SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Contents

1. Introduction ...... 4 2. Sednaya Prison Massacre...... 6 3. The Damascus Declaration for National Democratic Change (DDNDC) detainees...... 8 4. Civil Society and Human Rights Activists ...... 11 5. Law 49/198...... 14 A: List of the names of Syrians detained or arrested in accordance to the law in 2008...... 14 B: Syrians in Forced Exile ...... 16 C: Missing Detainees...... 17 6. Islamist Detainees...... 18 7. Random Arrests...... 27 8. Kurdish Detainees ...... 29 9. Arab Detainees...... 35 10. Death during Detention ...... 38 11. Death by Shooting ...... 39 12. Hostage Taking ...... 40 13. Ban on Travelling...... 41 14. Targeting Civil Society Institutions and Charity Organisations ...... 44 15. Torture in Syrian Prisons in 2008 ...... 46 16. Press, Media, and the Internet ...... 48

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Introduction

The eighth annual human rights report in Syria covers the period from January to December 2008. It is the eighth report to document human rights abuses during the tenure of president Bashar Al - Assad. The year 2008 witnessed unprecedented abuses of human rights in Syria, regressing to the levels that were the norm in the mid - 1980s of the last century. Authorities committed a massacre in the biggest prison in the country under suspicious circumstances. An unknown number of detainees were killed, reminiscent of the massacres that were perpetrated during the period of terrible oppression. From July onwards, Supreme State Security Court sessions were held in camera. The world was on longer able to keep track of the great injustices committed by this illegal and unconstitutional court. Syrian Authorities arrested the leaders of the opposition movement The Damascus Declaration for National Democratic Change. They were tried and sentenced by a court that lacked credibility, fairness or objectivity. Authorities persisted in targeting members of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement, their children and those close to them, invoking Law 49/1980 which carries the death sentence. Efforts to crack down on Islamists under various guises were occurring at the same time as the government adopted an open door policy to cross - border Shiite ideologies. Kurdish activists were equally targeted and tried before unjust courts. In the last quarter of the year, authorities issued decree 49/2008 which sets forth the uses and rights of ownership of lands near the Syrian borders. Kurds were the group most affected by the new decree. Torture in prisons, detaining centres and interrogation rooms has become a rampant and routine practice especially during the first few weeks of arrest. Various forms of abuse continue unchecked throughout the period of incarceration. Syrian Authorities have ignored requests to disclose details about the fate of the thousands who have gone missing in Syrian prisons

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 since the 1980s. They still deny thousands of those living in exile the right of safe return to their homeland. Having frozen those Syrians’ assets, authorities have refused to recognise them as legal persons with civil rights. Several civil society institutions such as sports clubs, social and charity societies have come under heavy fire. Authorities appoint members on boards of directors, in effect paralysing these civil society institutions, thus preventing them from pursuing their goals of extending their services to many sectors of the Syrian society. The issue of Arabs detained in Syrian prisons remains unresolved under a security regime that has made it a routine practice to hold hostages for very long periods of time. The list of banned websites has grown exponentially. Many news, religious and social websites have been censored to the extent that banning has become the rule rather than the exception. Censorship has even extended to websites published by members close to the Syrian regime. The state still exercises full control over written, visual and audio media.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Sednaya Prison Massacre

The Syrian Human Rights Committee has learned from a source inside Sednaya Prison that members of the military police changed the locks on all the prison cells on the night of the 4th of July 2008. The following morning, an additional back - up force arrived at the prison. A search of the prison quarters ensued during which copies of the holy Quran were trampled on by guards. Several Islamist detainees, angered by the act, rushed to retrieve the copies of the Quran. Members of the military police opened fire killing nine detainees instantly; Zakaria Affash, Mohammed Mahareesh, Abdulbaqi Khattab, Ahmed Shalaq, Khalid Bilal, Mo’aid Al - Ali, Mohannad Al - Omar and Khader Alloush. During the commotion that followed, several detainees confronted the military police who opened fire again. It has been reported that 25 detainees were killed but we have not been able to ascertain their identities. There were a number of conflicting reports about the incident. One account mentioned that the detainees took members of the military police and prison employees hostage. Yet another account revealed that detainees fled to the roof of the prison after military and security police fired tear gas and smoke bombs. It has since been confirmed that a number of tanks and armoured vehicles lay siege to the prison, erecting check points to prevent the families of the detainees from entering the prison to inquire about the fate of their relatives. A special wing at Tishreen Military Hospital was dedicated to dealing with the dead and the injured. The wing was completely closed off making it impossible to gain access through any other wing of the hospital. News continued to trickle out from inside the prison for three days. On the third day, news completely tapered off. Nothing was heard of the massacre until rumours of the killings and shootings began to circulate widely. Authorities released a terse statement two days later alleging that detainees convicted in terror crimes disrupted the peace which necessitated the direct interference of the Anti - Riot Police Unit to restore law and order, investigate the incident and prepare a list of charges in order to bring those indicted to trial. Several families sought, to no avail, to visit or inquire about relatives.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

No visitors have been allowed into Sednaya Prison since the outbreak of violence. We have no knowledge of anyone being released from prison since that date. It is believed that the Sednaya massacre, in which an unknown number of Islamist activities were killed, is reminiscent of the Tadmur Prison and al - Mezze Prison massacres. The Syrian Authorities are keeping the whole matter under wraps on the hope that the passage of time will sweep the whole affair under the rug. The bodies of a few detainees were handed over to their families. On the 17th of July 2008, the body of an Islamist from al - Senno family from Arbeen, arrested two years prior to the massacre, was delivered to his family. Authorities claimed he had died as a result of a hunger strike but he was most likely one of the victims of the massacre. Negotiations with the family of the Jordanian detainee Jameel Abdullah Abu - Shihada resulted in his body being handed over to his family on the 16th of August 2008. It has not been confirmed whether he died in the massacre or as a result of torture. The prison came under heavy scrutiny again towards the end of the year when highly confidential information from a special source estimated the number of detainees liquidated since the events in July to be around 127. The same source revealed that detainee cells were re - allocated and several detainees were transferred to other prisons. The events at Sednaya remain shrouded in mystery awaiting more information and clarification.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

The Damascus Declaration for National Democratic Change (DDNDC) detainees

In 2008, Syrian Authorities resumed a campaign of arrests it had started in 2007 by detaining senior members of the Damascus Declaration for National Democratic Change (DDNDC) who held their conference on the 10th December 2007. The conference demanded peaceful political reforms geared towards introducing the principles of democracy into the Syrian system. On the 2nd of January 2008, the former political detainee and member of the Labour Communist Party, Rashid Al - Satoof, was arrested at his home in Araqqah, northeast of Damascus, although he did not attend the DDNDC meetings. He was released three days later. The writer and journalist, Fayez Sara, a fifty - year - old native of Jeiroud in Rural Damascus, was arrested on the 3rd of January 2008. In the meantime, security authorities tried to arrest the engineer Ghassan Najjar, member of the general secretariat of the DDNDC who had been released on the 14th of December 2007 for health reasons following a hunger strike. Najjar, 70 years, is an Islamist and professional union activist from Aleppo. The State Security Apparatus also re - arrested Mohammed Hajji Darwish on the 7th of January 2008 after releasing him in December of 2007. Darwish, from Jisr - eshoughoor in Idlib, lives and works in Aleppo where he runs a pharmaceutical factory. On the 15th of January 2008, a branch of Internal Security arrested the geologist Marwan al - Ush, 52 years, member of the general secretariat of the DDNDC. The series of arrests was accompanied by a ferocious campaign by the Syrian Authorities to tarnish the reputation of those arrested and all the members of the DDNDC through state - controlled media and dishonest individuals known for their links with security apparatuses such as the chairman of the Aleppo Trade Chamber and others. In an unprecedented move which breaches all the rules of law and social conduct, Aleppo woke up on the morning of the 21st of January 2008 to intelligence services destroying the studio of the abstract artist Talal Abu - Dan. Paintings and equipment were completely destroyed in the incident. The pharmaceutical factory of Mohammed Hajji Darwish was destroyed. A vehicle belonging to the

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 factory was destroyed. A car belonging to the businessman, Samir Nashar, was also attacked and wrecked. One week after this incident, ten detained members form the DDNDC were indicted on charges of insubordination, undermining the state, inflaming racial and sectarian tensions, establishing an organisation that aims to destabilise the state and spreading malicious rumours. The following day, the 28th of January 2008, Riad Saif was arrested at his home in Damascus and later charged. He and several other detainees were held in the Adra Central Prison. Talal Abu - Dan, the abstract artist, was arrested at his home on the 30th of January 2008. Mohammed Kamal Al - Muweel, a doctor and scholar, joined the long list of detainees on the 22nd of February 2008. Al - Muweel, arrested for the first time in the 1980s, was born in 1962 in Azzabadani in Rural Damascus. He is the author of several historical, religious and cultural books. Adnan Makkia, member of the DDNDC, was arrested on the 2nd of February 2008 but was later released. On the 28th of February 2008, Syrian authorities apprehended the director of Al - Horani Hospital, the Palestinian doctor Gazi Alayyan, at his place of work. He was immediately taken to the Syrian - Jordanian borders where he was deported on the basis of an official order that revoked his residency in Syria. Dr. Alayyan, a Palestinian born in Kuwait in 1954, had been living in Hama since 1990. He was summarily deported simply because he is married to Dr. Fida’ Al - Horani. On the 24th of July 2008, authorities released Mohamed Najjar, arrested on 16th of June 2008, and Hasan Yousef Qassem who were both detained over their links with the DDNDC. They were interrogated prior to their release. Engineer Osama Ashour, a member of the national council of the DDNDC and a former detainee, was arrested by a Military Security patrol at his home in Aleppo on the 29th of July 2008. He was released on the 13th of August 2008. Security forces arrested Majed Khalid Alloush, member of the general committee of the DDNDC. Alloush, a former detainee, was born in Dayr - Azzawr in 1959.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Formal charges were brought against 12 DDNDC members after the referral judge ruled against a request by the defendants’ lawyer for their immediate release. Invoking articles (285 - 286 - 306 - 307) of the Syrian Penal code, the charges filed against them alleged that the twelve members had spread false rumours to shake the public mood and weaken nationalist sentiments and had joined a secret society that aims to topple the current political and economic leadership, inflame racial and sectarian sentiments, and undermine the state. Court sessions were held on the 17th of July, 26th of August and 24th of September 2008. The Baathist presiding judge, Muhii’adeen Hallaq, found all defendants guilty of attempting to shake the public mood and spreading malicious rumours and sentenced them to two years and six months in prison. Fida’ Horni, Riad Seif, Ahmed Tu’ma Al - Khader, Akram Al - Buni, Ali Al - Abdullah, Jaber Al - Shufi, Yasser Al - Itti, Mohammed Hajji Darwish, Marawan Al - Ush, Fayez Sara and Talal Abu - Dan were sentenced to two and a half years in prison. A military court judge in Damascus sentenced engineer Mustafa Al - Dalati to six months in prison on the 18th of November 2008. Al - Dalati had been detained since the 9th of June 2008 for publicly expressing his support for the DDNDC. Syrian Authorities mounted pressure towards the end of the year on the relatives of engineer Ghassn Najjar, the prominent activist in the DDNDC, to coerce him into turning himself in. The fate of Dr. Mohammed Kamal Al - Muweel still remains unknown.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Civil Society and Human Rights Activists

