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Syria: Jailed Kurdish activist is prisoner
of conscience
13.5.2009 |
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May 13, 2009
Amnesty International condemns the sentencing Monday
of Meshal at-Tammo [Mish'al at-Tammu], a 51-year-old Kurdish activist,
to
three and a half years
in prison for his political activities. The
organization considers him to be a prisoner of
conscience, detained solely for peacefully
expressing his political views, and is calling for
his immediate and unconditional release.
On 11 May the Damascus Criminal Court found Mish'al
at-Tammo, who is a member of Syria's Kurdish
minority and the spokesperson of the Kurdish Future
Current in Syria, |
Mish'al at-Tammo, Kurdish activist sentenced to
three and a half years in prison for his political
activities |
an unauthorized
political party, guilty of "weakening national
sentiments" (Article 285 of the Penal Code) and
"broadcasting false or exaggerated news which could
affect the morale of the country" (Article 286). The
charges related to party documents that were found
in his car when he was arrested by Syrian Air Force
Security on 15 August 2008.
Mish'al at-Tammo was arrested at a checkpoint between
the northern city of 'Ein al-'Arab, known in Kurdish
as Kobani, and his home in the city of Aleppo. His
whereabouts remained unknown until his transfer to 'Adra
Prison near Damascus on 26 August. Human rights
organizations in Syria later learned that,www.ekurd.net
at some point during
those 12 days of incommunicado detention, Syrian Air
Force Security had handed Mesh'al at-Tammo into the
custody of the Political Security Branch in
Damascus, which is responsible for investigating the
activities of suspected political dissidents.
Amnesty International has serious concerns about
both this period of pre-trial detention and the
trial proceedings themselves. Mish'al at-Tammo's
lawyers reportedly asked to call a total of seven
defence witnesses to give evidence at the trial, but
the court failed to respond to the request,www.ekurd.net
meaning that none were
able to appear. The right of the accused to call and
question witnesses is a cornerstone of the right of
defence in a fair trial.
Mish'al at-Tammo is also a member of the Committees
for the Revival of Civil Society,an unauthorized
pro-reform network of Syrians who meet to discuss
human rights and political matters.
Background
Kurdish human rights defenders and civil society
activists, along with those deemed to be associated
with Kurdish political parties or groups which raise
concerns about the treatment of Kurds in Syria, run
a high risk of being arrested by the security
forces, which have sweeping powers of arrest and
detention. The criminal, military and state security
courts widely interpret loosely defined articles of
the Penal Code and frequently hand down severe
prison terms to them and other suspected opponents
of the state following trial proceedings which fail
to meet international standards.
Kurds in Syria also suffer severe discrimination
because of their ethnicity. Many of them are denied
Syrian nationality and therefore do not receive the
full provision of education, employment, health care
and other rights enjoyed by Syrian nationals.
ekurd.net comments:
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,www.ekurd.net
according
to rights group Amnesty International's 2008 report.
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
amnestyusa.org
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