The Syria Monitor

Kamal Labwani Physically Abused (11/7)

The Syrian Human Rights Observatory reported in a press release that political prisoner Kamal Labwani was assaulted in the Adra prison where he is detained. (Arabic. Elaph, 11/4/06).

The statement said that Labwani was beaten and verbally abused by a criminal inmate at the behest of the security services. It added that Labwani filed a complaint which was ignored by the prison authorities.

Labwani's family confirmed the assault took place and held the prison authorities responsible. (Arabic. Levant News, 11/3/06). The family also reiterated its request to separate political prisoners from criminals. The prison authorities had placed Labwani in the violent crimes ward, and had placed Anwar Bunni in the robberies ward, while Michel Kilo and the recently re-arrested Mahmoud Issa are placed in the prostitution ward. This practice of placing political prisoners with criminals has been common. It was done, for instance, to Fateh Jamous who was also beaten by inmate thugs.

Human rights sources confirm that the authorities instruct criminals to attack political prisoners in order to pressure them and crush their spirits. (Arabic. TSDP, 11/3/06). It is often dubbed "torture by proxy." It is a practice also used outside prison, where thugs are sent out to beat up dissidents at rallies. 

Bunni, Issa, Kilo and Labwani had launched a week-long hunger strike, which ended on 11/4, to protest rights violations in Syria, including continued political imprisonment, torture of detainees, subversion of the judiciary, and stifling of freedom of speech and opinion. (Arabic. Elaph, 11/4/06). The detainees said the assault on Labwani and the reversal of the judicial order to release Kilo cause them to worry about their situation and lives in prison. Yet they still called for unifying efforts to maintain pressure on the regime.

Labwani, who is being charged of contacting a foreign state in order to incite aggression against Syria, also penned a letter from prison defending himself and attacking authoritarian rule in Syria and calling for democratic change. (Arabic. ME Transparent, 11/1/06).

In another act of defiance, the detainees hailed the sentencing of Saddam Hussein as a precedent for holding dictators accountable in the Arab world, despite expressing reservation over the death penalty. (Arabic. Al-Mustaqbal, 11/7/06). Anwar Bunni told AKI that the sentencing marks the first time in the Arab world that a dictator was held accountable by the people for his crimes. He added, "it would not be the last." (Arabic. AKI, 11/7/06). He also told Reuters that this presented "the last chance for all to respect human rights before it was too late," in a direct jab against the Syrian regime. Similarly, Labwani was quoted as saying "these rulings confirm the nearness of the day when all [dictators] will be tried, no matter their rank, for the crimes they committed against their people."

An international tribunal is currently being set up to try suspects in the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and other Lebanese politicians and journalists. The reports of the UN investigation have implicated the Syrian regime in the killings.

The Kilo Fiasco (11/6)

On October 19, reports came out that Beirut-Damascus Declaration (BDD) signatory, Michel Kilo, would be released on bail, leaving Anwar al-Bunni and Ali Shehabi as the last two signatories still in detention. (Arabic. AKI, 10/19/06). Bunni is reportedly facing charges of contacting enemy sides and belonging to an organization of an international character without government permission, as well as disseminating false news. (Arabic. Elaph, 10/9/06).

However, it quickly became apparent that Kilo was not going to be released. His family confirmed that despite the judge's signature on the release request and the payment of the bail, Kilo remained in jail. (Arabic. Elaph, 10/20/06). Rumors began circulating that the Syrian authorities would not allow Kilo's release. (Arabic. Elaph, 10/21/06). It then came out that there was clear political interference in the judicial order. (Arabic. Elaph, 10/21/06). One report claimed that, based on information from the Syrian Human Rights Observatory, "a prominent figure from the first rank of the Syrian regime" flagrantly interfered in order to prevent Kilo's release. (Arabic. Elaph, 10/22/06).

