The following are highlights from HRW report 2000 in Syria: Authorities still viewed human rights activists as criminals and subjected them to harsh punishment. Five associates of the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria (known by the acronym CDF) were serving eight to ten year prison terms imposed by […]

The report states that, “despite the presidential succession, Syrians continued to be denied civil and political rights. Freedom of expression, association, and assembly were strictly limited in law and practice; the local media and access to the Internet remained state-controlled; and the pervasive powers of the security forces under the country’s long-standing emergency law, in […]

  Human Rights Developments Defending Human Rights HUMAN RIGHTS DEVELOPMENTS   President Bashar al-Asad’s government launched a crackdown on peaceful but outspoken advocates of reform in August, sending a clear message that it would tolerate a political opening only on its own terms and according to its own timetable. Authorities arrested leading critics and others […]