The Syrian regime does not let a day pass in which it does not reinforce its oppressive nature, even on 10/12/2006- International day for Human Rights. The Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) in Damascus sentenced the Kurdish citizen Qanbar Hussein Qanbar to three years in prison, accusing him of belonging to a secret organisation and of attempting to split off Syrian territories and annexing them to a foreign country. This is an accusation that the Syrian Authorities have been attaching to all Kurdish activists who protest for their ethnic and cultural rights which have been forbidden by the Syrian regime.

The citizen Mustafa al-Fahl was sentenced to three years in prison for belonging to a secret organisation that aims to change the geographical, political and social nature of Syria, also pointing to the fact that he has an Islamic affiliation.

The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) views these arbitrary arrests as a severe violation of human rights in Syria, and considers the trialling of detainees at the unlawful SSSC as another severe violation of human rights in Syria. SHRC calls upon the Syrian authorities to stop arresting citizens arbitrarily and despotically, to abolish the SSSC based on the emergency laws imposed on the country 44 years ago, and to allow citizens their individual and general rights.

Syrian Human Rights Committee
10/12/2006