It is worth noting that Kilo's lawsuit against a regime-hired pen (Arabic. Elaph, 8/26/06), who accused him of receiving money and operational directions from an anti-Syrian Lebanese Minister to support terrorist acts in Syria (Arabic. AKI, 7/25/06), was also rejected after alleged interference from the office of Maher Assad, the President's brother, who is close to the journalist in question. (Arabic. Levant News, 9/29/06).

Political interference soon became manifest when additional, more serious charges, including "exposing Syria to the danger of hostile acts," were brought against Kilo and three recently-released (Arabic. Levant News, 9/25/06) BDD signatories, Mahmoud Issa, Khalil Hussein, and Suleiman al-Shammar.  (Arabic. Elaph, 10/22/06). An order went out to rearrest them and detain them in the Adra prison.

The following day, the security forces raided Mahmoud Issa's house and re-arrested him. (Arabic. Elaph, 10/23/06).

In response, Kilo, Bunni, and Kamal Labwani launched a protest hunger strike which ended on 11/4. (AFP, 10/30/06). Meanwhile, Syrian and international human rights organizations strongly attacked the Syrian judiciary over the Kilo fiasco calling it "a judicial scandal." (Arabic. AKI, 10/25/06). The Kilo affair was covered by Reporters Sans Frontieres. (French. 11/2/06).

A German-based opposition group, The Party of Modernity and Democracy for Syria, declared it was holding a sit-in and a hunger strike of its own in solidarity with the Syrian detainees. (Arabic. AKI, 10/31/06). The hunger strike ended yesterday.

In related news, another recently-arrested BDD signatory, Ali Shehabi, was also denied release. (Arabic. Elaph, 10/22/06).

Khaddam Open Letter to Baathists in Syria (7/9)

Former VP Abdel Halim Khaddam addressed "civilan and military" members of the Baath party in Syria in an open letter urging them to do their patriotic duty and "shift to the side of the people and contribute in the uprooting of a regime whose continuation poses a grave danger for the future of the country, its national unity, and its security and stability." (Arabic. "Free Syria," 7/5/06).

In the letter, his second since his defection, Khaddam told the Baathists they had two choices, "the choice of the homeland and the people, and another choice which places you on the side of tyranny and corruption." He attacked the ruling Assad family regime holding it responsible for the "paralysis in the state institutions," and for the "regime's repression of citizens," and for the "break up of national unity."

Khaddam warned the Baathists not to be "fooled by those who have a hold on power who tell you that the [Baath] party is the leader of society and the state, when you know full well that it is the ruling family and its security apparatuses who rule the state, and that the role of the party's institutions is merely to cover up for errors and deviances." He asked the Baathists, "are you responsible for the impulsive and adventurist political decisions which have brought great damage to the country? Are they the work of party leadership or the work of an heir who does not realize the danger his actions pose to the country?"

He further accused the regime of a series of political assassinations of Syrian and Lebanese figures, and claimed that former Syrian interior minister Ghazi Kanaan was murdered "because he knew the truths behind the assassination of Rafik Hariri, and he knew who killed the former Lebanese Mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled, and Kalam Jumblatt" and others, and because he knew "the secrets of the [Lebanese] al-Madina Bank scandal." He added that "the day of reckoning" for the regime is near, and called on the Baathists to help "in saving the country and liberating the people from the prison in which the regime has put them."

The National Salvation Front had included a call to Baath party members, civilian and military, in the concluding statement of its inaugural conference, inviting them to "join the ranks of the people in order to rid Syria of a corrupt and tyrannical regime."

Security Services Raid Dissident's Office, Break Up Opposition Meeting (6/30)

The Syrian security services raided the office of lawyer Hassan Abdel Azim, spokesperson for the National Democratic Gathering, and broke up a meeting of one of the committees of the Damascus Declaration that was being held there. (Arabic. Levant News, 6/29/06). This comes after the National Council of the Damascus Declaration held a large meeting in the house of dissident Riad Seif.