Syrian Authorities intensified their campaign against civil society and human rights activists in 2008. Scores were arrested or rearrested in a move aimed at crushing civil and human rights which had blossomed in the past few years. Habib Saleh, an opposition activist, was arrested for the third time on the 7th of May 2008 in Tartus. He is still on trial. Mohammed Badee’ Dak - albaab, a former detainee and a human rights activist, was detained on the 19th of March 2008 for writing a column in which he commented on public affairs. He was sentenced to six months of prison and was released on the 17th of September 2008. Syrian Intelligence Services arrested the former detainee and philosophy teacher, Majed Khalid Alloush over his activist work. The Activist and former detainee, Osama Ashoor, was detained from the 13th till the 27th of August 2008. The journalist Hammam Haddad was held for three days (7 - 10 September 2008) at the headquarters of the State Security Intelligence Services. He had been earlier arrested in May 2008 before being released in July 2008, but Haddad ignored orders to present himself regularly at the State Security Intelligence Services which lead to his second arrest in September. Syrian security authorities refused to conform to the Court of Cassation’s decision of 2nd of November 2008 which commuted the sentences of the reformist and writer Michel Kilo and the activist Mahmoud Issa. Kilo and Issa were arrested after putting their signatures on the Beirut - Damascus Declaration. Dr. Arif Dalila, on the other hand, was released on the 7th of August 2008 in conformity with the court’s decision after he was arrested on the 9th of September 2001. He had been sentenced to ten years in prison for his activities during the so - called “Damascus Spring”. The liberal activist, Dr. Mohammed Kamal Al - Labwani, was sentenced to three additional years in prison on the 23rd of April 2008. A former ruling had sentenced him to 12 years in prison. The latest sentence was in response to disparaging remarks he made about the government in front of fellow offenders who had been ordered to spy on him in prison.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

The State Security Court sentenced the young blogger, Tariq Biassi, to three years in prison on the 11th of May 2008 over his internet activities. The activist, Gazzi Qadoor, was arrested during a routine visit to the General Intelligence Directorate in Aleppo on the 9th of June 2008. He was later released on the 11th of August 2008. A university student, Hussein Qassem, was arrested along with Qadoor but was released later. The activist, Ahmed Hajji Al - Khalaf, was sentenced to ten days in prison by a military court over an article he published in which he criticised the educational situation in Araqqah. The human rights activist, Osama Edward Qrayyo was arrested in al - Hasakah on the 27th of February 2008 before he was released on the 8th of March 2008. Professors Saleh Al - Ali, Tayseer Omar and Imad Rasheed from the Faculty of Shari'a at Damascus University were arrested on the 3rd of March 2008 following remarks they had made criticising the standards of living in the country. After extensive interrogations, both Al - Ali and Omar were released but Rasheed remained in custody until the 6th of March 2008. Rajab Juabili and his son, Murad Jubaili were arrested on the 25th of March 2008 for their involvement in public activities and have not yet been released. Mustafa Sheik, a surgeon, was arrested on the 27th of March 2008 for his charity work with some of his patients. It emerged in April of 2008 that engineer Mohammed Gaiath Kayyali, assistant manager of the Technical in Idlib’s provincial office, had been arrested since the beginning of the year. The poet and writer Firas Sa’ad, arrested on the 1st of November 2006 and held in Sednaya Prison, was sentenced to four years in prison after some of his poems and writings were deemed inflammatory. Human rights activist and member of the National Council for Human Rights, Otaiba Al - Arab, was arrested on the 24th of May 2008. Lawyer Abdullah Ali was arrested on the 30th of July 2008 and remained in custody until 12th of August 2008. He was forced to close down Al - Nazzaha website of which he was webmaster. Mithal Mohanna, an Austrian national, was arrested on the 18th of August 2008 for his alleged links with Syrian opposition figures. Abdul - Baqi Khalaf was last seen in front of his store on the 11th September 2008. Dr. Musallam Al - Zaibaq was arrested on the

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

21st of October 2008. Political activist Mustapha Al - Dallati, arrested on the 11th of June 2008, was sentenced to six months in prison on the 18th of November 2008. There are countless other cases that the Syrian Human Rights Committee is not yet aware of.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Law 49/198

A: List of the names of Syrians detained or arrested in accordance to the law in 2008 The campaign against members of the Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters has persisted unabated since 1980 in accordance with law 49/1980 which was introduced by the People’s Council (Parliament), at the behest of former president Hafez Al - Assad, on the 7th of July 1980. Al - Assad ratified the law the following day after which it became retroactively effective. The first article of the law carries the death sentence for any member in the Muslim Brotherhood, their supporters and sympathisers. Thousands of Syrian citizens have been killed as a result of introducing this law. It is worth noting that those persecuted by the law in the year 2008 were mostly the sons of members of the Muslim Brotherhood or supporters of the movement who had been forced into exile to escape death or were born into exile. Their only link to the Muslim Brotherhood was a relation of blood. When some attempted to return to Syria, they were arrested and tortured before being sentenced to death according to law 49. Sentences were commuted to twelve years of hard labour. They were also stripped of all their civil rights. The Syrian Human Rights Committee has identified the names of thirteen nationals who were arrested upon their return to Syria before being tried before the Supreme State Security Court. Some were sentenced in accordance with law 49/1980. Details of the trials of others remain unknown since the Supreme State Security Court began to hold its sessions in camera in the summer of 2008. 1 - Isamil Mohammed Al - Sheika from Aleppo. Detained since 21st of July 2006. He was sentenced to death on the 5th of May 2008 according to law 49/1980 but the sentence was later commuted to twelve years of hard labour in addition to being stripped of his civil rights. 2 - Mohammed Abdulhai Shalabi from Al - Tal in Rural Damascus, 58 years. Shalabi was arrested upon his return to Syria on 13th of December 2008 and sentenced to death in accordance with law 49/1980. Sentence was commuted to 8 years with hard labour in addition to being stripped of his civil rights.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

3 - Abdulhai Al - Ashram was on trial pursuant to law 49/1980 when the Supreme State Security Court sessions began to be held in camera. 4 - Mohammed Hayyan Al - Ruzouq, a student at the Faculty of Information Technology in Baghdad. He was on trial pursuant to law 49/1980 when the Supreme State Security Court sessions began to be held in camera. 5 - Mohammd Fawzi Yousf, a German national, was on trial pursuant to law 49/1980 when the Supreme State Security Court sessions began to be held in camera. 6 - Abdularahman Hafiz Bin Mahmoud from Aleppo. Mahmoud, an architectural designer who lived in Iraq for a while, was on trial in accordance with law 49/1980 when the Supreme State Security Court sessions began to be held in camera. 7 - Zuhair Sa’do from Hama, 32 years. Sa’ado, a restaurant employee who had lived in Saudi Arabia for a while, was on trial in accordance with law 49/1980 when the Supreme State Security Court sessions began to be held in camera. 8 - Abdulrahman Mahmoud Hafiz from Aleppo was on trial in accordance with law 49/1980 when the Supreme State Security Court sessions began to be held in camera. 9 - Abdulhameed Quabais, a patisserie employee, was on trial in accordance with law 49/1980 when the Supreme State Security Court sessions began to be held in camera. 10 - Fadi Issa from Hama, 21 years. Issa was on trial for being a member in an illegal organisation in accordance with law 49/1980 when the Supreme State Security Court sessions began to be held in camera. 11 - Anas Aljammas from Dayr - Azzawr, 21 years. He was on trial for being a member in an illegal organisation in accordance with law 49/1980 when the Supreme State Security Court sessions began to be held in camera. 12 - Kahiro Al - Attrash from Al - Ghab in Hama, 60 years. Al - Attrash was wanted for his Islamic leanings 26 years ago but went into hiding. The arrest of his only son traumatised him so deeply so he came out of hiding and was arrested in April 2008. It is believed he is on trial in accordance with law 49/1980.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

13 - Abdulrahman Wazzan from Aleppo, 50 years. Married with eleven children, Wazzan was arrested upon his return from France in December 2007. It is believed he is on trial in accordance with law 49/1980.

B: Syrians in Forced Exile Tens of thousands of Syrians have been forced to live in exile in neighbouring and foreign countries to escape persecution and law 49/1980. Up to three generations of some Syrian families could be living in exile under very grim living conditions, the alternative being returning to Syria and facing trial and law 49/1980. Life has become increasingly difficult for Syrians living in neighbouring countries. Many of those living in Iraq have been persecuted by US and Iraqi forces or died at the hands of sectarian militias simply because they were Syrian. As a result, most have been forced to leave Iraq. Those who had returned to Syria were arrested on arrival and put on trial in accordance with law 49/1980. The families that headed to Yemen are surviving under very hard conditions. All this misery is compounded by the difficulty of attaining residency in any country. A large number of Syrians in exile have not been able to obtain passports for themselves and their family members, especially those in Baghdad, because Syrian embassies have very strict conditions that are almost impossible to meet. The year 2008 witnessed the deportation of a large number of Syrians living in exile in neighbouring countries. Tougher restrictions have made it increasingly difficult for them to obtain residency in those countries. Many have lost their jobs as a result while others are seriously considering leaving but have nowhere to go. It is believed the Syrian regime has had a hand in creating those insufferable conditions for Syrians abroad. The summer vacation introduced a different kind of suffering. Many women and children who could visit Syria were subjected to unprecedented sessions of interrogation. In addition to being stopped at border checks, many were ordered to local security and intelligence offices in their provinces. There, they were subjected to fresh rounds of interrogation to force them to divulge information

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 about a husband, a son or a brother. Some were issued permits to leave the country while others were not.

