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Amnesty: Kurdish lawyer Mustafa Ismail detained, risk
torture, urgent Action required |
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Amnesty: Kurdish lawyer Mustafa Ismai
detained, risk torture, urgent action required
23.12.2009
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December 23, 2009
NEW YORK, Amnesty International,—
Kurdish lawyer Mustafa Ismail was
detained on 12
December, and has been held incommunicado since
then. He is at risk of torture and other
ill-treatment.
Mustafa Ismail, who writes about the treatment of
Kurds in Syria and Turkey for a number of
foreign-based websites, was detained when he went to
the Air Force Security Branch in the northern city
of Aleppo, in response to an order from the local
security office in his home town of Ain Arab. His
family went to the same Air Force Security Branch on
17 December to find out what had happened to him,
but they were told that he was not there and they
were ordered to leave.
The day before he was detained Mustafa Ismail had
posted an article on the London-based Levant News
website,www.ekurd.netin
which he said he had been ordered to go to the Air
Force Security Branch in Aleppo, commenting that he
could “easily get into the Guinness Book of Records”
because of the number of times that he had been
summoned to report to security offices since 2000. |
Mustafa
Ismail , a prominent Kurdish lawyer from
Syria |
He had recently been
questioned by officials of several different
security services: the Political Security Branch on
3 October, the Military Security Branch on 5 October
and the State Security Branch on 7 and 8 November.
He told colleagues that the questioning on these
occasions had focused on his media work, especially
phone interviews he had given to a European-based
Kurdish satellite TV station, Roj TV.
As yet, the Syrian authorities have not acknowledged
that he is in detention or provided any explanation,
prompting feaRS that he could be subject to torture
or other ill-treatment.
PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in
Arabic, English, French or your own language:
Expressing concern that Mustafa Ismail has been held
incommunicado at an unknown location since 12
December, putting him at risk of torture and other
ill-treatment;
Calling on the authorities to ensure that he is not
tortured or otherwise ill-treated, and reminding
them that Syria is a state party to the UN
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
Urging them to allow him, immediately, visits from
his family, a lawyer of his choosing, and any
medical attention he may require;
Calling on them to release Mustafa Ismail unless he
is to be charged with a recognizably criminal
offence and tried promptly in proceedings which meet
international fair trial standards.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE
7 JANUARY 2010 TO:
President
Bashar al-Assad
Presidential Palace
al-Rashid Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11 332 3410
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Interior
Major Sa’id Mohamed Samour
Ministry of Interior
‘Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11 222 3428
Salutation: Your Excellency
And copies to:
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Walid al-Mu’allim
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
al-Rashid Street
Damascus
Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11 332 7620
Salutation: Your Excellency
Date: 21 December 2009
URGENT ACTION
KURDISH LAWYER DETAINED, RISKS TORTURE
Additional Information
Syria's Emergency Law, in place since 1963, has
allowed the establishment of multiple security
agencies with sweeping powers to arrest and detain
anyone perceived as opposing the government. Torture
and other ill-treatment are widespread in Syria's
detention and interrogation centres. In 2009,www.ekurd.netleast
seven people are reported to have died in custody as
a result of abuse. The authorities have taken no
action to investigate these allegations.
"Confessions" extracted under duress are
systematically used as evidence in Syrian courts,
and defendants' claims that they have been tortured
or otherwise ill-treated are almost never
investigated.
UA: 342/09 Index: MDE 24/038/2009 Issue Date: 21
December 2009
Copyright,
respective author or news agency, Amnesty org
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