According to information received by Levant News, a state security patrol raided Abdel Azim's office on June 29 and confiscated documents related to the meeting and to the work of the Damascus Declaration. The state security services also ordered George Sabra, a member of the secretariat of the Syrian People's Party, to report to its headquarters immediately.

The report added that the Syrian regime had stepped up its campaign against activists and their meetings, and had banned all forums and gatherings, even those of a cultural nature. Abdel Azim himself is awaiting trial for charges of "possessing and distributing unlicensed publications," in reference to "the Democratic Stand," a publication that the National Democratic Gathering had been issuing for years. He is due to appear before a military court on July 11. (Arabic. Elaph, 6/29/06).

Abdel Azim also said that  the raiding of his office was "part of the ongoing escalation against the national opposition in Syria." (Arabic. Elaph, 6/30/06). He added that the security services broke into his office without any warrant, using as pretext the meeting of a limited number of members of the follow-up and coordination committee of the Damascus Declaration; a total of five people." He added, "it's a new way to violate the sanctity of homes and private offices, insult the dignity of citizens, restrict basic freedoms, and ignore human rights. It's a total confiscation of the freedom of the national democratic opposition, in order to paralyze its ability to practice its role and activity even at the most minium level.  The regime and its apparatuses insist on the method of tyranny, repression, and negation of the other, paying no mind to constitutional texts and international charters."

The Elaph report notes that one of the regime-run official newspapers had launched an assault on the opposition accusing it of treason and of contributing one way or the other to the international pressures on Syria, especially from the US.

Regime Seeking to Dismantle the Damascus Declaration (6/28)

Syrian dissidents and activists told AKI that the Syrian regime is working on several fronts "in order to dismantle the Damascus Declaration gathering" through "attempts at splitting its ranks and co-opting certain parties" who are part of the Declaration. (Arabic. 6/28/06).

Nevertheless, the AKI report notes that all the activists said that the parties who are signatories to the Damascus Declaration (DD) were "aware of the aims of this attempt and are working to make sure it does not succeed," adding, "the parties are committed to all the principles of the Declaration and will not enter into compromises to abandon them."

The Syrian regime had dispatched the recently appointed Vice President for cultural affairs to hold talks with some Kurdish parties, reportedly regarding the matter of the 120,000 Kurds who have been stripped of their citizenship.  According to activists, the Syrian regime promised the leaders of certain Kurdish parties to look into the citizenship problem in return for their mass withdrawal from the Damascus Declaration, which would lead in their view to the dismantling of the Declaration.

Citing reliable information it received, the AKI report says that all the Kurdish parties under the DD have rejected the compromise, and have asserted their position in the last general meeting of the DD groups, which was kept low key, and stated that they would not abandon their support for the  Declaration for any reason whatsoever and that they would remain within the ranks of the united opposition.

The report further quotes sources as saying that there was an attempt by some intellectuals, under the sponsorship of the Syrian regime, to issue a counter-declaration to the Beirut-Damascus Declaration (BDD), in which they would criticize the BDD but would also call for the release of the signatories of the BDD who are still in jail. The sources said this attempt failed, but did not clarify the reason for its failure.

It is worth recalling that last month there were rumors of a written proposal, allegedly co-drafted by the security services, that was presented to the BDD detainees, perhaps as a potential compromise formula for their release, but the detainees rejected it.

A statement by the Committees for the Revival of Civil Society in Syria also argued that the prosecutor general was delaying their trials in order to keep them detained for as long as possible, and it was using this time "to stir up conflicts between the detainees and attempt to blackmail them ... in order to push them to retract their support for the Beirut-Damascus Declaration." (Arabic. ME Transparent, 6/28/06). "The detainees," the statement went on to say, have nevertheless "expressed their continued committment to and unity around [the BDD]."

Finally, the Committee for the Support and Activation of the Damascus Declaration recently met in Paris and agreed, among several things, to start a fund to support democratic activism in Syria and those affected by the regime's repression, including the families of prisoners of conscience. (Arabic. Via The Atassi Forum, 6/24/06).