C: Missing Detainees Syrian authorities are still adamant to ignore the issue of the thousands of detainees who have gone missing, some for as long as three decades. Nearly 17,000 missing Syrian are believed to have been horrifically murdered by the Syrian authorities. Some died in torture chambers, others were killed in cold blood, and some were executed after summary judgements, or perished from disease and epidemics in prison. It is believed that they were buried in mass graves or thrown out with the garbage. The Syrian Human Rights Committee received a massive number of queries from the relatives and friends of missing Syrians. Despite the commission’s assertions that they had been killed, relatives are still clutching at straws. They are hoping that their loved ones are still alive or could at least be buried in dignity. Without a confirmation of death, many legal and personal matters pertaining to those missing remain unresolved. The subject of the missing is considered taboo in Syria. Anyone caught discussing it publicly is severely punished including the relatives of those missing. Some families of the missing Syrians are still persecuted to this day. Others are subjected to financial blackmail by members of the intelligence services under the ruse that the missing relative is still alive and a visit could be arranged in return for a certain amount of money. The lack of information and disinterest of many human rights activist compounded by the ban placed by the authorities on any public discussion of the topic leaves many families susceptible to blackmail. The Syrian Human Rights Committee will carry on with its campaign in 2009 to collect more of the names of those who have gone missing in Syrian prisons.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Islamist Detainees

Despite its wide - ranging impact, the issue of Islamist detainees has received little attention by human rights activists. Syrian authorities have given themselves free rein to arrest, torture, and issue summary judgements against Islamist activists, taking full advantage of the so - called international war on terror. Security agreements with major international powers have authorised Syria to torture and interrogate detainees on their behalf. Syrian intelligence services are notorious for appearing to oppose certain international parties, thus attracting other opposing players, before it emerges that Syrian intelligence services had been laying a trap for them all along as was the case with Iraq and Fateh Al - Islam. Syrian Authorities have outlawed religious activism. Anyone with religious leanings is subjected to persecution. Islamist detainees are tortured and punished with maximum sentences. Membership in the Muslim Brotherhood carries the death sentence pursuant to law 49/1980. Belonging to the Salafi movement, described as “extremist Wahabbi and Takfiri”, is judged to be a membership in a terrorist organisation that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. Membership in Hizb Al - Tahrir is recognised as belonging to a secret society that endeavours to transform the economic and social landscape of the country. Outward religious observances or report from an informer about a religious individual are sufficient grounds for arrest, interrogation, torture, a prison sentence with hard labour and being stripped of all civil rights. Following are some of the cases recorded by the Syrian Human Rights Committee: A security force carried out a campaign of arrests in Asfeireh Village in Aleppo on the 22nd of January 2008. Thirteen citizens were arrested: Hamza Haji Hamza (Shari’a student), Husam Qana’a (Shari’a student), Mohammed Raheem (teacher), Barakat Al - Aswad (pharmacist), and Mohammed Mu’ath Qana’a (Sharia’a student). The university student, Mohammed Tawfeeq Karazon, 23 years, was arrested after dawn prayers at a mosque in Aleppo on the 15th January 2008. Firas Al - Fawwaz was arrested along with 13 of his friends on the 21st of February 2008 on charges of being

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 involved in religious activities in February 2008. A group of citizens from Hatlah were arrested in Dayr - Azzawr for protesting against Shiitisation (spreading Shi’i school of thought) in their area. Among those arrested were Tariq Al - Hassan (engineer), Ahmed Tu’ma (dentist), and Ahmed Al - Rumh (a teacher at the Sports Institute). Mussa Mustapha Hamada, a mosque imam from Aleppo, was arrested on the 26th of March 2008. Details about the reasons and the location of his arrest remain unknown. The pharmacist, Dia’adeen Al - Zamil, a religious citizen from Aleppo, was arrested without any reasonable cause in May 2008. Mansoor Khairo Al - Attrash, a 26 - year - old medical student from Hama, was arrested in April 2008 over a visit some Iraqis living in Syria had paid him. The renowned Islamic scholar Yousef Omar Mubaiad was arrested around June 2008. Majd Ass’eed, a 30 - year - old imam and preacher at Ma'arrat - Artiq mosque in Idlib, was arrested in July 2008. Basil Ghalyoon was arrested upon his arrival from Spain on the 22nd of July 2008. Ghalyoon had spent four years in a Spanish jail before charges against him were dropped. On the 31st of July 2008, Mrs. Yussra Al - Hussein was arrested because her husband is held in Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp. Mrs. Rawa’a Al - Kilani, wife of Ziad Al - Kilani, and Mrs. Bayan, wife of Saleh Ahmed Ali, were both arrested on the 4th of August 2008. Both their husbands are detained in Sednaya. Issam Dillo from Dayr - Azzawr was arrested on the 22nd of August 2008 upon his arrival in Syria from Saudi Arabia, where he had been living in forced exile. He was released on the 8th of May 2008. On the 6th of February 2008, it was revealed that Mohammed Zuhair Hamawi, born in 1977, and Samer Adel Al - Jundi, born in 1972, were arrested at the clothes - making shop where they work in Damascus in 2007. The reasons and location of their arrest remain unknown. Abdullah Musallam Al - Khaleel from Dayr - Azzawr, imam of Alshagfa Mosque in Albukmal, was arrested in October 2008. No information is yet available about the reasons and location of his arrest. Khaldoon Al - Jazza’iri, a doctor, researcher and Islamic scholar, was arrested on 26th of August 2008 over opinions he expressed in one of his books. Waheed Bitar, Mahmoud Abu - Baker, Mahmoud Basmaji, Mohammed Khalid Heita (Shari’a

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 teacher), Ghazzal Aswad and Omar Hajji (doctor) were all arrested over religion - related opinions they had voiced. On the 13th of August 2008, Mohammed Ameen Ashwaa, Hassan Mohammed, Thabet Al - Hassan, Sufian Dameem, Abdulhadi Al - Salama, Mohammed Taha, Bilal Hashem Sufian, Abdulrazzaq Al - Qubissi, Nabeel Abdulhammed Khilyawi, Burhan Junaid, Iyad Hussen and Mohammed Ahmed Tameem were arrested for voicing moderate Islamic views. No information of their whereabouts has yet become available. Maths teacher, Ibrahim Mohammed Saleh Attiya, was arrested during the same period. Bassam Zakkia, born in 1983 in Hama, was arrested three months after returning to Syria. The State Security Court tried scores of Islamists during 2008. The following are some of the sentences handed down by the court before sessions began to be held in camera in June of 2008. The court sentences Hassan Mamdouh Al - Jabiri to three years in prison and Ali Abdulrazzaq to two years in prison on the 3rd of February 2008 on charges of belonging to the Salafi Movement. Al - Jabiri was accused of belonging to a secret society that aims to transform the economic and social landscape of the country. Abdulrazzaq was charged with inciting sectarian hatred. In a session held on the 10th of February 2008, Maher Othman and Safwan Ibrahim were sentenced to two years in prison for inflaming racial and sectarian tensions which is a euphemism for belonging to the Salafi Movement. During the same session, Ali Nizar Hussein, detained since 5th of September 2006, was sentenced to five years in prison for belonging to a secret society that aims to transform the economic and social landscape of the state. Hussam Mamdouh Ar’oor, born in 1974 in Hama, was sentenced to six years in prison on the same charges. Qutaibah Ahmed Abdulfattah, born in 1958 in Idlib and detained since 21st of September 2006, was sentenced to six years in prison on the 11th of February 2008 for belonging to an organisation that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means and weaken nationalist sentiments. Zaher Ahmed Quaider, born in 1974 and detained since 4th of June 2006, Ahmed Bin Farouq Abu - Shawareb, born in 1940 and detained since 3rd of June 2006, and Amjad Bin Khalaf Al - Khelif, detained since 3rd of June 2006, were all sentenced to life and hard

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 labour on the 18th of February 2008 for encouraging terrorist acts and belonging to a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. During the same court session, Mohammed and his brother Ayman Bin Khalid Al - Qallesh, both detained since 14th June 2008, were sentenced to twelve years with hard labour for belonging to a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. Samer Bin Abdulfattah Al - Quka, detained since 2nd of July 2006, was sentenced to ten years of prison with hard labour. Mohammed Jihad Bin Abdulfattah Al - Qallish, detained since 14th of June 2008, was sentenced to eight years with hard labour for belonging to a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. Osama Bin Mohammed Al - Sharif was sentenced to nine years on the same charges. During the court’s session on the 25th of February 2008, Ali Saleh Khalaf Ottman from al - Hasakah, detained since 24th of July 2006, was sentenced to five years with hard labour for belonging to a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. Suahib Al - Ulabi, born in Damascus in 1986 and detained since 3rd of August 2006, was sentenced to three years with hard labour on the same charges. University Students, Mohammed Ziad Ghunaim, Ahed Sa’eed Yousef, Mohammed Al - Argga and Wa’el Majdallawi, all of whom had been detained since 13th of July 2006, were sentenced on the 2nd of March 2008 for their Islamic leanings. It has not been possible to ascertain the length of their prison sentences. The Supreme State Security Court held a session on the 10th of March 2008 during which Manhal Bin Ali S’eifan, born in 1971 in Rural Damascus and detained since 16th of September 2004, was sentenced to eleven years in prison with hard labour for perpetrating terrorist acts. During the same session, Issam Ali Okasha, born in Rural Damascus in 1986 and detained since 16th of September 2004, was sentenced to ten years in prison with hard labour on the same charges. The court also sentenced Izzadeen Ahmed Hajj Qassem, born in Baniyas in 1973 and detained since 30th of September 2004, to nine years in prison with hard labour for

