Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2002 - Syria
| Publisher | International Federation for Human Rights |
| Publication Date | 26 March 2003 |
| Cite as | International Federation for Human Rights, Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2002 - Syria, 26 March 2003, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/48747c6913.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Pressure on and harassment of the CDF38
The Syrian authorities are continuously putting pressure on members of the CDF (Committees for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedoms in Syria) by trailing them, tapping their telephones, confiscating their mail, etc.
The CDF leaders are regularly called in by the police to be questioned about their activities; this is part of an intimidation strategy. A CDF representative, for instance, was convened last December and was told that if CDF published the third issue of its monthly newsletter "Alsawt" (The Voice), which was started in November, the leaders of CDF would be arrested and judged by a military court.
Mr. Aktham Naisseh, President of CDF, is not only followed and called in regularly, but his medicines, which he receives by post from abroad, are confiscated. The members of his family are also subjected to various sorts of pressure.
On 28th August, Dr. Kamal Labwani, who is a member of the CDF Board of Directors, was sentenced to five years in prison and stripped of his civic and political rights by the Supreme State Security Court, whose decisions cannot be appealed. Dr. Labwani was arbitrarily arrested on 10 September 2001 during a wave of arrests carried out as part of a search for ten opponents and human rights advocates in August and September 2001. He was charged with "attempting to illegally change the Constitution, inciting armed revolt, attacking religion and spreading false information that could harm the prestige of the State". Dr. Labwani is being detained in very stressful condition, as are other defenders who were sentenced during this wave of arrests (isolation, bad treatment, restrictions on visits from family, friends and lawyers).
A training seminar for human rights defenders that CDF scheduled for September 2002 was prohibited; it was finally held in Cairo.
Two defenders sentenced39
On 31st July 2002, Mr. Aref Alilah, professor of economics and a human rights advocate, who had been arrested during the wave of arrests in August-September 2001, was sentenced to ten years in prison for "attempting to illegally change the Constitution".
Mr. Habib Issa, member of the founding committee of the Human Rights Association of Syria, and political opponent, who was arrested at the same time, was sentenced to five years in prison and stripped of his civic and political rights on 19 August for "attempting to illegally change the Constitution, inciting armed revolt, encouraging insurrection, attacking religion, and spreading false information that could harm the prestige of the State."
[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]
38. See Annual Report 2001 and Urgent Appeal SYR 001/0802/OBS 052.
39. See Urgent Appeal SYR 001/0802/OBS 052.
