A media spokesman of SHRC commented on the news revealed today about the death of Mr. Joseph Howayes in the Syrian prisons on 25 June 2003, saying that the Syrian Security authorities should bear full responsibility for the death of the said detainees, especially that the conditions of Syrian prisons are well known for torture, ill treatment and malnutrition. The spokesman denounced the irresponsible conduct followed by those authorities, and in particular by the minister of the interior who failed to fulfill his obligations. The minister promised earlier a delegation of Lebanese families to finish with the Lebanese detainees files within three months. However, three time the promised period was elapsed without any prospect to fulfill his obligation. 

The spokesman demanded the Syrian authorities to reveal the names of all Lebanese and Arab detainees in Syria, and to release them at once. The Spokesman addressed human rights defenders to make an intensive campaign against the practices of the Syrian authorities regarding the Lebanese citizens who have been caught as victims of differences between the Syrian authorities and other Lebanese parties. He said that such differences usually lead to the violation of the simplest principles of human rights and the fall of many innocent victims.