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Kurds report raids and arrests in Syria
Associated Press Updated: Wed. Apr. 7 2004
11:31 PM ET
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria has arrested dozens of
Kurds in nightime raids of homes in the country's
northeast, Kurdish officials said Wednesday.
The arrests followed clashes between Syrian
security forces and Kurdish rioters last month
that killed 25 and wounded more than 100. Hundreds
of Kurds were arrested following that unrest.
"Syrian authorities have not stopped their
nighttime raids, arrests and oppression of safe
Kurds in their homes, continuing the policy of
persecution against the Kurdish people," Abdel
Baki Youssef, leader of the Kurdish Yekiti party,
said in a statement that was faxed to The
Associated Press in Beirut.
Syrian officials could not be reached for comment.
Youssef said the arrests included four Kurdish
schoolchildren, aged 12 and 13, taken from their
school in Qamishli, 725 kilometres northeast of
the Syrian capital Damascus. He said they were
sent to a prison in Hasakah, 80 kilometres
southwest of Qamishli.
Youssef claimed another Kurd, 26-year-old Hussein
Hamak Nasso, died overnight Wednesday after being
tortured in prison in the northern town Afreen. He
said Syrian security forces prevented Nasso's
family from holding a funeral and forced them to
bury him secretly in their presence.
Up to 40 people may have been arrested in Hasakah
province in the last two days, Abdel Hamid Darwish,
leader of the Kurdish Democratic Progressive party
in Syria, said from Qamishli.
The Syrian constitution does not recognize Kurds,
who make up about 1.5 million of Syria's 18.5
million people and live mostly in the
underdeveloped northern provinces Qamishli and
Hasakah.
The clashes between Kurds and Syrian police began
March 12 with a brawl between supporters of rival
soccer teams before a match in Qamishli. The next
day, Kurds went on a rampage during a funeral for
the riot victims and the violence spread to nearby
areas.
The government blamed the five days of violence on
"mobs and opportunists" influenced from abroad.
It is not known how many Kurds were detained in
the unrest. More than 400 were released last month
but many are thought to be still in custody.
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