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 belonging to a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. During the 18th of March session, the court sentenced Tayseer Na’san from Homs, detained since April 2006, to twelve years in prison with hard labour for belonging to Hizb Al - Tahrir. Hilal Hamid Awwar, from Araqqah, detained since 12th of October 2005, was sentenced to twelve years in prison with hard labour for establishing an organisation that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. Adel Ahmed Al - Hajja from Araqqah, detained since 12th of October 2005, was sentenced to eight years with hard labour on the same charges. Mohammed Ishiwi Al - Jalawi from Araqqah, detained since 29th of September 2005, Juma’ Bin Hussein Al - Shihada from Araqqah, detained since 12th of October 2005, and Yasser Hameed Al - Saleh from Araqqah, detained since 12th of October 2005, were all sentenced to seven years in prison on the same charges. During the court session held on the 7th of April 2008, Atheer Khalid Ashukur from Dayr - Azzawr, detained since 7th of January 2007, was sentenced to five years in prison for belonging to a society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. The court also held a session on the 28th of April 2008 during which it sentenced Nouri Hmoud Al - Nayyef Al - Jassab Al - Azzi, born in al - Hasakah in 1970 and detained since 18th July 2008, to five years in prison with hard labour. Salman Khalaf Jabir, born in al - Hasakah in 1981 and detained since the 18th of July 2008, was sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour. Both detainees were charged with belonging to a society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. Ali Abdulrahman Yousfan was sentenced during the same session to four years for belonging to the Salafi Movement. On the 11th of May 2008, the court sentenced the following to various prison sentences for belonging to a to a society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means, carrying out illegal activities and weakening nationalist sentiments: Mohammed Ghuson, born in Rural Damascus in 1972 and detained since 14th of April 2005, was sentenced to four years with hard labour. Mohammad Addibis, born in Rural Damascus in 1971 and detained

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 since the 30th of June 2005, was sentenced to five years with hard labour. Abdulmuhsen Al - Sheik Bin Hajj, born in Araqqah in 1974 and detained since 26th of December 2005, was sentenced to ten years with hard labour. Mohamed Bin Nasser Nasser, born in Rural Damascus in 1973 and detained since 26th of December 2005, was sentenced to twelve years with hard labour. Nasser Bin Nasser, born in Al - Quanytirah in 1973 and detained since 26th of December 2005, was sentenced to ten years with hard labour. Mohammed Eid Bin Issa Al - Ahmed, born in Rural Damascus in 1975 and detained since 14th of August 2005, was sentenced to ten years with hard labour. Finally, Samer Al - Mansoor Bin Mohammed, born in Aleppo in 1985 and detained since 30th of May 2006, was sentenced to four years with hard labour. During the 16th of June 2008 session, the court sentenced Saifadeen Sheik Moussa to eight years for carrying out illegal activities and exposing Syria to acts of aggression. On the 29th of June 2008, the court sentenced the following detainees to six years in prison with hard labour for belonging to a secret society of Salafi nature: Khalid Al - Okla Bin Abdulraham (detained 27th of September 2005) and Ahmed Al - Khalid (detained since 8th of September 2008). The following were sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour for belonging to a secret society of Salafi nature: Ahmed Mir’i (detained since 12th of September 2005), Khalid Al - Khalid (detained since 8th of September 2005) and Qassem Al - Khalid (detained since 12th of September 2005). During the session held on the 23rd of June 2008, the court sentenced Mohammed Adnan Bakkor, born in 1980 and detained since 5th of March 2006, to seven years in prison with hard labour, Yousef Al - Tork, born in 1984 and detained since 7th of March 2006, to six years in prison with hard labour and Atif Karam Al - Rashid, born in 1984 and detained since 7th of March 2006, to five years in prison with hard labour. All three were persecuted for their religious leanings. The State Security Court interrogated Saleh Salah Susa (born in Rural Damascus in 1974) for the first six months of the year for allegedly inciting sectarian tensions by belonging to the Salafi Movement. Mohammed Zallouq and nine other detainees were

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 interrogated on the 25th of May 2008 for belonging to a secret society that aims to transform the economic and social landscape of the country. On the 10th of February 2008, the court interrogated Mohammed Zaqzouq, Sa’ad Al - Saket, Mustafa Tarabulsi, Hakam Al - Na’san, Mahmoud Ashraf, Abdulmun’im Barakat, Abdulaziz Abdulrahman, Basheer Qassar, Bassam Lutfi and Wael Kubaisi before it postponed their trial to a later date. On the 24th of February, the court interrogated Abdulmajeed Ghunaim (a construction worker born in Idlib in 1974) and Abdulrahman Al - Nuaimi (a farmer born in Idlib in 1974) for belonging to the Salafi Movement. They both denied subscribing to Wahabbi Takfiri ideology. During the same session, the court interrogated Mohanned Al - Omar (a farmer born in Dayr - Azzawr in 1985). Al - Omar, who had been detained since 31st of July 2006, was accused of belonging to a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state through violent means because he travelled to Iraq. His name was among those who had been killed in the Sednaya Prison massacre. The court also interrogated Izzat Hawari from Latakia but he denied belonging to a Wahhabi Sect and said that confessions were extracted from him under duress. On the 2nd of March 2008, the court interrogated Saeed Hamada Bin Mahmoud from Akraba in Rural Damascus for belonging to the Wahhabi Salafi Movement. He told the court that his earlier confessions were extracted under torture and duress. During the same session, the court also questioned Mohammed Yassin Alfia from Rural Damascus who had been detained since 21st of August 2008 for inciting sectarian tensions. He denied having any links to the Salafi Movement. His trial was postponed to a later date. The court also interrogated Amir Al - Salkadi, a restaurant employee from Dar’a, over charges of seeking to shake the public mood. He told the court that confessions were extracted from him under duress. On the 10th of March 2008, the court questioned Ahmed Ali Al - Khalid (born in Rural Damascus in 1970), Ahmed Mir’i Al - Khalf (born in Rural Damascus in 1968), Khalid Ali Al - Khalaf (born in Rural Damascus in 1975), Khalid Abdurahman Al - Qal’a ( a pharmacist born in Rural Damascus in 1973) and Qassim Ali Al - Khalid (born in Rural Damascus in 1968). On the day of the court

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 questioning, all detainees had been held in custody for almost two and a half years. They denied the charge of belonging to Salafi Movement. On the same date, the court also interrogated Mohammed Talal Mahrooq, a computer engineer from Aleppo, on charges of carrying out illegal activities. He denied any wrongdoing. The court also interrogated Ahmed Saleh Al - Tahhan, a farmer from Idlib, on charges of belonging to a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. He denied all charges and stressed that he was a simple farmer who had no knowledge of the Salafi Movement. On the 18th of March 2008, the court questioned Abdulkareem Ajjaj on charges of belonging to the Salafi Movement. He denied all charges. During the 7th of April session, the court interrogated Dr. Nafi’ Qurra Janna (Born in 1964 in Latakia). Detained since the 27th of June 2008 for belonging to a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means, his trial was postponed until the 4th of May 2008. On the 13th of April 2008, the court questioned Mohammed Bin Omar Al - Sa’di, Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al - Sa’di, Shaher bin Jabr Omran, Faris Bin Jabr Omran, Samir Ali Al - Shalabi, Faris Mohammed Al - Jabawwi, Yasser Mohammed Al - Khalil and Khalid Raslan on charges of belonging to the Salafi Movement, i.e. a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means, weaken nationalist sentiments and incite sectarian tensions. On the 14th of April 2008, the court questioned Hussein Bin Ali Jum’a from Al - Quanytirah, Mohammed Bin Abdo Al - A’sood from Al - Quanytirah, Omar Bin Mohammed Al - Hussein from Al - Quanytirah, Awad Al - Muklif from Dayr - Azzawr, and Hussam Hamdan, all of whom had been detained since November 2005. They were charged with belonging to the Salafi movement and belonging to a secret society that aims to change the structure of the state by violent means. Their trial was postponed till the 8th of June 2008. On the 20th of April 2008, the court questioned Wissam Ghourani, Abdulrahman Al - Salti, and Durgham Huwaidi from Dayr - Azzawr, all of whom had been detained since 19th of September 2005. They

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 were charged with belonging to the Salafi Movement. During the same session, Ahmed First Al - Rikabi, a printing shop employee from Aleppo detained since 20th of July 2005, was questioned over wearing an Afghan costume during Friday prayers. He was charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation. The court also questioned Mustapha and Omar Jiblawi who had detained for a year and a half for inflaming sectarian tensions. During the 4th of May 2008, the court questioned Mohammed Hmoud Al - Ibrahim for belonging to Hizb Al - Tahrir. Also questioned were Nafi’ Karjanna, Yasser Makees, Osama Nissani, Yasser Oof and Imad Al - Sahin for belonging to the Salafi Movement. During June, the court questioned Hegel Al - Eliwi (from al - Qamishli), Osama Dab’an (from Hama), Mustapha Mamo (from Jisr - eshoughoor), and Omar Bin Mohammed Sheik (Jisr - eshoughoor) for belonging to a terrorist organisation. On the 18th of May 2008, the court questioned engineer Abdulrazzaq Salim Al - Abood (born in Hama in 1975) over his plans to travel to Iraq. On the same date, the court also questioned the brothers Mohamed Bassam and Firas Al - Mujtabi from Damascus for belonging to the Salafi Movement. The Syrian Human Rights Committee has not been able to obtain information about sentences issued against most of these detainees because court sessions began to be held in camera.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Random Arrests

