Declaration Regarding Arrest of Board Members of Jamal Al-Atassi’s Forum for National Discussion:
Human Rights Violations in Syria Calls for Prosecution of Perpetrators

The Syrian Authorities have embraced a new cycle in their series of attacks on the civil society movement in Syria through the arrest of all members of the board of Jamal Al-Atassi’s Forum for National Discussion. They were arrested few days after the arrest of their detained colleague, ‘Ali al-Abdullah.

Available news sources in Damascus indicate the arrest of the remaining eight board members: Sohair al-Atassi, Hussein al-‘Awdat, Jihad Musooti, Hazim Nahar, Muhammad Mahfoodh, ‘Abdul-Nasser Kahloos, Yusuf Juhmani, and Nahid Badwiyya. They were arrested from their homes in raids carried out early Tuesday morning – raids that remind Syrians of the past, when citizens feared receiving a knock on their door at dawn. The Syrian Human Rights Committee condemns the repetitious disgrace of Syrian activists and the violation of their rights to freedom and expression, particularly provided that the arrest of the board members of this forum resulted simply due to ‘Ali al-Abdullah’s delivery, as assigned by the board, of words written by the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, ‘Ali Sadrudin al-Bayanooni, during a seminar advocating national discussion on 1 May 2005. SHRC warns the Syrian government of the consequences of continuing the violation of international covenants signed and agreed to by the country, the last of which was the agreement to “oppose torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” signed by Syria on 1 July 2004.

SHRC reminds the Syrian government that these arrests, in addition to the abduction of human rights activists, are illegal and oblige the persecution of perpetrators, regardless of their security, military or political positions, instead of transferring detainees for trial by  the State Supreme Security Court, as was the case of ‘Ali al-Abdullah.

SHRC urges all friends of human rights to immediately intervene in attempts to release those detained from al-Atassi’s Forum, in addition to the Lawyer Muhammad Ra’doon, president of the Arab Human Rights Organisation, Sheikh Muhammad Ma’shooq Al-Khaznawi, Nizar Rastanawi, and other former and recent detainees who were arrested for expressing their opinions and perspectives. SHRC further invites friends of human rights to put pressure on the Syrian Authorities to end the series of violations and seal the file of political arrests in Syria indefinitely.

24 May 2005