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Syria urged to free political prisoners,
allow dissent
11.4.2006
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DAMASCUS, April
11 (Reuters) - International human rights
organisations have urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
to release scores of political opponents detained in
recent months as he tightened his grip on power.
"These arrests appear to be tied solely to the
exercise by these activists of their guaranteed
rights to freedom of expression and association,"
the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a letter
sent to Assad on Monday.
"To punish activists in Syria for the peaceful
expression of their views or for peacefully
associating with others is a clear violation of
Syria's own constitution and its obligations under
international law," the letter said.
Assad, under pressure from Western powers over
Syria's role in Lebanon, has largely ignored recent
calls to improve Syria's observance of human rights.
Rights campaigners say around 1,500 political
prisoners are being held without trial.
The government has intensified its crackdown on
dissent since January, arresting opposition figures,
journalists and students, and imposing long jail
sentences on several of them, campaigners said.
A security court, whose decisions are final,
sentenced an Islamist to 12 years jail earlier this
month for belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood
and a politician sympathetic to the Kurdish minority
to five years hard labour.
Amnesty International said in a statement last week
that even when those arrested are put on trial, they
face courts which "suffer a gross lack of
independence and impartiality."
JOURNALISTS A TARGET
Activists who have been using the Internet to
publicise Syrian human rights violations have been
also targeted, said Reporters Without Borders, which
defends journalists' rights.
Recent arrests have included those of Mohammad
Ghanem, the editor of a website that calls for
democracy in Syria, and journalist Ali Abdallah and
his son. Reporters Without Borders said Massoud
Hamid, a journalism student, has been in prison
since 2004 for publishing photos of a pro-Kurdish
demonstration in Damascus on the Internet.
Bashar al-Assad became president in 2000 after the
death of his father Hafez, and Internet journalism
flourished in Syria when he took steps to ease
restrictions on public life.
But the modest liberalising trend was halted after
the Beirut assassination of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik al-Hariri in February 2005, when
speculation rose that Syria was in line for "regime
change" engineered by Washington.
A U.N. investigation has implicated senior Syrian
security officials in Hariri's killing. Syria denied
involvement but has been facing U.S.-led efforts to
isolate it.
The Syrian government, led by the Baath Party since
1963, has repeatedly said national stability is
paramount and it will not allow foreign powers to
influence domestic policy.
Although the government appears to have regained its
composure, more than a year after Hariri's killing,
human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni told Reuters it
must be kept under pressure to allow the expression
of political views and to release political
prisoners.
"This regime must be exposed," said Bunni, who is
banned from leaving Syria. "They want to silence any
voice."
www.hrw.org | Reuters
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