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amnesty
international
Appeal
Case – Syria
Unable to Move: Freedom of Movement
restricted for Human Rights Defenders (and Others)
12/08/2005
AI INDEX: MDE 24/062/2005
This Appeal Case
publicises one of the forms of harassment and human rights violations
suffered by human rights defenders, amongst others, in Syria. It highlights
cases of individuals who are forbidden from leaving the country, denied
passports, and put under house arrest.
Amnesty International calls
upon the Syrian authorities to put an end to the pattern of restrictions of
freedom of movement imposed on human rights defenders and reiterates its
call to cease all other forms of harassment against them. The call follows
the recommendation of the UN Human Rights Committee that the Syrian
authorities “end all harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders”
and a reported increase in the number of human rights defenders and other
Syrians being prevented from travelling.
On 14
July 2005 human rights lawyer
Anwar al-Bunni
was prevented from
travelling to Geneva,
Switzerland, where
the UN Human Rights Committee
was to
consider the Syrian
government’s third periodic report on its
implementation of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). He learnt of the restriction only at
Damascus airport when he was told
that State
Security had issued Decision 251 banning him from travel, without giving an
explanation. He had received an
earlier ban in
October 2003.
The day
after the UN Human Rights Committee session, on 19 July, the Department of
Immigration and Passports refused to issue a passport to Yasin al-Haj
Salih, a doctor, journalist, human rights defender and former prisoner
of conscience. No explanation was given. Yasin al-Haj Salih spent 16 years
in prison, including 14 years in incommunicado detention without trial, for
membership of the Communist Party Political Bureau and for “opposing the
goals of the revolution”. In June 2005, Amnesty International wrote to the
Syrian authorities requesting that Yasin al-Haj Salih be granted permission
to travel to Lebanon to participate in an Amnesty International workshop
there; no response was received and Yasin al-Haj Salih was unable to travel.
On 5 August of
Dr Kamal al-Labwani, a
former prisoner
of conscience and founding member of the Political Prisoners Support
Committee, had his home in al-Zabadani, near Damascus, cordoned off by
security officers who refused to allow anyone to enter or leave the building
for 12 hours. The action was apparently intended to prevent the first
meeting of the Liberal Democratic Gathering, an unauthorised opposition
group. Dr al-Labwani, who was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to three years’
imprisonment for having attended a political seminar, told Amnesty
International that a friend who had tried to visit him at his home was told
by a security officer that “this man must be killed; we have sent a group…to
assassinate him”.
In May 2005
Nahed Badawiya, an administrative committee member of the Jamal al-Atassi
Forum, a political discussion group,
was detained for one week after
one of the Forum members, ‘Ali al-‘Abdullah,
read a statement at their meeting on behalf of the exiled leader of the
Muslim Brotherhood (MB). The MB is banned in Syria. Among other things,
the statement called for political reform in Syria. Nahed Badawiya was also
threatened with the expulsion of her husband,
Salama Kayla,
a Palestinian journalist
who has lived in Syria for 25 years. In June, the Political Security
department reportedly gave instructions at all Syrian border points to deny
him re-entry to the country. Salama Kayla, was thus unable to
travel to France
for a yearly check-up for leukaemia at a Paris
hospital. His next scheduled appointment is on 14 September 2005,
but there is concern that if he goes he may not be allowed to return to Syria.
Salama Kayla
was a
prisoner of conscience from
1992 to 2000, on charges of
"opposing the objectives of
the revolution"
Human
rights lawyer Razan Zaytouneh – coordinator of the Syrian Human
Rights Information Link – has been banned from leaving the country since the
summer of 2002, when she was informed of the ban by State Security officers.
She has been denied the opportunity of participating in a number of human
rights-related workshops and conferences in other countries.
Muhammad Ra'dun, the
head
of the unauthorised Arab
Organisation
for Human Rights – Syria (AOHR-S)
has been detained
without charge since
22 May 2005 and
is suffering from ill-health and is denied appropriate medical treatment.
Prior to his arrest he had
been prevented
from travelling to Egypt
to attend
meetings in March 2005
and in
November 2004.
His AOHR-S colleague Mahmoud al-Aryan has also
been prevented
from travelling to attend conferences in Egypt and in Lebanon.
