On 12th December 1999, units of Syrian State security intelligence and the military intelligence launched a new massive campaign of detention in different parts of the country. This campaign was linked with rumours according to SHRC knowledge spread by the same sources that launched this unjust and unfair campaign. Now that more than five weeks have elapsed, this onslaught is still going on, resulting in throwing again hundreds of peaceful citizens in jail. It was reported that some detainees expressed their opposing views to the negotiations started between Syria and (Israel!) and that some of them distributed statements objecting against this unequal negotiations…

Arrests included Tahrir (liberation Party) members, salafi groups, ex-detainees some of who spent more than 15 years in detention camps, some national groups and other citizens who have nothing to do politics.

It is strongly feared that detainees have been subjected to torture to admit their links with other persons. As the methodology of Syrian security forces is to exert sudden and intense torture in order to pull out as much information as possible from detainees… Many persons who can not bear torment and torture give false information about the others in order to be relieved from further rounds of torture, so matters complicate even worse when more people are consequently arrested. This procedure have been recurring since early 1960s when civilian law was replaced by state of emergency that permits random detention, violent interrogation and use of torture.

It is very well known that the main reason for the latest detentions is to direct a big preventive blow to cripple people expressing their views about the hot issues of the country, particularly the political settlement with (Israel!), whose start coincided with the resumption of the said detention campaign, and the conflict on the succession of the ailing Syrian president amid deep split in Asad's clan that lead to armed confrontation few months ago.

Syrian Human Rights Committee makes every effort to make the names and information of detainees known. However, security forces secretive conduct on one hand and fear of detainee's families of further revenge on the other hindered release of names and flow of information. But SHRC could at present identify the following names of persons recently arrested.  

No.	Name	Province
1	Abdul-Khaliq Nejmudin Hakmi	Homs
2	Wajeeh El-Kurdi	Homs
3	Imad Nazeeh Darwish	Homs
4	Munther Nizar Darwish	Homs
5	Mo'ayad Nizar Darwish	Homs
6	Ammar Riyadh Halwani	Homs
7	Lu'ayi Abdul-Hafiz El-Akhras	Homs
8	Mohammed Khojah	Homs
9	Basheer Abu-Laban	Homs
10	Mousheer Abu-Laban	Homs
11	…….. Safi	Homs
12	(son of) Akram Sayed Sulaiman	Homs
13	……. Saeidi	Homs
14	……. Sheikh Waraq	Homs
15	(son of) Turki Halwani	Homs
16	(son of ) Turki Halwani	Homs
17	( son in law of) Riyadh Halwani	Homs
18	……… Nakdali	Homs
19	……… Nabhan	Homs
20	Mohammed Mando	Homs