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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
AI Index: MDE 24/029/2004 (Public)
- News Service No: 080
6 April 2004
Syria: Amnesty International calls on Syria
to end repressive measures against Kurds and to
set up an independent judicial enquiry into the
recent clashes
Amnesty International today called on the Syrian
authorities to establish an independent judicial
enquiry into the recent clashes between Kurdish
protesters and security forces and to urgently
review the cases of hundreds of Syrian Kurds who
have been detained after mass arrests across the
country in March.
"Unless they are to be charged with recognisably
criminal offences and brought to trial without
undue delay, they should be released immediately,"
said the organisation today.
Amnesty International repeated its appeal, of 16
March, to the authorities to make known the
whereabouts of hundreds of those people detained.
As far as the organisation is aware, almost all of
the people detained are being held incommunicado
without charge and at unknown locations. A number
of children are also detained: Mas’oud Ja’far, 16
years old, from al-Qahtaniya, is one of those
reportedly still held.
"The incommunicado detention at unknown locations
of many hundreds of Syrian Kurds is of serious
concern, not least as it puts detainees at greater
risk of torture or ill-treatment," added Amnesty
International. Amnesty International has already
received descriptions of torture of named
individuals, including children. Seventeen
year-old Qane’e Muhammad Ramadan was reportedly
tortured with electric shocks while held for nine
days.
The human rights organisation also called for the
Syrian government to establish an independent
judicial enquiry to investigate how friction at a
football match escalated into the killings of tens
of people, and a wave of protests, riots and
arrests across much of the north of the country.
Amnesty International believes that only an
adequately resourced public, independent and
impartial judicial enquiry can reveal the full
truth.
"For justice to be done and to be seen to be done,
the truth must be uncovered and the suspected
perpetrators, whether from the security forces or
the protestors, of serious crimes and human rights
violations should be brought to justice. Such an
enquiry should include investigation of the root
causes of grievances, and propose recommendations
to alleviate them, so as to prevent similar
occurrences happening in the future," the
organisation said.
The organization is also concerned about the
expulsion of at least 24 Kurdish students who have
been expelled from their universities and
dormitories, including a number expelled from
Damascus University on 18 March, reportedly for
participating in peaceful protests. Amnesty
International has received reports suggesting a
pattern of increasing persecution of Kurdish
people. Syrian Kurds are reportedly being arrested
or attacked solely on the basis of their ethnicity
or for speaking Kurdish. Reportedly, a Kurdish
army recruit named Khayri Jendu Bin Barjas died of
his injuries in hospital, around 23 March, after
being beaten by soldiers reportedly for having
spoken Kurdish to a colleague.
BACKGROUND
On 12 March clashes broke out between Arab and
Kurdish fans at a football stadium in Qamishli, in
north-eastern Syria. Syrian security forces
responded by firing shots into the crowd resulting
in the deaths of at least 20 people and dozens of
injuries. Police attacked Syrian Kurdish mourners
the next day resulting in two days of rioting by
Syrian Kurds in several towns in the mainly
Kurdish north-eastern area of Syria. In ‘Amouda
around 13 March, the head of the town’s police
station was reportedly beaten up by Kurdish
protesters. He later died of his injuries.
Hundreds of individuals, mostly Syrian Kurds,
including children, remain in detention. Most of
these are being held in incommunicado detention
and thereby are at risk of torture or
ill-treatment.
An estimated 1.5 million Kurds live in Syria
mostly in the Jazira area in the North East of
Syria. Today, at least 150,000 Kurds in Syria are
denied Syrian nationality and civil rights.
Torture and ill-treatment is routinely inflicted
on political detainees, including Kurdish
activists, while they are held incommunicado in
Syrian prisons and detention centres. Eight Syrian
Kurds are being held in solitary confinement in
cruel and inhumane conditions in the political
wing of ‘Adra Prison, near the capital Damascus.
Their detention followed their participation in a
25 June 2003 peaceful demonstration outside the
UNICEF headquarters in Damascus, calling for civil
and political rights for the Syrian Kurdish
population, including the right of Syrian Kurdish
children to be taught in the Kurdish language.
There has been previous violent confrontation
between the Syrian authorities and Syrian Kurds.
In March 1986, during the Festival of Newruz,
clashes between both sides resulted in several
deaths and injuries. In October 1992 Kurds marked
the 30th anniversary of the census which deprived
many Kurds of their Syrian nationality and basic
civil rights. In response Syrian security forces
carried out mass arrests. In 1995 the Syrian
authorities banned the traditional Newruz
celebrations and dozens of Kurds were arrested.
Ruth Juettner
amnesty international
Länder und Asyl / Country work and Asylum
Referat Naher und Mittlerer Osten / Middle East
desk __________________________________________
fon: + 49 / 30 / 42 02 48 405
fax: + 49 / 30 / 42 02 48 444
mailto:
rjuettner@amnesty.de
Internet:
http://www.amnesty.de
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