All detentions in Syria can be classified as random. The Emergency Law allows arrests to be made without legal warrants or any form of organising principles. Even the most junior official could issue a verbal order of arrest, interrogation, torture and abuse. Most random arrests are based on informers’ reports, usually full of falsehoods and lacking any credibility. Most of these reports are spiteful attempts to settle disputes and grievance. Often, security officers make up these reports to implicate innocent citizens. Similar to previous sections, we shall provide some of the countless examples of these random and illegal arrests. On the 2nd of February 2008, Faysal Ahmed Kurdi, born in 1975, was arrested at Damascus airport upon his arrival from Germany without being provided with any reason for his arrest. Firas Fawaz, 22 years and Rajab Juabili and his son were arrested in Latakia on the 22nd of March 2008. Mustapha Al - Sheikh, a medical doctor at a hospital in Aleppo, was arrested on the 27th of March 2008. In April 2008, we learned that Mohammed Gai’ath Kayyali, assistant director at Idilb Technical Services Department, was had been arrested months before without any clear reason. Hameed Sheikho was arrested on the 19th of March 2008 for throwing a wedding party without obtaining a permit. He was later released. Jasem Ahmed Al - Issa, Tansh Aziz Al - Ali, Yasser Hmoud Zo’aib (all 9th grade students), Ramadan Salloum Zo’abi, Saleh Khurfan and others were arrested during a sit - in to protest in the rise in the prices of consumer goods in the village of Sagheer Jazeera in Dayr - Azzawr. In January, Yasser Al - Abed was arrested at his home in front of his wife and children for accessing banned websites. His family was blackmailed by some security officials. A security body kidnapped Omnia Mohammed Khair Lahham from a street in Aleppo on his way back home with his wife and children. Military Security forces arrested Riad Alloush, 38 years, in May 2008. He was transferred to the Palestine Branch in Damascus despite his ailing health due to kidney failure. Thirteen youths were arrested for sympathising with the opposition National Salvation Front. Ahmed Hamada, Younis Farhan and Saddam Al - Jassem were identified to be among those arrested. On the 14th of September, authorities arrested

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Imadadeen Mustapha, Muhi’iadeen Musfa and Majed Alloush for participating in a seminar held in the town of Hatla in Dayr - Azzawr. On the 21st of October, Dr. Musallam Al - Zaibaq, a poet, writer and journalist born in 1959 in Aleppo, was arrested for no apparent reason. Osama Hamdan Makarim, director of the Future Institute for Education, was arrested following a disagreement he had with well - connected businessman. When Makarim won all the legal cases contested between them, he was arrested on the 19th of October 2008 before being released the following day. He was later arrested on the 15th of November and has not yet been released. Bassam Zakkiah, born in Hama in 1983, was arrested on the 17th of November 2008, three months after his return from Jordan. The Supreme State Security Court sentenced Ali Ghassan Bakr Tayasneh on the 6th of April 2008 to three years in prison for inflaming sectarian tensions. On the 13th of April 2008, Ali Shawki Abdulraheem Al - Haddad from Hama was sentenced to two years in prison for withholding information about a crime on the security of the state. Mohammed Hilal Abu - Alhawa, born in Aleppo in 1958, was sentenced to three years in prison for disclosing confidential information. On the 16th of June 2008, the Supreme State Security Court sentenced Ali Al - Jundi, born in al - Qamishli in 1979, to ten years with hard labour on the charges of passing information to a foreign country. Izzat Fa’iq Mustapha was sentenced to seven and a half years, Khalid Osso Bin Shukri to two years, and Mustapha Bin Khalid Kiddo to a year and a half for carrying out illegal activities. The Supreme State Security Court questioned Mohammed Khair Al - Halabi on the 17th of Feberuary 2008 over claims that he tried to buy products from an enemy state. Shawki Al - Haddad Abdulrahman was questioned on the 2nd of March 2008 on charges of withholding information about a crime. On the 18th of May 2008, Mohamed Ahmed Ayyan was questioned over charges that he took part in anti - Syrian demonstration in Lebanon. On the 16th of June, the court resumed interrogating Samer Zugmot, Abdulrazzaq Ahmed Al - Sheikh Ibahim, Khalid Issa Al - Moussa, Mahmoud Bin Hussein Gibari, Ahmed Kamel Al - Shalaq, Mohammed Khalid Dallah Hassan, Abdusalam Issa Al - Moussa, Ramez Al - Haj Yousef, Ahmed Dirawi, Omar Khalil Sultan, Baha’ Mahmoud Al - Basha, and Basem Karbou’.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Kurdish Detainees

The year 2008 witnessed unprecedented levels of arrests among Kurdish activists and citizens. Reciting a poem, wearing traditional Kurdish costumes, or working with a Kurdish troupe are sufficient grounds for long periods of arrest and serious charges, so are taking part in Kurdish celebrations, mournings, or sit - ins. Detainees awaiting trial, continuously postponed, are usually ill - treated, robbed of their freedoms and abused. Kurdish activists are usually arrested and accused of belonging to a secret organisation suspected of plotting to carve out part of Syria and annex it to a foreign country or cause disturbances and sow the seeds of discord. Joan Shamsadden Mula Ibrahim, a former detainee, was arrested at his home on the 14th of January 2008. Izzideen Mohammed Hussein, a German national, was arrested on the 12th of January 2008 at Damascus airport upon his arrival from Germany where he had lived for 9 years. Meanwhile, authorities ordered the release of Jihan Omar who had been arrested since 17th of June 2007. Six youths, who had been arrested in November 2007 following a peaceful demonstration, were also released: Siban Khalid Ali, Bishnek Jamal Sareek (15 years), Hassan Ahmed Hassan (16 years), Tahseen Taha Fatah, Shnidar Salah Ali, Nafi’ Abdulraouf Ghida and Khalid Mohammed Isamil. On the 3rd of Feburary 2008, the State Security Court sentenced four Kurds to various prison sentences for belonging to a secret organisation deemed to plot to carve out part of Syria and annex it to a foreign country. Ahmed Hassan Habash and Hameed Mohamed Bin Suleiman were sentenced to ten years. Ibrahim Al - Hajj Yousef and Adnan Ma’meesh were sentenced to seven years in prison. All defendants were arrested during a peaceful sit - in held in the town of Ifrin on the 20th of March 2006. Fifty Kurds were put on trial before a military judge in Damascus for participating in a peaceful march in al - Qamishli on the 6th of May 2005 in protest against the kidnapping and assassination of Sheik Mohammed Ma’shouq Al - Khaznawi. They were sentenced to six months in prison on the 14th of September 2008.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

The prominent Kurdish activist Othman Suleiman Bin Hajji, former member of the Syrian People’s Council, was released on the 6th of February 2008. He had been detained for a year at the Mussalamia Prison but was released following the deterioration of his health from colon cancer. He passed away on the 18th of February 2008. State Security Branch in Aleppo arrested Jihan Mohammed Ali and Hanifa Hubbo on the 17th of February 2008 and Jakar Khwain Ahmed on the 20th of February 2008 for taking part in a peaceful gathering to protest against the continued incarceration of Abudllah Ocalan in Turkey. Jan Rasoul, a unionist at the Grains Department in Tel - Azzitoun, was arrested on the 26th of February 2008 and was not released until the 26th of May 2008. Azzad Othman from Al - Ashrafiah neighbourhood in Aleppo was arrested on the 28th of February 2008. Howazzen Mohammed Ibrahim, a university student and a former detainee from Damascus, was arrested on the 17th of February 2008 for no apparent reason. One of the prominent leaders of the Yakti Party was released on the 25th of February 2008 following his arrest near the Syrian Lebanese Borders on the 12th of August 2008. On the 3rd of March 2008, he appeared before a military court charged with belonging to a secret society, inflaming sectarian tensions and sowing the seeds of conflict. Four members of the same family which specialises in clothes - making were arrested in Damascus on the 13th of Mary 2008. They were accused of wearing traditional Kurdish costumes and they are: Juma’ Abdulaziz Hamdo, Ahmed Abdulaziz Hamdo, Mohammed Amin Hamdo and Bahman Abdulaziz Hamdo. Ismail Mohammed Ahmed, a university student from Aleppo, was arrested on the 7th of March 2008. Joan Rami Bin Bano from Aynul - Arab and the two youths, Simar Sheiki Bin Wisso and Nihad Bozan, were arrested on the 8th of March 2008 following a gathering to celebrate International Women’s Day in Jabal Mashtah and Aynul - Arab. On the 20th of March 2008, Syrian Authorities opened fire on a group that had gathered to celebrate the Newroz in al - Qamishli. Mohammed Zaki Ramadan, Mohammed Yahia Khalil and Mohammed Mahmoud Al - Sayyed were killed. The injured included Riad Sheikhi, a bullet to the shoulder, Karam Ibrahim Al - Yousef, a bullet to the head, Muhiadeen Hajj Jamil Issa, a bullet to the

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 abdomen, Mohammed Kheir Khalaf, a bullet to the abdomen, Abdul - Ghani Yousef, Riad Hussein, and the child Khalil Suleiman Hussen, 9 years, who sustained a bullet injury to the back. The activist, Ahmed Mustapha Mohamed from Beir Rustum, was summoned by the Air Force Intelligence Services on the 5th of March 2008. He was not released until the 22nd of March 2008. Ahmed Saleh from al - Qamishli was arrested by the military intelligence services while trying to obtain a “Not Condemned Record” certificate. He was later transferred to Damascus. A student, Owaz Abdulkareem, was arrested on the 15th of March 2008 but was later released. Hunaifi Khalaf Ali, a taxi driver from the village of Hankoush in Aynul - Arab, was arrested for driving a group celebrating International Women’s Day to the celebration venue. Two high school students from Rumailan in al - Hasakah, Jomrad Ahmed Hussein and Zaki Saleh, were arrested on the 26th of March 2008 after a fellow student, the son of an informer, snitched on them. Mohammed Issa (Zardasht Issa) from the town of Kartal in Tel - Alarab, was released on the 17th of March 2008. He was arrested on the 24th of December 2006 for writing a poem in Kurdish. Bower Abdulrazzaq, a youth from the village of Sanjak in Amoda, was arrested on the evening of the 20th of March 2008 on his way home. Five Kurdish youths appeared before the Supreme State Security Court after an informer snitched on them to the Military Police: Nazmi Mohammed Abdulhanan, Yasha Qader Bin Khalid, Ahmed Darwish Bin Khalil, Dalkash Mimmo Bin Shimmo who were all arrested in January 2008. Abdulwahab Al - Sayyed and Farman Habash appeared before the court for contacting an Iraqi national. Qais Ahmed Ali was arrested at his home in Al - Mazzeh in Damascus on the 2nd of April of 2008 in his pyjamas. He was not released until the 28th of July 2008. Ahmed Ibrahim Mousa, 13 years, was released on the 16th of April. He was arrested on the 28th of February 2008 in al - Qamishli following a row with the son of a policeman. The writer Khalid Mohammed was released on 15th of June 2008 after five days of being arrested for travelling to Northern Iraq. Authorities released the university student, Mohammed Noor Ahmed, on the 29th of June 2008. He was arrested by the