Human rights
lawyer/attorney Haytham al-Maleh, head of the unauthorised Human
Rights Association
of Syria, remains
prohibited from travel abroad. In December 2004 he was prevented from
leaving the country when he was due to travel to France at the invitation of
the French government to participate in Human Rights Day celebrations
there.
Despite repeated
travel bans from the Syrian authorities, Aktham Nu’ayse, head of the
unauthorised Committees for the Defence of Democratic Liberties and Human
Rights and former prisoner of conscience, has more recently been permitted
to leave the country. In July 2005, he attended the UN Human Rights
Committee session in Geneva, for its consideration of Syria's report
concerning its implementation of the ICCPR.
Yusra al-Masri has publicised the case of her
teenage son Mus’ab al-Hariri who was arrested on his arrival with her in
Syria in July 2002. He was sentenced in June 2005 after a grossly unfair
trial to six years’ imprisonment on charges of belonging to the Muslim
Brotherhood (MB). Yusra al-Masri has been prohibited from leaving the
country to join her Syrian husband in Saudi Arabia, where the family has
lived since 1981. [See AI public statement, Seventeen-year-old sentenced
after unfair trial, MDE 24/040/2005, 20 June 2005].
Additionally,
tens of thousands of stateless
Kurds are unable to leave or return to Syria, as they are denied Syrian
nationality and official travel documents. In addition, scores of Syrians –
notably human rights defenders and former political prisoners and prisoners
of conscience – are currently prohibited from travelling abroad. Such
restrictions constitute a violation of their right to freedom of movement,
and undue interference with their rights to freedom of expression and
association and with their right to strive to promote and protect human
rights.
Background
In 2005 scores of
Syrians, including children, have been arrested following their return from
abroad. They and others arrested in previous years remain detained
incommunicado without charge or pending trials, and are at risk of torture.
In the past three years, at least ten people who were arrested upon return
to Syria have “disappeared” and several have died, seemingly as a result of
torture and ill-treatment. Particularly at risk appear to be those with
present, past or familial connections with the unauthorised Muslim
Brotherhood (MB). Such violations are taking place despite assurances of
safe return being given to former political exiles. Thousands of Syrians
remain in exile. [See AI public statement, Ongoing risks for Syrian
returnees, MDE 24/025/2005, 13 May 2005].
Other people currently detained on account of their human rights activities
include Yassin al-Hamwi and Muhammad 'Ali al-'Abdullah, who
are held in ‘Adra prison, near Damascus. They were arrested on 26 and 27
July, respectively, following the inaugural meeting of the
Committee of the Families of Prisoners of Opinion
and Conscience. They are reportedly charged with “establishing a
secret society” and “defaming the public administration”, and will be tried
before the military court. AOHR-S member Nizar Ristnawi remains
detained in ‘Adra prison also, reportedly still without charge since his
arrest on 18 April. [See also, AI public
statement, End crackdown on human rights defenders, MDE 24/034/2005].
Further, while there are
no reliable official records,
it is estimated that between 200,000 and 360,000 of Syria’s Kurds are not
entitled to Syrian nationality, even though they were born in the country
and they have no other nationality. In addition to being denied the rights
enjoyed by nationals, these stateless Kurds are not issued passports or
other travel documents, and so may not legally leave or return to Syria.
[See AI report, Kurds in the
Syrian Arab Republic one year
after the March 2004 events,
MDE 24/002/2005, March 2005].
What can you do?
You can write to
the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, in English, Arabic, French, or your
own language:
-
expressing concern at the restrictions of freedom of movement that are
imposed on human rights defenders, former political prisoners and prisoners
of conscience;
-
pointing out that such restrictions contravene Article 12 of the ICCPR,
which
Syria has willingly ratified and is obliged to uphold;
-
urging the Syrian authorities to end the travel restrictions imposed on the
above-mentioned individuals;
-
urging the Syrian authorities to implement the recommendations of the UN
Human Rights Committee, particularly with regard to human rights defenders,
and to respect the 1998 UN
Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and
Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms.
Please write or send a fax to:
His Excellency President Bashar al-Assad
President of the Republic
Presidential Palace
Abu Rummaneh, Al-Rashid Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: + 963 11 332 3410
Salutation: Your Excellency
To see the HRC’s full concluding observations on Syria, please go to:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/hrcs84.htm
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