Amnesty International Report 1999 - Syria

SYRIA

Hundreds of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, were released. Dozens of people were arrested on political grounds and hundreds of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, continued to serve prison sentences imposed after unfair trials. At least four prisoners of conscience continued to be held beyond the expiry of their sentences. Torture and ill-treatment continued to be routine in some prisons. Political prisoners faced harsh prison conditions and denial of adequate medical care. The fate of scores of prisoners who "disappeared" in previous years remained unknown. At least one person was sentenced to death and executed.

Following a decree by President Hafez al-Assad, parliamentary elections for the People's Assembly were held in November and December. The National Progressive Front, led by the ruling Arab Socialist Ba‘th party, won the majority of seats; the rest were allocated to "independents".

Hundreds of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, were released following presidential amnesties. Among those freed were prisoners of conscience Riad al-Turk, a lawyer detained without charge or trial since 1980; Aktham Nu‘asa, a human rights defender and lawyer who was serving a nine-year prison sentence imposed by the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) after an unfair trial; and Khalil Brayez, a former army officer and a writer who was held for nearly 28 years, including 13 years beyond the expiry of his sentence (see previous Amnesty International Reports). All were released in May. In March, 121 Lebanese political prisoners were released. They had been detained in Syria since the 1980s mostly without charge or trial (see Lebanon entry).

Others released included ‘Umar ‘Abd al-Mutallab Sarsur, a Jordanian who was freed in January. He had reportedly been detained for four months on charges of spying for Iraq after he delivered a letter from a Syrian prisoner in Iraq to his family in Latakia. Zubayda Muqabel, who was arrested in July 1997 (see Amnesty International Report 1998), was released in March or April. Most of the Syrian Kurds who were arrested in 1997 (see Amnesty International Report 1998) were also reportedly released.

Dozens of people were arrested on political grounds. They included Musa ‘Aliqa, a Syrian Kurd who had lived in Germany as a political refugee for several years. He was arrested in July by military intelligence upon his return to Syria. Ra‘fat ‘Issa al-Balbul, a Jordanian, was also arrested in July while on a visit to Syria on suspicion of working for the Jordanian intelligence services. He was held in Sednaya prison and had not been tried by the end of the year.

Two Iraqi nationals – Fa'iq Ibrahim al-Yasseri, Director of the Damascus-based Iraqi Centre for Humanitarian Activities (ICHA), and Khalil Ibrahim Hussain, a former Iraqi army officer – were arrested in November reportedly after an article by Khalil Ibrahim Hussain was published in the ICHA's journal Al-Karama. Both were reportedly still held incommunicado at the end of the year.

Ma‘ruf al-Jarrah, a poet, was also arrested in November for his suspected links with the unauthorized opposition groups Hizb al-‘Ummal al-Thawri al-‘Arabi, Arab Workers' Revolutionary Party, and al-Tajmu‘ al-Watani al-Demoqrati, National Democratic Alliance. He was reportedly arrested by the Military Intelligence in the capital, Damascus, and remained held at the end of the year.

Hundreds of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, remained held mostly serving prison sentences imposed after grossly unfair trials.

At least 70 prisoners of conscience remained held in connection with suspected membership of the unauthorized Hizb al-‘Amal al-Shuy‘i, Party for Communist Action (PCA). They included ‘Abbas Mahmud ‘Abbas, who was arrested in 1987 and sentenced in 1994 to 15 years' imprisonment by the SSSC. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Khayyir, who was sentenced by the SSSC to 22 years' imprisonment in 1995, the longest term known to have been passed by the SSSC, remained in detention (see previous Amnesty International Reports). Doha ‘Ashur al-‘Askari, who was serving a six-year prison sentence (see Amnesty International Report 1998), was reportedly transferred to ‘Adra civil prison. At least 20 prisoners of conscience, mostly detained since the 1980s and sentenced by the SSSC to various terms of imprisonment in connection with the PCA, were released. They included Khadija As‘ad Dib, al-Hareth al-Nabhan and Safwan ‘Akkash.

At least seven prisoners of conscience continued to serve prison sentences for alleged activities in connection with al-Hizb al-Shuyu‘i al-Maktab al-Siyassi, Communist Party-Political Bureau (CPPB). They included Aram Karabayt, who was arrested in 1987 and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment by the SSSC; and Ibrahim al-Khouri, who was reportedly arrested in al-Qamishli in 1996 and remained in detention at the end of the year. It was unclear whether Ibrahim al-Khouri, who had apparently been sought by the authorities since 1988, was tried or continued to be held without charge or trial.

Five prisoners of conscience held in connection with the unauthorized Committees for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria (CDF) since 1992 continued to serve prison sentences of up to 10 years imposed by the SSSC. They were Nizar Nayyuf, Muhammad ‘Ali Habib, ‘Afif Muzhir, Bassam al-Sheikh and Thabit Murad.

