SOURCES: CDF, AI, ICJ, Human Rights Watch/Middle East, various Syrian journalist Nizar Nayyuf was arrested in January 1992 after his wife and three-year-old daughter were reportedly arrested in his place a few weeks earlier. He and fellow journalist Jadi Nawfal are among members of the banned Committee for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human […]
SOURCES: CDF, AI, ICJ, Human Rights Watch/Middle East, various
Syrian journalist Nizar Nayyuf was arrested in January 1992 after his wife and three-year-old daughter were reportedly arrested in his place a few weeks earlier. He and fellow journalist Jadi Nawfal are among members of the banned Committee for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights (CDF) who were sentenced to long prison terms in March 1992.
Nayyuf, a 39-year-old sociologist and writer for literary
magazine “Al Thaqafa al Ma’arifa” and the weekly “Al-Huriyya”,
was reported to have been so badly tortured in prison that he
could not walk unaided at his trial. He also claimed to have been
beaten on stairs leading to the courtroom.
Nayyuf and Nawfal were among seventeen people arrested in
December 1991 and January 1992 and tried by State Security
between 29 February and 17 March 1992 in connection with a
leaflet published on 10 December 1991 by the CDF detailing human rights abuses during the December 1991 elections.
The evidence against them was said to be confessions reportedly obtained under torture and the leaflet itself. The torture allegations were not investigated and the defendants reportedly had no access to medical attention.
On 17 March 1992, Nayyuf and Nawfal were sentenced respectively to ten years and five years in prison, hard labour and deprivation of political rights. They were accused of “disseminating false information” in relation to the leaflet which was said to have been “intended to create anxiety and to shake the confidence of the masses in the aims of the revolution” of 8 March 1963.
The government claims the CDF is a front for a “terrorist” organisation and that they have incited armed insurrection, although there appears to have been no evidence of this given at trial.
In early January 1995, the CDF, reacting to the release of two
prominent political prisoners held without trial for over 20
years, called for the release on humanitarian grounds of five
other long-term political prisoners, including former army
captain Khalil Burayez who has been held since November 1970 in connection with books he wrote criticising Syrian military campaigns.
A large political trial began in 1993 which involved several
writers, many of whom had been held since the mid-1980s.
They include:
– journalist Faysal Allush who was sentenced to 15 years in
prison on 28 June 1993, reportedly for alleged membership of the Party for Communist Action;
– TV and radio reporter Anwar Bader who was sentenced to 12 years in prison on 3 March 1994, reportedly for alleged membership of the Party for Communist Action;
– poet Faraj Beraqdar who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 17 October 1994, reportedly for alleged membership of the Party for Communist Action;
– journalist Rida Haddad who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 25 June 1994, reportedly for alleged membership of the Communist Party Political Bureau;
– journalist Isma’il al-Haije who was sentenced to 15 years in
prison on 25 June 1994, reportedly for membership of the Ba’ath Party-February 23 Movement;
– Palestinian journalist Samir al-Hassan who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 7 June 1994, reportedly for alleged membership of the Party for Communist Action.
Charges against journalists Tadrus Trad and Abdallah Muqdad were said to have been dropped in 1994 and they are thought to have been released, although the WiPC is still seeking confirmation of Muqdad’s release.
Journalist Salama George Kaila, who was detained in March 1992, is reported to be currently on trial in connection with his human rights activities, including articles he wrote on censorship in Syria.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the Syrian authorities:
calling for the release of Nizar Nayyuf and Jadi Nawfal in the belief that they are held in violation of their right to freedom of expression as guaranteed under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
further expressing concerns at the imprisonment of other
journalists in Syria who are believed to be held for the
expression of their views.
Appeals To:
His Excellency Hafiz el-Assad
President
Syrian Arab Republic
Presidential Palace
Damascus
Syria
Copies to the Syrian embassy in your country.
