Human rights in Syria

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Syria

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The human rights record of the Syrian Arab Republic has been found lacking by a number of different sources. A state of emergency has been in effect since 1963 and it gives "security forces sweeping powers of arrest and detention," according to Amnesty International. Syria is a one-party state without free elections and "freedom of expression and association remain ... strictly controlled."[1] In 2009 "hundreds of people were arrested and hundreds of others remained imprisoned for political reasons". Military Police were reported to have killed at least 17 detainees. Human rights defenders have been harassed and persecuted. Women and minorities face discrimination.[1]

Contents

[edit] Overview

According to Human Rights Watch, as of 2009 Syria’s poor human rights situation had "deteriorated further". Authorities arrested political and human rights activists, censored websites, detained bloggers, and imposed travel bans. Syria’s multiple security agencies continue to detain people without arrest warrants. No political parities were licensed and emergency rule, imposed in 1963, remained in effect.[2]

Amnesty International reports, "members of the Kurdish minority faced discrimination; many were effectively stateless and denied equal access to social and economic rights. Women were subject to discrimination and gender-based violence. Sixteen civilians were killed in a bomb explosion which state media attributed to an armed group."[1]

For several years, the "watchdog organization" Freedom House has rated political rights in Syria as "7" — the "least free" rating on its scale of 1 to 7 — and given Syria a rating of "Not Free".[3] In 2009 Syria was included in Freedom House's "Worst of the Worst" section and given a rating of 7 for Political Rights: and 6 for Civil Liberties.[4]

According to the 2008 report on human rights of the State Department of the American government, the Syrian government's "respect for human rights worsened". Members of the security forces arrested and detained individuals without providing just cause, often held prisoners in "lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention", and "tortured and physically abused prisoners and detainees". The regime imposed significant restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association, amid an atmosphere of government corruption.[5] According to Arab Press Freedom Watch, the current regime has one of the worst records on freedom of expression in the Arab world.[citation needed] According to Arab Press Network, "despite a generally repressive political climate", there were "signs of positive change," during the 2007 elections. [6] According to a 2008 report by Reporters without Borders, "Journalists have to tightly censor themselves for fear of being thrown into Adra prison."[7]

[edit] Political prisoners

Among the scores of prisoners of conscience arrested in 2009, and hundreds political prisoners already in prison, some of the more prominent prisoners were

  • Kamal al-Labwani, a prisoner of conscience who had three years added to his 12 year sentence for allegedly “broadcasting false or exaggerated news which could affect the morale of the country”, on account of remarks he was alleged to have made in his prison cell.[1]
  • Nabil Khlioui, an alleged Islamist from Deir al-Zour, who with at least 10 other Islamists "remained in incommunicado detention without charge or trial at the end of 2009.[1]
  • Nabil Khlioui and at least 12 other alleged Islamists, mostly from Deir al-Zour, were arrested. At least 10 of them remained in incommunicado detention without charge or trial at the end of the year.
  • Mesh’al al-Tammo, spokesperson for the unauthorized Kurdish Future Current group, who was `held incommunicado for 12 days and charged with “aiming to provoke civil war or sectarian fighting”, “conspiracy” and three other charges commonly brought against Kurdish activists,` charges that could lead to the death penalty.
  • twelve leaders of a prominent gathering of opposition groups, the Damascus Declaration, continue to serve 30-month prison terms. Among those detained is Riad Seif, 62, a former member of parliament who is in poor health.[2]
  • Habib Saleh was sentenced to three years in jail for “spreading false information” and “weakening national sentiment” in the form of writing articles criticizing the government and defending opposition figure Riad al-Turk.[2]
  • one released prisoner was Aref Dalila. He had served seven of the ten years in his prison sentence, much of it in solitary confinement and in increasingly poor health, for his involvement in the so-called “Damascus Spring” before being released by a presidential pardon.[1]

In a 2006 report, Human Rights Watch reported on the continued detention of "thousands" of political prisoners in Syria, "many of them members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood and the Communist Party." According to the Syrian Human Rights Committee that there were 4,000 political prisoners held in Syrian jails in 2006.[8]

[edit] Past Detentions and disappearances

As of 2009, the fate of thousands of people detained or abducted by Syrian forces or their allies, remains unknown. Some 17,000 people, mostly Islamists were victims of enforced disappearance in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Hundreds of Lebanese and Palestinians were detained in Syria or abducted from Lebanon by Syrian forces or Lebanese and Palestinian militias, are unacounted for.[1][9]

[edit] Freedom of religion

Main article: Freedom of religion in Syria

The Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government imposes restrictions on this right. While there is no official state religion, the Constitution requires that the president be Muslim and stipulates that Islamic jurisprudence is a principal source of legislation. The Constitution provides for freedom of faith and religious practice, provided that the religious rites do not disturb the public order. The Government continued to monitor the activities of all groups, including religious groups, and discouraged proselytism, which it deemed a threat to relations among religious groups. The Government also continued to discriminate against the Jehovah's Witnesses. There were occasional reports of minor tensions between religious groups, some attributable to economic rivalries rather than religious affiliation.[10]

[edit] See also

Human rights portal
Syria portal

[edit] References and footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Amnesty International Report 2009, Syria
  2. ^ a b c p.555 of Human Rights Watch World Report 2010, accessed from World Report 2010
  3. ^ "Freedom in the World 2006" (PDF). Freedom House. 2005-12-16. http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/pdf/Charts2006.pdf. Retrieved 2006-07-27. 
    See also Freedom in the World 2006, List of indices of freedom
  4. ^ Special Report Section Freedom House, Worst of the Worst 2009
  5. ^ 2008 Human Rights Report: Syria, US Department of State
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ Syria Reporters without Borders, Published on 7 February 2008
  8. ^ "Human Rights Watch 2006 Report". Human Rights Watch. http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/syria14722.htm. 
  9. ^ see also "Human Rights Watch 2006 Report". Human Rights Watch. http://hrw.org/englishwr2k7/docs/2007/01/11/syria14722.htm. 
  10. ^ United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. Syria: International Religious Freedom Report 2007. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

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