At least four prisoners of conscience remained in custody despite having completed their prison sentences. They included Fateh Jamus and Isam Dimashqi, both detained since 1982 for their alleged links with the PCA and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in 1994 by the SSSC. Both remained detained in Far‘ Falastin prison at the end of the year. Prisoners of conscience Bassam Budur, Taisir Hassoun and ‘Adib al-Jani, who had been held for three years beyond the expiry of their sentences (see Amnesty International Report 1998), were released.

At least 13 Kurdish political prisoners, most arrested between 1995 and 1996 for distribution of leaflets, remained in detention. They included Muhammad Ma‘sum Dawud, held in ‘Adra, and Faris Muhammad Khalil, held in Sednaya, both detained since 1995. They were reportedly each sentenced by the SSSC to four years' imprisonment.

Scores of political prisoners held in connection with the unauthorized al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (Muslim Brotherhood) were released. However, several hundred remained in detention, mostly held in incommunicado detention since the 1970s or early 1980s without charge or trial or after summary and secret trials (see previous Amnesty International Reports). They included Sarih Fawzi ‘Amin, a medical student arrested in 1980 and reportedly held in Tadmur military prison, and ‘Ihssan Murad, a medical doctor who was reportedly arrested in 1992. It was not known whether they had been charged or tried.

Hundreds of Palestinians and Jordanians arrested for political reasons since the 1980s in Lebanon, Syria or at the Syrian border with Jordan continued to be held, mostly in incommunicado detention (see previous Amnesty International Reports). They included Mustafa Dib Khalil (known as Abu Ta‘an), a Palestinian in his sixties who was arrested in 1983 in Tripoli, north Lebanon, by a breakaway Palestinian group and subsequently handed to Syrian authorities; and Sa‘id al-Hatamleh, a Jordanian who was arrested in Syria in 1985 in connection with the unauthorized Jordanian Revolutionary Party and reportedly sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. Mustafa Dib Khalil was held for eight years in solitary confinement and had been held incommunicado apparently without charge or trial for most of the past 15 years. Both were apparently held in Sednaya prison at the end of the year.

Scores of Lebanese political prisoners continued to be held in Syria either without charge or trial, or after grossly unfair trials. They were either captured or abducted in Lebanon during the civil war there from 1975 to 1990, or were arrested by Syrian forces operating in Lebanon and taken to Syria after 1990. Among the prisoners were Najib Yusuf Jarmani, who was arrested in January 1997 from his house in Ba‘bdat, Lebanon, and apparently transferred a few days later to Syria; and Samir ‘Ali Hassan, who was arrested by Syrian intelligence forces in connection with Harakat al-Tawhid al-Islami, Islamic Unification Movement, in 1989. Both were reportedly still held in Sednaya prison at the end of the year. Bashir al-Khatib, who had been detained in Syria since 1996 (see Amnesty International Report 1998), was among the 121 Lebanese released in March.

Torture continued to be routine in some prisons. At least four prisoners of conscience – Jurays al-Talli, Nu‘man ‘Abdu, Salama George Kayla and Mahmud ‘Issa – serving sentences of up to 15 years' imprisonment for their alleged links with the PCA, were transferred in July to Tadmur military prison, where torture is routine, apparently as a form of punishment. After their transfer, they were mostly held incommunicado and denied access to their families, adding to fears that they were tortured and ill-treated.

Three police officers were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment with hard labour by the First Criminal Court in Aleppo on charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm and the killing of Ahmad Farwati during interrogation. Ahmad Farwati, who had been arrested for his alleged involvement in drug dealing, was reportedly tortured to death in Bab al-Nayrab police station in Aleppo. No investigation into allegations of torture of political detainees in previous years was known to have been initiated.

The health of a number of prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners gave cause for concern because of lack of adequate medical treatment or harsh prison conditions. Three of the prisoners of conscience transferred to Tadmur (see above) were suffering from ailments requiring specialist medical care, and there were fears that their health deteriorated further as a result of their transfer to Tadmur. Other prisoners with illnesses who were denied adequate medical treatment included Nizar Nayyuf, who reportedly has Hodgkin's disease, a form of cancer; ‘Abdalla Qabbara, aged 60, who has chronic diabetes; and ‘Abd al-Majid Zaghmout, who has heart problems and high blood pressure. ‘Abd al-Majid Zaghmout, a Palestinian detained for 32 years (including nine years after his release was ordered by the Minister of Defence), went on hunger strike to protest against his continued detention.

No information was available about the fate and whereabouts of scores of people who "disappeared" in previous years. The victims included Dani Mansurati, a Lebanese man who "disappeared'' following his arrest in ‘Arnus Square in al-Sha‘lan area of Damascus in 1992; and Muhammad Zahed Derqal, who was reportedly arrested at the Abu-Khair Mosque in Damascus in 1980 apparently for his suspected links with the Muslim Brotherhood.

At least one person was sentenced to death and executed. Bilal Suleiman Khuzam, who had been convicted of murder and rape, was hanged in ‘Adra prison in February.

Throughout the year Amnesty International urged the government to release prisoners of conscience, review cases of long-term political prisoners, provide adequate medical care to prisoners and investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The government responded to some of Amnesty International's communications and provided information on some political prisoners.