of guards, and at least
one of the detainees was able to meet with his parents, for about three
minutes, also in the presence of guards. At this session each of the eight men
denied the charges and said that he had been tortured to make him “confess”. The
families were reportedly not allowed to give the young men warm clothing which
they had brought to protect them from the cold conditions at Sednaya, which is in a mountainous area near
The arrested young men are:
Husam 'Ali Mulhim,
aged 22, a student in the Faculty of Law at Damascus University, where he also organised poetry readings; Tareq
al-Ghorani, aged 21, an associate engineer; Maher Isber Ibrahim, aged 26, the owner
of a shop; Ayham Saqr, aged
30, who works in a beauty salon; 'Allam Fakhour, aged 29, a student in the sculpture section of the
Art Faculty of Damascus University; 'Omar 'Ali al-'Abdullah, aged 21, a second-year
philosophy student at Damascus University. He is the son of released prisoner
of conscience ‘Ali al-‘Abdullah and brother of released prisoner of conscience
Muhammad al-‘Abdullah; and Diab Siriyeh,
aged 21, a part-time student.
The released individual, ‘Ali Nizar ‘Ali, aged
21, is a student in his second year in the Business Department of Damascus
University. He was released under a presidential amnesty to mark the ‘Eid al-‘Adha Muslim festival on
Amnesty International has to date issued eight Urgent Action appeals on
the cases of these young men, commencing with UA 41/06 (MDE 24/019/2006, 17
February 2006), and with seven Follow-Up appeals.
Background: Prisoners of conscience, the SSSC and torture in
Freedoms of expression and association have been severely restricted in
Hundreds of political prisoners including prisoners of conscience remain
imprisoned in
Since its establishment in 1968 the SSSC has functioned in accordance
with the state of emergency legislation and is designated for the trial of
people charged with political and state security offences, which are very
widely interpreted. The SSSC has regularly tried and sentenced political
detainees, including prisoners of conscience, belonging to a variety of banned
and unauthorised organizations including human rights
groups and political parties. The SSSC operates outside the normal justice
system under the control of the executive branch of the government. Its
procedures lack independence and impartiality, and its decisions are not
subject to appeal. Defendants in trials before the SSSC routinely suffer from
restricted access to lawyers, as well as to relatives and any medical care they
may require.
The powers of the SSSC do not extend to control or supervision of the
conduct of the security forces or pre-trial procedures, and the SSSC has
systematically failed over the years to investigate hundreds of allegations of
torture and extraction of "confessions" under duress brought to its
attention by defendants.
Even though the Syrian Constitution and national legislation prohibit
torture and ill-treatment, and although
Among Amnesty International’s most recent statements on these issues
see, Syria: New crackdown on government opponents (MDE 24/031/2006, 3 April 2006);
Syria: Dismissal of state employees for expressing opinions violates
international human rights (MDE 24/045/2006, 21 June 2006); Syria: Another wave
of arrests of human rights defenders and civil society activists (MDE 24/038/2006,
17 May 2006); Syria: Beatings of PoCs must end,
officials who have perpetrated or facilitated abuses must be prosecuted (MDE 24/008/2007,
15 February 2007); Syria: Amnesty International calls for new and impartial
investigation into abduction and killing of Sheikh Muhammad Ma’shuq
al-Khiznawi (MDE 24/019/2007, 21 March 2007); Syria: Unfair
trials and ill-treatment in detention of peaceful “Beirut-Damascus Declaration”
petitioners (MDE 24/022/2007, 11 April 2007); Sentence against Anwar al-Bunni deals another blow
to human rights in Syria (MDE 24/026/2007, 24 April 2007).
How can you support them?
One of the ways in which you can support these young prisoners of
conscience is by writing appeals in Arabic, English, French or your own
language:
- calling on the Syrian authorities to release immediately and drop all
charges against the seven men (naming them), since they appear to be based
solely on the men's peaceful exercise of their right to express their beliefs,
as granted by the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to
which Syria is a state party;
- expressing concern that they are being unfairly tried before the SSSC,
whose procedures the UN Human Rights Committee has stated are incompatible with
the ICCPR;
- expressing concern over reports of torture and other ill-treatment of
the detainees and over the apparent failure of the authorities to have these
allegations investigated, and urging the authorities to investigate the
allegations and to bring to justice suspected perpetrators of torture so as to
comply with their obligations under the ICCPR and the UN Convention against
Torture to which Syria is also a state party;
- and expressing concern that these young men have been held in
prolonged incommunicado detention, where detainees are most at risk of torture,
and reminding the authorities that the UN Special Rapporteur
on Torture has called for incommunicado detention to be made illegal.