Radeef Mostafa is being placed under tremendous pressure for defending human rights in general and the rights of the Kurdish minority in particular.
(CIHRS/IFEX) – 29 December 2010 – The undersigned human rights NGOs hereby express full solidarity with prominent lawyer and human rights defender Radeef Mostafa, head of the Kurdish Committee for Human Rights in Syria, al-Rased, in light of the tremendous pressures aimed at punishing him for defending human rights in general and the rights of the Kurdish minority in particular.
The undersigned NGOs condemn the shameful use of the Bar Association, one of the many state-controlled professional syndicates in Syria, in the crackdown and defamation of human rights defenders. Disciplinary charges have been brought against Mostafa by the Bar Association’s branch in Aleppo, following directions from the Syrian Bar President. Mostafa is being accused of inciting citizens against the Syrian government in his articles, tackling topics with a view to undermine national unity, publishing unfounded news and claims to instigate citizens against the state and presiding over an organization that was established without an official license. Mostafa was also accused of other crimes, in accordance with the Penal Code, including threatening state security.
Click on the following link to read the entire press release: http://www.cihrs.org/English/NewsSystem/Articles/2739.aspx
Signatory Organizations:
1. Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies, Egypt
2. Arab Foundation for Civil Society and Human Rights Support, Egypt
3. Arab Network for Human Rights Information, Egypt
4. Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, Egypt
5. Bahrain Center for Human Rights
6. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
7. Committees for the Defense of Democracy Freedom and Human Rights, Syria
8. Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies
9. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
10. Hesham Mubarak Law Center, Egypt
11. Human Rights First Society, Saudi Arabia
12. Human Rights Organization in Syria – MAF
13. Kurdish Committee for Human Rights in Syria al-Rased
14. Kurdish organization for the defence of human rights and public freedoms in Syria – DAD
15. National Organization for Human Right in Syria
16. Palestinian Organization for Human Rights – Lebanon
17. The Arab Organization for Human Rights-Syria
18. The Group for Human Rights Legal Aid, Egypt
19. The Syrian Human Rights Committee
20. Yemeni Organization for Defending Rights and Democratic Freedoms
