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Syrian Kurdish hunger strikers were
tortured: Kurdish Democratic Union Party PYD
30.12.2009
By Khalaf Dahowd and ekurd.net staff
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December 30, 2009
QAMISHLI, Syrian Kurdistan, (ekurd.net), —
The Executive Committee of the Democratic Union
Party – PYD reports that Kurdish detainees who were
recently on hunger strike in Adra Prison, Damascus,
Syria were tortured and forced to eat during their
protest.
The hunger strike was launched on 30 October 2009 in
support of the following aims:
• They receive a fair trial
• Their isolation ends
• They are allowed to leave the prison yard
• They are granted visits from parents, and
relatives |
Ibrahim Burro, member of the Political Committee,
Kurdish Yekiti Party in Syria |
• They have access to
the media, including radio and television bulletins
to give them the same conditions as are available to
criminal prisoners.
Visits that had been arranged for the tenth day of
the hunger strike were cancelled by the prison – we
now know that the detainees were by that time
showing signs of torture. They had each been placed
in a small room so that they were isolated from each
other and they were forced to eat. The detainee who
represented the hunger strikers in negotiations with
the authorities was informed that their demands
would be considered,www.ekurd.nethowever
the undertakings given by the authorities were not
honoured.
Some of the detainees who had not seen their
families since they were detained were promised that
they could have visits in the Colonel’s office, but
the visits were curtailed when Kurdish language was
spoken or they talked of what had happened.
There are detainees whose health is deteriorating
and this is exacerbated by the torture they have
experienced and the effects of being on hunger
strike. There is particular concern for:
• Mohammed Habash Rasho Bakr who was sentenced to 7
years,
• Nuri Mustafa Hussein, who was sentenced to 6
years,
• and Salah Mustafa Mesto who was also sentenced to
6 years.
Sentencing without trial in
Syria
The Executive Committee of the Democratic Union
Party – PYD raises concerns about Seydou Rashid Ali,
born in 1973 in the village Jabiliya near Afrin, who
was arrested in Qamishli on 3 January 2009. He was
sentenced by the Court to six years in prison, on
the papers, in his absence and without
representation. The prison authorities have informed
him and his fellow detainees that this practice of
sentencing without trial will be used in future.
The PYD commits to the absolute line of peaceful
resistance, and calls the Red Cross to intervene as
a matter of urgency to inspect the health of these
political activist detainees and to treat provide
them with appropriate medical treatment.
The Executive Committee of Democratic Union Party –
PYD commits to the absolute line of peaceful
resistance, and calls on the Red Cross to intervene
as a matter of urgency to inspect the health of
these political activist detainees and to provide
them with appropriate medical treatment.
The PYD calls also for international condemnation of
the practices of the Syrian authorities in regard to
their treatment of prisoners and the conditions in
which they are kept. We call for an escalation in
pressure applied on the Syrian Government to release
political prisoners, to abolish martial law, and to
lift the State of Emergency. We also call for the
Syrian Constitution to be changed so that basic
rights for Kurdish people are clearly identified,
for example the use of our Kurdish language and
expressions of our culture.
More than 2 million Kurds live in Syria, comprising
nine percent of the population. They have long
sought official recognition of the Kurdish language
and culture.
The Kurds live in Syria (Syrian Kurdistan), 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,www.ekurd.netaccording
to rights group Amnesty International's 2008 report.
Executive Committee of the Democratic Union
Party – PYD
International Support Kurds in Syria Association –
SKS
Web: www.supportkurds.org
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