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 intelligence services in Aleppo on the 16th of March 2008 for observing five minutes of silence to mark the Halabja Massacre. The University student, Waleed Mohammed Ali Hussein, was arrested by the Political Security Services on the 7th of April 2008. Hussein Beiro Malla Darwish and Bahrooz Sharif Yousef, from al - Hasakah, both residents of Damascus, were arrested on the 3rd of May 2008 by the Air Force Intelligence Services and were charged with belonging to a secret organisation that plots to carve out parts of Syria and annex them to a foreign country. Innayat Khan from Aleppo was arrested in mid - February 2008. Five members from one Kurdish family were arrested on the 29th of May 2008 following a report by an informer: Ahmed Sa’do, Ibrahim Sa’do, Akti Sa’do, Abdurazzaq Sa’do and Nidhal Sa’do. Kamiran Mohammed, Mustapha Rushniah, Jihad Tal’at and Inyat Khan were arrested on the 25th of June 2008 on charges of plotting to carry out terrorist attacks. The State Security Court questioned Joan Khalil Okash from Aleppo ad Okar Ramadan Bin Abdulhamid from al - Hasakah on charges of belonging to a secret organisation that plots to carve out parts of Syria and annex them to a foreign country and weakening nationalist sentiments. Both are charged with belonging to the Kurdish Workers Party which was not outlawed until 1998. The trial was postponed until the 28th of July 2008. Mohammed Mousa Al - Mohammed, Secretary General of the Left Kurdish Party, was arrested on the 19th of July 2008 after he was called in for questioning. Al - Mohammed was turned over to a military court in Aleppo on the 23rd of July 2008 for belonging to a secret organisation and disturbing the mood of the nation. He was later released from the Palestine Branch on the 5th of October 2008. He is currently on trial for promoting unlicensed Kurdish books. A student at the Middle College, Sardar Mohammed Siddiq Othman from al - Qamishli, was arrested on the 20th of March 2008. No information is yet available about his whereabouts. Ahmed Yousef from Aleppo was arrested on the 16th of February 2008 over his involvement with Kurdish parties. He was later transferred to the Political Branch in Damascus. Rizan Sharif Yousef was arrested in June 2008 and released on the 28th of July 2008 before being

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 rearrested on the 7th of September 2008. Riyad Alloush was arrested in May 2008. He is now held at the Palestine Branch. The spokesperson for Tayyar Al - Mustaqbal (Future Movement), engineer Masha’al Al - Tummu, was kidnapped on the 15th of August 2008 on his way to Aleppo. He appeared before the Criminal Court on the 18th of September 2008 on charges of inciting civil strife and undermining the state. His trial is still in progress. Joan Abdo Bin Fawaz, a former detainee, and Ra’ed Fawaz Al - Ali were arrested by the Political Security Branch in al - Hasakah on the 3rd of August 2008. The following day, Mazkeen Mustapha Bin Fadel and Salahadeen Birro were arrested. On the 21st of August 2008, Omran Al - Sayyed, member of the public relations office of Tayar Al - Mustaqbal, was arrested by the police department of Amouda and handed over to the Political Security Branch in al - Hasakah where he remained until he appeared before a military judge on the 1st of September 2008. Bayram Mohammed Bin Othman was arrested at Ifrin market on the 13th of August 2008. On the 24th of August 2008, Shukri Hasan, a prominent figure among the Syrian Kurds and a resident of Saudi Arabia, was arrested near a border check - point. Talal Mohamed, a remember of the coordinating committee of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Accord, was arrested on the same day in al - Hasakah. The Kurdish poet, Howazen Sheikh Mousa Mohammed (Howazen Badelli) was arrested by the Military Intelligence Services on the 3rd of September 2008 in al - Qamishli before being released on the 4th of November 2008. The Military Intelligence Services also arrested Mohammed Sa’id Abdi, manager of the Kurdish Narain folklore troupe on the 31st of August 2008. The Political Security Branch arrested Nihad Oskan at his home in al - Qamishli while he was still in his pyjamas on the 11th of September 2008. Abdulbaqi Khalaf was arrested in front of his shop in al - Qamishili on the 11th of September 2008. The Political Security Branch arrested Miss Nowihar Mustapha Bint Ibrahim in September 2008. The State Security Intelligence Services arrested Fa’iq Zorro on the 5th of September 2008. Military Security arrested Bashar Amin Al - Ali, member of the political committee of the Azadi Party, at his home on the 23rd of September 2008. He was later released. A

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 conscript, Jihad Huanifi Bin Sheik Abdulqader Sheik Othman, was arrested at in April 2008 while on army duty because he was caught wearing a pendant depicting the Kurdish flag. Military Security Services arrested Sa’doon Shekhi from Ras - Al - Ein and Mohammed Sa’id Al - Omar from al - Hasakah, two leading members of the Kurdish Azadi Party, at their homes on the 26th of October 2008. The Political Security Branch arrested Saif Al - Kado and Nader Nawwaf Khalil from Alderbasiah on the 13th of October 2008 for their involvement with Kurdish folklore groups. Hasan Saleh was released on the 2nd of November 2008. Mrs. Fatimah Shukri Othman was arrested in Aleppo on the 26th of October 2008 and was handed over to the Palestine Branch in Damascus over accusations that her two brothers were members of the Kurdish Workers Party. Talal Mohammed, detained on the 24th of August 2008, was released on the 25th of November 2008. Twenty - four Kurds are still on trial before a military court for participating in a peaceful sit - in. The Kurdish citizen Ahmed Qussara from Aynul - Arab was summoned by the State Security Branch on the 31st of December 2008. No information is yet available about his fate although he has no record of any political activities. It is impossible to include all the names of those who have been arrested in this report but the above serve as a representative sample.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Arab Detainees

Syrian Authorities persisted in detaining and hiding hundreds of Arabs from neighbouring countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. The issue of Arab detainees in Syria still has not been addressed as authorities rarely acknowledge their presence in Syrian prisons. Lebanon, for example, has repeatedly called upon the Syrian government to disclose the fate of 650 detainees believed to have disappeared in Syrian prisons during the 1980s and 1990s of the last century. Lebanese human rights activists have confirmed that Syrian authorities have finally admitted that 46 Lebanese nationals have been held by various security departments but refused to discuss the issue further. Only one detainee, whose name was not made public, was released in February 2008 after 16 years of detention. The Syrian Human Rights Committee has also learned from a former detainee that two priests are being held in a Syrian prison. The former detainee said that he had shared a cell with them in al - Hasakah. He added that Father Sulieman Abu - Khalil and Father Albert Abu - Shirfan, arrested on the 13th of October 1990, had been given new names in prison. The Supreme State Security Court sentenced the Lebanese national, Hasan Nab’a, to twenty years in prison for charges of sedition and collaboration against Syria. The national Committee for the Defence of Jordanian Detainees has revealed that more than 250 Jordanian nationals are held in Syria. Syrian Authorities have refused to disclose the real number. Despite intensive efforts by the Jordanian government, Syria refused to release any Jordanian detainees in 2008 except for Abdullah Abu - Shihada whose body was handed over. Abu - Shihada was held in Sednaya Prison where a massacre was committed shortly before his body was released. There were several calls towards the end of August 2008 for the release of Mustapha Abdullatif, a Jordanian national held in Sednaya for almost a year for no apparent reason, but the Syrian Authorities, as usual, ignored these pleas. The issue of Jordanian detainees in Syria has not made any progress and still awaits more concerted efforts between the governments of the two

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 countries although hope is diminishing that these Jordanian nationals are still alive. The Iraqi national, Abdulrahman Mohammed Mashhadani, born in Baghdad in 1970, was detained on charges of obtaining confidential information about Syria for the purpose of passing it on to a foreign government. It has not been possible to ascertain his fate due to the fact that the State Security Court sessions have been held in camera since June 2008. The Supreme State Security Court questioned the two Iraqi nationals, Hasan Farhat Bin Mohammed and Mohammed Saleh, on the 7th of April 2008, on charges of belonging to a secret society that aims to transform the economic and social landscape of the country by terrorist means, a euphemism for the two defendants’ Islamic leanings. On the 20th of April 2008, the same court questioned the Iraqi national, Mahmoud Affat from Anbar, on charges of carrying out illegal activities and belonging to a secret society that aims to transform the economic and social landscape of the country. He, too, is an Islamist. On the 18th of May, the court also questioned the detained retired officer, Abdulrahman Juma’, 48 years, who was living with his family in Syria. The State Security Court sentenced the Iraqi retired Major General, Saleem Daoud Al - Farhan, born in 1956 in Falluja, to four years in prison on charges of carrying out illegal activities that exposed Syria to foreign acts of aggressions. He was living with his family in Syria at the time. On the 20th of June 2008, the Sudanese journalist Hashem Othman, chief - editor of Fadaat Dawlia (International Horizons) which is published in Syria, was arrested. We have not been able to find out if he has been released or not. This report has reviewed the arrests and trials of Palestinians in the general section above because Palestinians are part of the Syrian society and are targeted in the same manner as that of Syrian citizens. Ahmed Hassan, for example, stood trial on the 20th of April 2008 on charges of belonging to a terrorist society simply because he is an Islamist. The detained Palestinian Abdulqadder Alayyan was questioned by the State Security Court on the 22nd of June 2008 also for his Islamic leanings.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Palestinians living in Syria are also under double pressure to shift allegiance from Fatah Al - Intifada to Fatah Al - Islam. Those who don’t succumb to the pressure are arrested and subjected to a different kind of pressure. The Palestinian British engineer Fouad Hussein, 71 years, was arrested on the 9th of October 2008, near the Jordanian borders on his way to Damascus to visit his wife’s relatives. He was released a few days later following intervention by an influential person living in London. He was detained in Syria in the mid - 1970s for seven years for belonging to Hizb Al - Tahrir. News break every now and then about the arrest of Saudi nationals while on visit to Syria on charges of belonging to the Salafi Movement which is described by the Syrian authorities as “Wahhabi, Takfiri and extremist.” Sometimes they are arrested for the purpose of blackmailing them for certain sums of money. Syrian security authorities have made it a habit to arrest Ahwazi opposition members and hand them over to Iran despite their UN status as political refugees. The Ahwazi, Mohammed Nuhairi Bin Sakini, was arrested at the Immigration and Passport Department while he was getting his passport stamped in preparation for leaving for Sweden which granted him a permit to stay. He was later released after which he travelled to Sweden. The less fortunate Saeed Hamadi was arrested at Damascus Airport on his way to Denmark on the 5th of March 2008. Syrian authorities handed him over to Iran where he is currently languishing in jail. The wife of the Ahwazi opposition member Habib Jaber, Mrs. Ma’souma Al - Ka’bi, was arrested at the airport on her way to Denmark with her five children, Shima’, Asia,Asma’, Iyad, and Imad. They were all subsequently handed over to the Iranian authorities.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Death during Detention

