The Kurdish Democratic Unity Party (Yekiti) has indicated that a fourth group of Kurds detained in the aftermath of the painful Qamishli incidents of March 2004 were presented on Thursday before the First Military Court in Damascus. The report stated that twenty-two Kurdish detainees from Ras il-‘Ayn (Siri Kaniya) in northeast Syria were interrogated today by the military court in Damascus. They are:

1. Azar ‘Abdul-Qader Muhammad
2. Atash Ayo Atash
3. Ahmad Jum’a Muhammad
4. Ahmad Haydar Hamo
5. Ardam Muhammad Awso
6. Bassam Ayoob Seedo
7. Hussein Mahmood Seeno
8. Hussin Hammi ‘Ali
9. Sa’doon Muhammad Sheykho
10. Shayyar Nasr-il-deen Hasso
11. ‘Abdul-‘Aziz Jasim Sam’o
12. ‘Abdo Ayo Atash
13. ‘Alaa-il-deen Tawfeeq Hasan ‘Ali
14. ‘Amran Hussein Hasan
15. Kawa Muhammad Muhammad
16. Luqman Boubo Ayana
17. Mahmood Jameel ‘Abdul-Haleem
18. Muhammad ‘Ali Mustafa
19. Muhammad Ma’mo Muhammad
20. Mahmood Muhammad ‘Amo
21. Yusuf ‘Abdullah Hammi
22. Zahdi Jajan

The next hearing during which the prosecution’s witnesses will be heard has been designated for 31 March 2005.

Also represented on Thursday before the same court was the group from Al-Malikiyah (Derek) comprised of twenty-one detainees. The testimonies of the prosecution’s witnesses were heard, and the next hearing for this group was set for 7 April 2005, when the defense witnesses’ testimonies will be given.

The Syrian Human Rights Committee reaffirms its demands that the Syrian Authorities release the detained Kurds who have been arrested following the incidents of March 2004, and put an end to the harsh punishment of detainees. SHRC further demands that the Authorities grant its citizens freedom of expression, and facilitate the means by which the Kurdish Syrian citizens can enjoy their full rights in their country and in their specific culture and heritage.