Articles for Syria

Damascus Claims He Is Held for Inquiry into Killing of Lebanon Ex-Premier

The Syrian authorities should release Ziad Ramadan, who the Syrian authorities falsely claim is detained so he can be interviewed by the international body investigating the assassination of Rafic Hariri, former prime minister of Lebanon, Alkarama, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. The following is the statement from the three groups:

On Sunday 4 July 2010, Haitham Al-Maleh, a prominent Syrian human rights lawyer, was sentenced by Damascus' Military Court to three years imprisonment on charges of "weakening national sentiment".

Alkarama has just received preliminary information indicating the death of 25 men of Kurdish origin, under mysterious circumstances while they were performing their compulsory military service. The exact number of deaths in recent years under similar circumstance has yet to be accurately determined.

The story goes back to events in March 2004 in Qamishli, a northern Syrian city, when Syrian security forces used excessive force against men of Kurdish origin, resulting in several dead and a number of wounded.

Ayat Issam Ahmed, a university student from Damascus, was arrested on 18 October 2009, after receiving a summons to appear at the Political Security branch in Al-Fayha, Damascus, where she was questioned about her religious beliefs.

Disappeared since 5 November 2009, Ahmed Mustafa Ben Mohamed, aka Pir Rostom, a Syrian Kurdish political a

Abdul Abdul Hafiez Rahman, writer and human rights defender, was arrested on 2 March 2010 at his home by military intelligence agents in the presence of his family. He has disappeared since. He was arrested along with his colleague, Nadera Abdou , who works with him at "MAF", the Syrian Human Rights Organisation.

Thursday 8 April 2010 marked the first public hearing in Haitham Al-Maleh's trial, case number 339/2010 of the Damascus Criminal Military Court, however proceedings were po

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Last Friday, 19 March 2010, Alkarama met with Iyas Maleh, son of Haithem Al-Maleh, the 78 year-old Syrian lawyer and human rights defender who was abducted by the Syrian authorities on 14 October 2009 and then brought before a military court. Haithem Al-Maleh faces a possible sentence of up to 15 years, in a court which violates many of the guarantees to a fair trial.