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Incommunicado detention/ fear of torture or ill-treatment/
possible prisoner of conscience - SYRIA: Kareem 'Arabji
PUBLIC AI
Index: MDE 24/044/2007
12 September
2007
UA 242/07
Incommunicado detention/ fear of torture or ill-treatment/
possible prisoner of conscience
SYRIA Kareem
'Arabji (m), aged 29,
Kareem 'Arabji
has been held incommunicado by Military Intelligence in the
capital, Damascus, since his arrest on 7 June. Amnesty
International believes that he is now being held at the
Palestine Branch of Military Intelligence in Damascus, where
he is at grave risk of torture and ill-treatment. He may be
a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful
expression of his political views.
According to
information received by Amnesty International, Kareem
'Arabji, a business consultant, is being detained for his
role in managing an online youth forum, www.akhawia.net.
Prior to his arrest he was summoned several times to the
al-Muntaqa (“Area”) Military Intelligence branch in Damascus
in relation to the online forum. Since his arrest he has not
been charged or otherwise brought before a court and has not
been granted access to a lawyer or to his family.
In June 2007,
seven men were sentenced to prison terms of either five or
seven years after an unfair trial, apparently for publishing
pro-democracy material on the same website. They were
convicted of “taking action or making a written statement or
speech which could endanger the State or harm its
relationship with a foreign country, or expose it to the
risk of hostile action” under Article 278 of the Syrian
Penal Code. The group all said that “confessions” had been
extracted from them under torture while they were detained
incommunicado (see UA 41/06, MDE 24/019/2006, 17 February
2006, and follow-ups).
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION
Torture is
widespread in Syrian detention and investigation centres,
particularly during periods of pre-trial incommunicado
detention, and the Palestine Branch is renowned for being
one of the worst centres for detainees. Over the years,
Amnesty International has documented 38 types of torture and
ill-treatment used against detainees in Syria. “Confessions”
extracted under duress are systematically used as “evidence”
in Syrian courts, and the defendants’ claims of torture are
almost never investigated. In 2007, according to reports
received by Amnesty International, at least three
individuals have died as a result of torture and
ill-treatment in custody in Syria.
RECOMMENDED
ACTION:
Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in
English, Arabic, French or your own language:
- expressing
concern that Kareem 'Arabji has been detained incommunicado
since 7 June;
- expressing
concern that he may be a prisoner of conscience, detained
solely for the peaceful expression of his political views.
- urging that
he be humanely treated and not subjected to torture or
ill-treatment in detention;
- calling on
the authorities to allow him immediate and unrestricted
access to his family, a lawyer, and any medical treatment he
may require;
- calling for
his immediate release, unless he is to be charged with a
recognizably criminal offence.
APPEALS TO:
President
His Excellency
Bashar al-Assad
Presidential
Palace
al-Rashid
Street
Damascus,
Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: + 963 11
332 3410
Salutation:
Your Excellency
Minister of
Defence
His Excellency
General
Hassan Ali
Turkmani
Ministry of
Defence
Omayyad Square
Damascus,
Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11
223 7842
Salutation:
Your Excellency
Minister of
Justice
His Excellency
Muhammad al-Ghafari
Ministry of
Justice
Al-Nasr Street
Damascus,
Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11
666 2460
Salutation:
Your Excellency
Minister of
Foreign Affairs
His Excellency
Walid Mu’allim
Ministry of
Foreign Affairs
al-Rashid
Street
Damascus,
Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: + 963 11
332 7620
Salutation:
Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
diplomatic representatives of Syria accredited to your
country.
PLEASE SEND
APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International
Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals
after 23 October 2007.
-------------------------------------
East
Mediterranean Team
Amnesty
International, International Secretariat
Peter Benenson
House, 1 Easton Street
London WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom
E-mail:
Eastmed@amnesty.org
Tel: +44 (0)20
7413 5500
Fax: +44 (0)20
7413 5719 |