Employees Fired over Beirut-Damascus Declaration (6/21)

The National Organization for Human Rights (NOHR) has confirmed that 17 public sector employees have been sacked from their jobs on a decision by the Syrian Prime Minister Naji Otri. (Arabic. Elaph, 6/19/06)

The NOHR believes the sacking comes as punishment for lending their signature or support to the Beirut-Damascus Declaration (BDD). The BDD was a joint document signed by 274 Lebanese and Syrian activists and intellectuals which called on the Syrian regime to radically correct its relationship with Lebanon and to respect its independence and sovereignty starting with demarcating the common border and establishing diplomatic relations.

The regime considered the Declaration "provocative" and its timing "premeditated" to coincide with UN Security Council resolution 1680. Several of the Syrian signatories were arrested, and those who have come out in solidarity with them, such as the Suwayda activists and intellectuals, have been questioned and intimidated.

Middle East Transparent published the names of the sacked employees and pointed out that 5 of them are signatories to the BDD while the other 12 are signatories of the Suwayda Declaration. (Arabic. 6/18/06). One of the employees is Suleiman al-Shammar, who is one of the 10 activists arrested for signing the BDD.

Ammar Qurabi of the NOHR told Reuters, "The regime is showing no leniency, it wants to decimate dissent. The less international pressure on Syria the more it spreads its totalitarian grip." (Via aljazeera.net, 6/19/06).

Nevertheless, despite the intimidation, unidentified sources told AKI that the Lebanese intellectuals are still gathering signatures for the Declaration and now have around 600 new signatures from Syrian and Lebanese activists and intellectuals (Arabic. AKI via Ahrar Syria, 6/15/06). The sources added that the Lebanese are the ones gathering the signatures due to the intimidation and restrictions that the Syrian activists face.

Amnesty International has condemned the dismissal of the employees for expressing opinions, calling it a violation of international human rights. Arab rights and civil society activists have expressed solidarity with them and called on the regime to stop its campaign against intellectuals and activists. (Arabic. Levant News, 6/21/06).

Bunni Accused of Overthrow Plot (5/23)

Head of the Syrian Organization for Human Rights (SOHR) Abdel Karim Rihawi told UPI today that human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni "was accused of belonging to a secret organization planning to topple President Bashar Assad's regime."

He said the charge was not directed against other detained rights activists, "a matter that raises our deep concerns."

Rihawi quoted an official source as telling him that the accused will be convicted of the charges filed against them, but will be released later by a special pardon from President Assad.

It was first reported that Bunni, along with nine other signatories to the Beirut-Damascus Declaration, was being charged with "inciting sectarian conflict, undermining the state, disseminating false news, and defamation." Some of the charges could carry a life sentence if he is convicted.

Anwar al-Bunni Arrested (5/17)

Syrian security forces arrested prominent human rights lawyer and activist Anwar al-Bunni earlier today (Reuters, 5/17/06). The arrest comes as part of a large wave of arrests of several activists (Arabic. Levant News, 5/17/06), including prominent political activist and writer, Michel Kilo, who was detained three days ago. Bunni had come out in condemnation of Kilo's arrest.

The apparent reason for the arrests is a joint declaration signed by 274 Lebanese and Syrian intellectuals which calls, among other things, for a correction of Syrian-Lebanese relations and the recognition of Lebnon's sovereignty and independence, starting with demarcating the borders and exchanging embassies with Lebanon (Arabic. ME Transparent, 5/11/06). Both Bunni and Kilo were signatories to the declaration, called The Beirut-Damascus/Damascus-Beirut Declaration.

Yesterday, two other signatories, human rights lawyer and activist Nidal Darwish and secretary general of the Arab Organization for Human Rights Mahmoud Mer'i, were also arrested. And then today, Mahmoud Issa (former detainee, Communist activist), Safwan Tayfour (activist), Khalil Hussein (Kurdish Future Current), and Khaled Khalifeh, were all arrested, and all are signatories, although there seems to have been a case of mistaken identity with Khalifeh; a writer with the same name did sign the declaration (AFP, 5/17/06). There are also summons for Suleiman al-Shammar (political activist) and Kamal Sheikho (human rights activist), both of whom are signatories to the declaration.

