Syrian journalist and political activist Ali Abdallah and his son Muhammad (also a journalist), who were arrested on March 23, are still held incommunicado at an unknown location.
Amnesty International believes Ali and Muhammad Abdallah are "prisoners of conscience held solely for the peaceful expression of their views." (AI, 3/31/06). AI also noted the continued incommunicado detention of another of Abdallah's sons, Omar, "simply because he is involved in a pro-democracy youth movement." The Human Rights organization fears they may be at risk of torture or ill-treatment. Elaph reported that Abdallah's family along with the organization "Friends of the Families of Syrian Detainees" visited various security branches inquiring about their family members' whereabouts, but to no avail (Arabic. 4/8/06).
Levant News reported yesterday that the Committees for the Revival of Civil Society in Syria, has launched a campaign to find out the fate of Abdallah and his sons, three weeks after being held incommunicado (Arabic. 4/17/06).
Abdallah was previously arrested on May 15, 2005, along with eight other board members of the Atassi Forum, for reading a letter from the banned Muslim Brotherhood at a meeting of the Forum (SHRC, 5/25/05). He was still facing trial before the Supreme State Security Court (SHRC, 11/11/05).
It should be noted that physical ill-treatment is likely, as was the case with the recently arrested, and subsequently released, Kurdish citizen Khodr Khalil. Security agents had barged into Khalil's house and arrested him on charges of belonging to a Kurdish political party and writing a speech that was delivered during the Kurdish Norouz celebrations. When he was released, marks of physical abuse were apparent on his body, according to a statement by the Kurdish Organization for the Defense of Freedoms and Human Rights (Arabic. Via "Free Syria", 4/17/06).
The regime's targeting of Kurds has been systematic, including house demolitions, stepped-up campaigns of arrests, and crackdowns and beatings especially at rallies and religious festivities. Elaph recently quoted a report by the United Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria (Yekiti) that published the names of 107 Kurds arrested after the Norouz celebrations in March (Arabic. 4/8/06).
The regime's campaign has also targeted other writers and journalists, such as Muhammad Ghanem, who was taken out of his home in Raqqa, NE Syria, by force on March 31 (Arabic. Kurdish Committee for Human Rights, via "Free Syria", 4/2/06). A statement by the Committee of "Writers in Prisons" and the Arab Organization for the Freedom of Expression and the Press suggested that his latest arrest was because of recent articles he had published on his website (Arabic. Via ME Transparent, 4/5/06). This is the second time Ghanem has been arrested. His first arrest was in 2004, after publishing articles criticizing the regime's brutal treatment of Kurds. A news brief on his website reveals that he is on a hunger strike in prison after being brutally tortured, adding that his health has therefore seriously deteriorated (Arabic. Surioun.org, 4/17/06).
A publication of the Damascus Center for Theoretical and Civil Rights Studies reported that two other citizens were arrested for printing and photocopying web articles expressing opposition views. (Arabic. Mokarabat, 4/11/06).
Similarly, veteran activist Hasan Abdel Azim, spokesman for the National Democratic Gathering (a coalition of five opposition parties), is still facing trial at the Military Court in Damascus on the charge of possessing forbidden publications. He is due to appear in court today (Arabic. Elaph, 4/13/06).
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