The number of cases of death at detention and interrogation centres witnessed a big increase in 2008. There have been strong indications of the reinstatement of liquidation by torture or execution, especially if the detainee was an Islamist or Kurdish. Syrian authorities have declared an open war against both groups. The Syrian Human Rights Committee has documented the following cases. Human rights activists announced on the 23rd of June 2008 that the Civil Status Department in Aleppo notified the wife of the Islamist detainee, Yasser Al - Saqqa (born in Aleppo in 1970) that Yasser had been executed in prison. Ahmed Ramadan, 26 years, was shot dead on the 13th of October 2008 at the Military Intelligence branch in Ma'arrat anNu'man in Idlib. His body was thrown over the walls of the said branch. On the 16th of July, the Syrian authorities handed over the body of an Islamist detainee from the Sinno family from the town of Irbin in Rural Damascus. He was buried on the same day amid heavy security presence. A teacher, Ahmed Moussa Al - Shakefi, was arrested at his one in Ma'arrat anNu'man in Idlib in September 2008. One week later, authorities delivered his body to his parents following his death under extreme torture. The names of some of the detainees who were killed at Sednaya Prison on the 5th of June 2008 have become available. They are: Zakaria Affash, Majd Majareesh, Mahmoud Abu - Rashed, Abdubaqi Khattab, Ahmed Shalaq, Mou’aid Al - Ali, Khalid Bilal, Mohannad Al - Omar, and Khader Alloush. The family of the Palestinian detainee, Jameel Abdullah Al - Hanaisheh, confirmed on the 22nd of August 2008 that he had died in detention under vague circumstances. The family of the Jordanian detainee, Jameel Abdullah Shihadah, received his body on the 16th of August 2008 following his death at Sednaya Prison. It is yet not clear whether he had died under torture or during the Sednaya massacre. After forty days of extreme torture, the body of Abdulillah Al - Bitar was handed over to his family on the 29th of October 2008.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Death by Shooting

Syrian authorities persisted in its policy of opening fire on citizens for the most trivial of reasons. Many Syrians died at the hands of security forces. What follows are some of the cases that have been documented. On the evening of the 20th of March 2008, security forces opened fire on a group of Kurds celebrating Newroz in al - Qamishli. Three people were killed: Mohammed Zaki (25 years), Ahmed Mohammed Hussein (18 years) and Mohammed Yihia Khalil (36 years). Five more were injured: Muhiadeen Hajj Jameel Issa, Karam Ibrahim Al - Yousef, Mohammed Khier Al - Issa, Riyad Yousef Sheiki, Khalil Suleiman Suleiman Hussein. A soldier in the army, Idris Mousa, was killed on the 4th of March 2008 during compulsory military training under suspicious circumstances. It is believed his superiors had a hand in the murder. On the 7th of April 2008, the body of the Kurdish conscript Shiar Yousef Ali, born in Ifrin in Aleppo in 1990, was handed over to this family following his death under suspicious circumstances. Kurdish sources also revealed that another youth from Aynul - Arab was killed alongside Ali. Some sources have confirmed that 18 - year - old Mohammed Khalil Omran, a member of the military police, was executed on the field by his superior officer from the Dumar Military Police Project on the 19th of September 2008. The human rights activist Sami Ma’touq and his friend Johnny Suleiman died on the 14th of October 2008 when a security patrol opened fire on them killing them both in front of Ma’touq’s house in the village of Al - Mushierfeh in Homs.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Hostage Taking

The Syrian government has continued the practice of holding family members hostage to pressure fathers or relatives to turn themselves in or abstain from opposing the Syrian regime. A security patrol arrested Dr. Zeid Al - Aissami, 42 years from his clinic in Damascus on the 9th of January 2008 and held him hostage in lieu of his uncle Shibli Al - Aissami, a prominent member of the opposition and former assistant to the secretary general of the Ba’ath party. Dr. Al - Aissami has no record of any political activities. We have also learned Dr. Sufian Bakkour, held hostage since the 13th of January 2007 to pressure his father Mohammed Bakkour who is a prominent member of the opposition, had embarked on a hunger strike on the 13th of January 2008 in protest against being held without cause at the interrogation branch of the Political Security Department in Damascus.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Ban on Travelling

Countless Syrian citizens have been banned from travelling. It has become the norm for the various security and intelligence departments to ban individuals from travelling in response to their political activism, falsified reports, blood relations to detainees, or after being stripped of their civil rights following long periods of detention. The examples listed below are a representative sample of the thousands who have been banned from travelling as of 2008 because of security concerns. This practice is in stark violation of the Syrian Constitution and international agreements of which Syria is a signatory. The examples below do not include the thousands who had been banned before 2008 and who still cannot travel. The Syrian Human Rights Committee has documented the cases of hundreds of Syrian women who were prevented from leaving the country at the end of the summer vacation to return and join their husbands in neighbouring and Gulf countries. Most of these women are the wives of Syrian men forced to live in exile. Bassam Saeed Ishaq, the executive direction of the Syrian Human Rights Organisation, was banned from leaving the country on the 13th of January 2008 to pursue his postgraduate studies abroad. The vice - president of the Kurdish Organisation for the Environment, Siamend Merzo, was not allowed to travel to Lebanon through the Dabossiah border crossing on the 18th of February 2008. The writer and former detainee, Hussaibah Abdulrahman, discovered that she had been banned from travelling when she went to renew her passport on the 6th of January 2008. On the 3rd of March 2008, six Syrian Kurds travelling to their places of work in Lebanon through Al - Arridah border crossing were questioned, banned from leaving and referred to the intelligence services. Rasem Sayyed Suleiman Al - Atassi, Mahmoud Mir’i and Ahmed Abdulmajeed Manjonah, three prominent leaders from the Arab Human Rights Organisation, were not permitted to travel to Egypt to attend the organisation’s conference held between 16th and 19th of April 2008. Security forces banned 400 students from the University of Damascus from travelling to a summer resort on the Syrian coast to

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 celebrate Independence Day on the 17th of April 2008. Authorities also refused to allow the engineer and former detainee Abdulsattar Qattan from seeking medical help abroad. Qattan had suffered kidney failure during detention and eventually died on the 26th of August 2008 awaiting kidney dialysis at an Aleppo hospital. Ahmed Abdumajeed Manjoonah and Raja’ Al - Nasser, two prominent members of the Democratic Sosicalist Union Party, were not allowed to leave for Yemen on the 5th of August 2008 to attend a conference. Two members of the political committee of the Kurdish Yekiti Party, Zardasht Mohammed and Abdulrahman Ahmed, were banned from leaving Syria on the 12th of May 2008. The chairman of the board of directors of the Kurdish Committee for Human Rights was told he could not travel on the 19th of May 2008 to attend a workshop in Paris. The secretary of the Kurdish Azadi Party, Khairadeen Murad, was banned from travelling in May 2008 to visit his family in Norway. A delegation from Reporters without Borders was not allowed to enter Syria on the 13th of September 2008 after waiting four hours at the Syrian - Lebanese borders. The delegation included the secretary - general of the organisation, Robert Menard, the head of the Middle East and North Africa Department, Hajar Samoni, the journalist Patrick Boigeryidafor and the photojournalist Francoise Wooborn. The journalist, Lafa Khalid, was banned from travelling to Jordan on the 14th of July 2008 to attend a workshop. The human rights activist, Ala’adeen Biassi, was held up at the airport on the 8th of October 2008 and told he could not fly to France to attend a human rights workshop. The lawyer and human rights activist, Aktham Na’issa, was not allowed to travel to Dubai on the 14th of October 2008 to attend a conference. The ban on travelling imposed on Mohanned Al - Hussni, president of the Syrian Human Rights Organisation, has remained effected. He was banned several times from travelling to attend human rights conferences, the last being at end of October when he applied to reclaim his confiscated passport to attend a human rights workshop in France.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

The movie director Mohammed Malas was not permitted to leave Syria on the 26th of October 2008. He was stopped at the airport on his way to Paris. Authorities also prevented the activist, Mazen Darwish, from travelling to Dubai to attend the Parallel Future Forum. He has been banned from leaving Syria although his and children live abroad. Dr. Hassan Abbas was also banned from flying to France to attend the Euro - Mediterranean Forum on the 31st of October 2008. The writer and journalist Khalid Sumaisim and three of his colleagues were surprised to learn that they had been banned from travelling when they returned from a trip to the US on the 19th of September 2008. Zeinab Notfaji, an elderly lady and a human rights activist, was not allowed to travel to Beirut to visit her family in November 2008. Natfaji holds both the Syrian and Lebanese nationalities. The lawyer, Duraid Ghalyoon, was not allowed to travel to Jordan on the 11th of November 2008 on a business trip. He was turned back at the borders for allegedly failing to produce a document permitting him to travel.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Targeting Civil Society Institutions and Charity Organisations

