The Syrian political activist Faris Murad has passed away after six decades of endurance and suffering. He spent half his life in prison simply because he shared the same views as that of the Syrian regime on building a united arab society and on the priority of the Palestinian issue. However, these ideas of his were not based on misleading others or dishonesty, but were built on faith and sincerity.
Faris Mohammed Murad was a member of the Arab communist Organisation. He was arrested with his friends in 1975 and received a life sentence. He was transferred between many Syrian prisons, all of which hold a five star rating in brutal treatment, torture and stripping the human of dignity, ranging from Al-Mezze to Tadmur (Palmyra), and thereafter to Sednaya until he was released in late January 2004.
Faris’ trials and tribulations continued after his release due to having contracted an incurable disease in prison, which required immediate medical surgery outside the country. However, the Syrian authorities which killed Abdul Sattar Qattan through forbidding him from seeking medication outside the country, and which can kill Riyadh Seif who is currently suffering from chronic disease in his prison, also forbade Faris Murad from travelling to seek medication. This caused great deterioration in his condition, until he passed away on Monday 9/3/2009.
Faris Mohammed Murad was born in Aleppo in 1950, and lived in Rural Damascus.
The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) offers its sincere condolences to the family of the activist Faris Murad, and faces a portrait of the sad black reality of life painted by the security apparatus which knows no humanity. SHRC also considers the contradiction of the Syrian regime, whose so called mottos and values call for Pan-Arabism, Palestine and a united Arab society, whereas activists that campaign for such causes with belief and sincerity have been murdered, as well as those who have disagreed on such issues. In fact one of the contradictions of this regime is that the Palestine Branch for military interrogation is the place with the worst reputation..behind its walls the Syrian regime draws close to the USA by receiving innocents such as Maher Arrar, in the same way that thousands of innocent citizens were received in Al-Mezze, Tadmur and Sednaya, of which some were killed within the prisons, whilst few were released only to suffer as Faris Murad did… and to die as he did. However, SHRC moves from this black portrait to a bright one of hope, liberation and a return to the freedoms and a return to a pluralistic and democratic life in Syria through the hard work and striving of its sons.
Syrian Human Rights Committee
11/3/2009