(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to immediately release Massud Hamid, a journalism student and photographer who has been held in incommunicado detention since 24 July 2003 in Adra prison, near the capital, Damascus. In a letter to the president, the organisation said it is extremely concerned for Hamid’s physical and […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to immediately release Massud Hamid, a journalism student and photographer who has been held in incommunicado detention since 24 July 2003 in Adra prison, near the capital, Damascus.
In a letter to the president, the organisation said it is extremely concerned for Hamid’s physical and mental health and fears he has suffered ill-treatment in prison. “The time has come for the Baath Party – which in a few weeks will mark its 41st year in power – to finally allow the Internet and press freedom to flourish in Syria,” RSF said. “The authorities can no longer turn a deaf ear to the growing and legitimate aspirations within Syrian society demanding wide-ranging political reforms, nor pretend not to know that the regional and historical context has considerably changed.
“The state monopoly on radio and television, the total control of news and information and the imprisoning of Internet users and journalists are practices that are destined to disappear. Massud Hamid’s release should be the first sign that promised changes are finally going to be implemented,” the organisation added.
Police arrested Hamid, aged 29, on 24 July while he was writing an exam at Damascus University. Witnesses told RSF that the manner of his arrest, in which he was handcuffed in front of a large number of students, appeared deliberately intended to intimidate prospective journalists. Hamid is a member of Syria’s Kurdish minority.
Hamid was arrested one month after photographs that he took on 25 June, during a peaceful Kurdish protest in front of Unicef’s Damascus offices, were posted on the Kurdish-language website http://www.amude.com
Accused of “membership in an illegal organisation”, Hamid is expected to appear before the State Security Court at an undetermined future date. The military tribunal is notorious for the unfairness of both its procedures and verdicts.
Hamid has not been allowed any visits in detention, apart from a 10-minute meeting with a member of his family who reported seeing evidence that he had been tortured. Amnesty International has confirmed that it believes he suffered ill-treatment. The organisation has condemned the regular use of torture on prisoners of opinion in Syria.
The German-based Kurdish language site http://www.amude.com is mainly devoted to Kurdish identity and culture issues. It receives up to 5,000 hits a day.