Syrian Authorities placed greater restrictions on the work of independent civil society institutions such as sports clubs and civil, social and cooperative societies. These unconstitutional and illegal acts have been spearheaded by the Minister of Awqaf, Mohammed Abdulsattar Al - Sayyed, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Diala Al - Hajj Arif and several security agencies. A case in point is Al - Karama football club in Homs whose accomplishments have been unprecedented in the history of Syrian football on both the regional and international levels. The club’s success was the outcome of years of hard work by the club’s manager and coach, Mohammad Qwayed, and dedicated fans. The Syrian authorities decided unexpectedly to change the club’s board of directors and pressure many players, including the coach, to leave the club. Under ministerial directives, the Department of Social Affairs in Aleppo issued a decree for the dissolution of Ihsan Society’s board of directors headed by Dr. Hala Al - Za’eem, replacing it with a new board appointed by the Department. The Society used to care for 3500 needy families before the new board of directors put an end to its work. The Department of Social Affairs in Aleppo had previously dissolved the Islamic Welfare Society’s board of directors and replaced it with members appointed directly by the Department. On the 25th of October 2008, the authorities summoned members of the several charity societies in Damascus (Al - Ansar, Al - Furqan, Al - Gharra’, Al - Tamadun Al - Islami, Hifz Al - Ni’ma, and others) and forced them to dissolve the boards of directors of their respective charity societies. Those dismissed included Dr. Salah Ahmed Kiftaro, Dr. Bassam A’jak, Dr. Abdusalam Rajih, and Sheik Rajab Deeb from Al - Ansar Society; Sheik Osama Abudlkareem Al - Rifa’i from Al - Furqan Society; Sheik Sariah Abdulkareem Al - Rifa’i from Hifz Al - Ni’ma Society; Sheik Abdurazzaq Al - Halabi, Sheik Hussam Saleh Farfoor and Sheik Abdulfattah Al - Buzum from Al - Fateh Society; Sheik Abdulrazzaq Al - Shurafa from Al - Gharra’

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Society; Muath Al - Khateeb Al - Hasani, Sheik Suleiman Zabibi, and Sheik Mujeer Al - Khateeb Al - Hasani from Al - Tamadun Society. Authorities also dissolved the following societies: Arbab Al - Sha’ir Al - Dinia, Dialogue among Civilisations and Al - Ta’akhi Bain Al - Mathaheb. The ministry of Awqaf took over independent religious institutions, issuing a decree that all donations should be made directly to the ministry. Some donors received threats from security agencies. The ministry of Awqaf is currently running a campaign to ban collecting donations to build new mosques. Meanwhile, the ministry of labour and social affairs has maintained its policy of not granting licences to establish human rights organisation or other similar institutions. Several organisations such as the Society for Human Rights in Syria, the Syrian Human Rights Organisation and the National Human Rights organisation have been waiting for a licence for several years.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Torture in Syrian Prisons in 2008

Paragraph 3 of the Article 28 of the constitution declares that “No one may be tortured physically or mentally or be treated in a humiliating manner. The law defines the punishment of whoever commits such an act.” Article 5 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights which Syria ratified declares that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” The Syrian Human Rights Committee can confirm without a shadow of doubt that the Syrian regime has starkly violated both these articles and breached all the human rights conventions pertaining to the proper treatment of prisoners and detainees. Syrian prisons are unique in the manner, consistency and methods they use against prisoners. Torture, insults, and abuse start from the moment the political detainee is arrested, even before he is informed of the accusations levelled against him. Detainees are usually kicked, beaten, cursed and threatened before being thrown into solitary confinement in an underground dungeon. In the interrogation room, detainees are subjected to extreme forms of torture at the hands of vile and brutal intelligence agents. Torture continues throughout the period of incarceration aimed at breaking their spirits and robbing them of any dignity. Detainees are held in very small cells where they take turns standing up and sleeping. The quality of food is dismal. Prison guards have been known to throw insects and rubbish into the prisoners’ food before their very eyes. Going to the toilet is regulated by a very tight schedule. The weekly shower is an occasion for further abuse and so are all activities. The crimes perpetrated by security and intelligence services in Syria in the forms of abuse and tortures have no rehabilitation, correctional or even penal purposes. They are simply vindictive acts of aggression to punish the detainee for his principles, beliefs or creed. The goal is to break the detainee, rob him of his dignity and leave him a shadow of his former self. Many detainees end up with psychological and physical disabilities. Some die under torture. This report documents in another section the death of Yasser Al - Saqqa, Ahmed Ramadan, Ahmed Moussa Al - Shaqeefi, Jameel Shihada,

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Abdulallah Al - Bitar, a citizen from the Sinno family and many others. Many detainees recount the horrific details of their torture during court sessions and insist that confessions were extracted from them under duress. A case in point is Maher Arar who was deported to Syria by the US so that he could be tortured and interrogated. Judges usually ignore these accounts of torture and proceed to issue their verdict on the basis of these false confessions. This report has listed many examples of these occurrences. Syrian authorities have devised several abusive methods. Political detainees are held with criminal offenders where they are subjected to further abuse and cruelty. Criminal offenders are enlisted by the prison wardens to spy on political detainees. In a case documented by the Syrian Human Rights Committee, several criminal offenders at Adra, whose testimony is considered legally inadmissible, claimed that Dr. Mohammed Kamal Labwani had made disparaging remarks about people in authority. He was sentenced to three extra years in addition of the original sentence of 12 years. Authorities at Adra Prison transferred Ali Al - Abdullah, one of the prominent leaders of the Damascus Declaration, from the political detainees’ wing to the criminal wing (no. 13) following a scuffle with a jailor. Prison wardens, police and security agents do not have any compunction about inflaming prisoners’ cultural and religious sentiments. This report recounted the incident at Sednaya Prison when prison guards trampled on the Quran. Prison guards, police officers and intelligence agents have been made even bolder by a series of laws that offer them immunity from prosecution. Presidential decree was passed on the 30th of September 2008 as an amendment of the Military Penal Law. According to the new decree, members of the police force, political security branch and border customs accused of torturing prisoners can only be prosecuted by General Headquarters of Army and Armed Forces despite the fact that they are legally accountable to the ministry of interior. This decree, it is believed, was devised to cover up the crimes committed at Syrian prisons, especially the Sednaya massacre which started on the 5th of July 2008 and went on for an unspecified period of time.

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009

Press, Media, and the Internet

Audio, visual and written media have been under the direct control of the regime for the past 45 years. Both the Syrian television and its sister, the Syrian satellite channel, are state - run. The three daily papers, Al - Ba’ath, Al - Thawra, and Tishreen are controlled by the Ba’ath Party and the Syrian authorities. The same applies to all local newspapers in provinces such as Al - Jamaheer, Al - Orooba, Al - Fida’ and others. The main radio station reflects the views of the regime and the Ba’ath party. Furthermore, it is against the law to criticise any of the senior employees at these establishments. A case in point is the lawsuit filed by the director of Syrian TV, Diana Jabbour against Fouad Shorbaji, the director of the privately - owned Addunia satellite channel. The latter is a commercial - based entertainment channel founded by an influential army officer and broadcasts from the free zone in Damascus. Jabbour filed a 10 - million - lira defamation suit against Shorbaji over two articles he had written criticising her performance. The state - controlled court sentenced Shorbaji to three days of prison, ordered him to pay one hundred liras in punitive damages and 200,000 liras in compensatory damages to Jabbour. Authorities banned the publication of issue 104 of Addabbour Magazine scheduled for distribution on the 29th of January 2008. The management had to leave out a controversial article and change the cover to avoid incurring losses. The General Institution for Publication and Distribution refrained from distributing the February issue of the Economic Society magazine over an article by Ayman Al - Shoffi about the fact that many Syrian officials hold a dual nationality, mainly American and Canadian. Authorities banned indefinitely the distribution of the London - based Al - Hayat newspaper on the 2nd of October 2008. The newspaper had criticised the Syrian president for meeting with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Euro - Mediterranean Partnership, and other issues. The Journalist Mazen Darwish was sentenced to ten days in prison on the 23rd of June 2008 for libel over an investigative report of a murder that occurred on the 12th of January 2008 in which he

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 criticised several government bodies. The human rights activist Badi’ Dak Al - Bab was sentenced to six months in prison for writing an article about “Damascus: Arab Capital of Culture 2008”. Osama Edward Qarrio was arrested for writing an article entitled “No Gas, No Electricity, No Diesel” Reporters without Borders’ annual Index of Press Freedom placed Syria in the 159th position on its list of 173 countries for the year 2008. Having lost most means of expression, Syrian citizens turned to the internet but Syrian authorities placed many restrictions on the use of the internet through monopolising the service. Internet cafes are required by law to keep a record f all customers’ personal details. The government purchased internet surveillance equipment to keep track of bloggers’ activities. Many were arrested on charges of spreading lies to weaken the nation and nationalist sentiments. Many political websites that cover news from Syria and the Arab and Islamic world have been blocked. According to some sources, it is not possible to access more than 200 websites in this category alone. Following is a list of examples of the websites that have been banned during 2008. Jidar.com: An intellectual/cultural website established by the poet, Khalaf Ali Al - Khalaf, in 2005. Before it was finally shut down, the website was hacked into and damaged several times. Al - Khalaf was also summoned by security agencies on several occasions. Syrianews.com: A news website owned by Firas Tlas and run by Nidhal Ma’louf. Despite the fact it reflects the views of the government, the website, established in 2000, and was shut down on the 16th of February 2008. AdDarbasiyah: A website concerned with Kurdish affairs. It was shut down on the 10th of March 2008. Rojavo.net: The website of Human Rights Association in Syria (MAF) Alnazahanews.com: The website was blocked in 2007. The website administrator, Abdullah Ali, launched a new website (alnazaha.org) in March 2008 but he was arrested on the 30th of July 2008 by the Information Branch of the State Security Department. Ali was

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SHRC Eighth Annual Report on Human Rights in Syria 2009 released on the 12th of August 2008 after the website was finally shut down. Anhri.net: The website of the Arab Network for Human Rights. The site was blocked on the 29th of September 2008 after the Syria page (anhiri.net/Syria) was blocked on the 25th of September 2008. Katib.org: A blogger’s page. Zamanelwasl.net: After the website was blocked, administrators launched a new website (zamanelwasl.com) but the latter was blocked in November 2008 even though the newspaper had satisfied all the requirements of the ministry of communications. Wikipedia.com: The Arabic version of the website is blocked in Syria. Facebook.com Youtube.com Blogspot.com Soparo.com

Authorities arrested Adnan Hamdan, a university student born in 1979 and held him in the Palestine Branch. Hamdan used to work as the director of programmes at the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression. Humam Ahmed Al - Haddad, born in 1980, was arrested on the 5th of May 2008 over his contributions to several websites and his participation in a workshop on “Internet and Censorship”. He was released on the 10th of September 2008. Prior to that, authorities had arrested the blogger Tariq Biassi and sentenced him to three years in prison for weakening nationalist sentiments.

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