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Two Kurdish men in their 70s and a 10 year
old child arrested in Syria for celebrating Eid al-Adha
29.11.2009
By Khalaf Dahowd and ekurd.net staff
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November
29, 2009
DEYRIK, Syrian
Kurdistan,
(ekurd.net), Khalaf Dahowd, — Kurdish
Committee for Human Rights (monitor /al-Rased) and
other sources report that three people have been
arrested in Deyrik al-Malikiya town on the night of
Eid al-Adha:
• Hassan Abdul-Karim
• Ramadan Haji Hassan both in their 70’s,
• and the child, Juan Abdul Salam aged 10
These people live in the village Jallow in the
Deyrik region, and were arrested by criminal
security forces and were sent immediately to
Political Security in Hassaka city. |
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They were arrested
against the background of children enjoying
traditional celebrations of Eid al-Adha including
lighting fires and singing special songs for this
festival.
Kurds in Syria often speak Kurdish in public,
unless all those present do not. Kurdish human
rights activists are mistreated and persecuted. No
political parties are allowed for any group, Kurdish
or otherwise.
Nearly 2 million Kurds live in Syria, mainly in the
north bordering Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan region.
They comprise nine percent of the population and
have long sought official recognition of the Kurdish
language and their culture.
Future Movement advocates democracy and equal rights
for Syria's one million Kurdish minority. The
Kurdish language is not allowed to be taught in
schools and tens of thousands of Kurds were denied
citizenship after a 1960s census.
Freedom of expression remains tightly controlled in
Syria, and security forces have sweeping powers of
arrest and detention.
A total 1,500 people were arrested for political
reasons in 2007 and hundreds more who were arrested
in previous years remained in detention, according
to rights group Amnesty International's 2008 report.
International Support Kurds in Syria Association –
SKS is calling for the international community,
including USA and European Governments to take note
of the on-going, frequent, abusive and intimidating
behaviour of the authorities in Syria towards Kurds
which includes arresting people indiscriminately on
behalf of the Government. This is a powerful and
controlling method of intimidating and threatening
Kurds in their own homelands, using the State of
Emergency to excuse these actions in breaking the
law.
The international community can play a constructive
role in promoting the rights of Kurds in Syria. So
far, Syria’s crackdown on Kurdish activists has
generally gone unnoticed internationally. This lack
of interest by international policymakers has many
causes, including the remoteness of the areas
inhabited by the Syrian Kurds, restrictions imposed
by the Syrian authorities,www.ekurd.netand
the international community’s focus on Syria’s role
in regional politics. However, ignoring the
treatment of Kurds in Syria will not make the
problem go away. The international community, in
particular the United States and the European Union,
which are both currently engaged in substantive
talks with the Syrian government, should ensure that
human rights concerns, including the treatment of
Kurds, are part of their discussions with Syria. 26
November 2009
We want to impress upon the international community
that ‘part of their discussions with Syria’
regarding human rights concerns need to hold
significant weight in any discussions rather than be
a comment in passing.
International Support Kurds in Syria Association –
SKS
6 November 2009
Web: www.supportkurds.org
Email: info@supportkurds.org
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