Bunni's wife told Elaph that the arrest was made outside the house, as Bunni was opening his car door (Arabic. 5/17/06). His brother Akram, himself an activist and a signatory to the declaration who had just returned from Madrid, added that the arrest was more like a kidnapping, as the security forces did not summon Bunni. Instead, they staked him outside his house, and as he tried to open his car door, they rushed him and took him away screaming.

Bunni's arrest was preceded by having his license to practice law revoked for up to four years last week (Financial Times, 5/15/06). In March, the regime also shut down the (mainly EU-funded) human rights center that he led. He is also the spokesman for the Hurriyat center (National Center for the Defense of the Freedom of Journalists and the Press in Syria) headed by Michel Kilo.

The Elaph report noted that some Syrian officials are referring to the Beirut-Damascus Declaration as the "March 14th Declaration," in reference to the anti-regime coalition, which holds the majority in Lebanon's parliament and cabinet and which has been making similar calls as those of the Beirut-Damascus Declaration, and has appealed to the UN Security Council to pressure Syria on these points. This led to the introduction of a draft resolution, sponsored by the US, France, and Britain, calling on Syria to fully recognize Lebanon's independence by demarcating the borders and exchanging embassies with its neighbor, and to cease interference in its internal affairs. The resolution passed today by a majority of 13 votes, with Russia and China abstaining.

The comparison with the March 14th coalition is telling and suggests, as Bahia Mardini notes, that discussing Syrian-Lebanese relations, or rather, holding positions that go against the regime's line on this issue, is now a new prohibited red line in Syria (Arabic. Elaph, 5/17/06). Political analyst Michael Young agrees: "The Syrian regime was no doubt sending a domestic message that that link between the Syrian opposition and their comrades across the border must cease."

Ammar Abdulhamid commented on the wave of arrests on his blog, noting its timing (as the UN Security Council was discussing the draft resolution): "one thing is becoming clear: the Assad regime is throwing the glove in the face of the international community and all its resolutions." He added, "unless an explicit message is sent to the Assads to the effect that such confrontational policies will only serve to increase their international isolation, the crackdown against activists will continue and could easily escalate to include all notable opposition figures in the country."

The Message Behind Jamous's Arrest (5/7)

An Elaph report on the arrest of Communist activist Fateh Jamous quoted Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights who expressed his befuddlement at the arrest, saying that the regime's red lines are no longer clear (Arabic. 5/1/06). "Jamous's positions," he went on, "are open and clear." He is strongly opposed to relying on foreign interference and has criticized the Muslim Brotherhood's alliance with Abdel Halim Khaddam whom he called unfit to join the Damascus Declaration.

However, Jamous did manage to tell Elaph that it was important for the opposition inside Syria to communicate with independent opposition parties and individuals abroad in an attempt to unite them on the basis of the Damascus Declaration.

Syrian analyst Ammar Abdulhamid believes that this was the real reason for the arrest. He explains in two recent posts on his blog:

No contact with the outside is allowed, Period. This seems to be the underlying message that the regime seems want to make. And should the international community fail to react to this, the message will soon transmogrify into: no dissent of any kind will be tolerated, and then , it will indeed be back to the 80s, just as the Damascus Declaration people in Syria are predicting.* [*Ed.'s note: Arabic. Levant News, 5/2/06.]

Ammar elaborates further, also commenting on the tactic of incommunicado detention:

This [incommunicado detention] is the new style that Assef Chawkat, the head of the military security apparatus which we now know was behind the dramatic disappearance of Ali [Abdallah] and his two sons, seems to have selected for dealing with all those dissidents who were daring enough to try to bridge the gulf between the internal and external opposition groups, even when their efforts were not necessarily that successful. For, unlike his former comrade in arms, Riyad al-Turk, Fateh’s enduring old-style communist predilections had already constrained his abilities to enter into serious dialogue or strike a serious deal with any of the existing groups in Europe.

The aim, therefore, is to keep the opposition groups isolated and scattered, all the while maintaining the repression of the groups inside Syria.

This also may have been the message behind the arrest and recent sentencing to 8 years in prison of  activist Riad Darar, who was arrested in June after delivering a eulogy at the funeral of murdered Kurdish Sheikh Maashouq al-Khaznawi (IRIN News, 4/3/06). Al-Khaznawi is believed to have been murdered by the regime for his overtures towards the Muslim Brotherhood as well as his efforts at reconciliation between Arabs and Kurds. Furthermore, as if to drive this message home, Darar's sentencing was simultaneous with that of Abdul-Sattar Qattan, a member of the banned MB.

The red lines are thus being stretched to eliminate even the thought of networking among opposition ranks. As Ammar writes, "it is the thought that counts. Fateh had tried and this suffices. The crackdown will continue, the intimidation, the sowing of fear. Fear, the Assad regime’s most successful crop to date."

Yet Abulhamid derives some hope from the perseverance of the opposition in the face of the regime's brutal crackdown: "the perseverance of the dissidents, and the proliferation of local unrest, might just indicate that even this crop is failing these days."

All the main Syrian opposition and Human Rights groups, inside and outside Syria, have issued statements of solidarity with Jamous and condemned his arrest. One party, The Party of Modernity and Democracy for Syria, issued an appeal to the opposition abroad to do more than just issuing statements of condemnation, and called on it to organize sit-ins and rallies all around the world aimed at exposing the crimes of the Asad regime (Arabic. "Free Syria," 5/3/06).

Communist Activist Jamous Arrested (5/1)

IRIN News reported (5/2) that security agents have arrested Fateh Jamous, a prominent member of the Communist Labour Party upon his arrival at Damascus airport on Monday (5/1):

The Damascus-based National Organisation for Human Rights (NOHR) said in a statement that Fateh Jammous, a member of the broad coalition of Syrian opposition figures known as the “Damascus Declaration”, was arrested on 30 April following his return from a six-week trip abroad. Jammous had apparently travelled to France, Sweden and Britain, where he met with other Syrian opposition figures.

Jamous has been held incommunicado ever since. A report (5/3) by Amnesty International added, "[Jamous's] family has not been allowed to see him and have not been given any information about him. He is in danger of torture." Jamous had been imprisoned for 17 years before his release in 2000. He has since been repeatedly harrassed.

Human Rights lawyer and activist Anwar al-Bunni added that "Islamists" may have been on the list of opposition figures who met with Jamous in Europe (Arabic. AFP via Elaph, 5/2/06). However, a statement from the London-based Syrian Democratic Current adamantly denied that Jamous met with members of the Muslim Brotherhood in London and called such reports regime-disseminated falsehoods that circulated on regime-friendly web publications (Arabic. tsdp.org, 5/6/06).

The AI report gave more detail on Jamous's activity in Europe noting that he "spoke at an Amnesty International conference in Sweden on human rights and asylum issues, and met the Swedish Parliamentary Human Rights Group. Among his activities in the UK was appearing in a radio programme promoting Arab-Kurdish dialogue and peaceful reform in Syria."

According to the NOHR statement quoted in IRIN News, "Jamous was arrested for his refusal to respond to a summons by security agents shortly before his trip, in addition to his reported meetings with fellow opposition figures."

Bahia Mardini managed to reach Jamous on his cell as he was still at the airport and before going incommunicado. He told her that he had returned on his own will and was going to obey the summons after returning home. Mardini's Elaph report noted that Jamous had been prevented from traveling to Europe in 2004, when he was invited to speak by the Danish Parliament as well as other Syrian groups and organizations in Europe (Arabic. 5/1/06).