Syria

(RSF/IFEX) – Human rights activist and freelance journalist Ali Abdallah, 52, and his son, student Mohammad Abdallah, 22, were released on 4 October 2006 after completing a six-month sentence. They had been imprisoned for “criticising the state of emergency laws” in effect since 1963 and “insulting the president of the state security court,” their lawyer, […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has welcomed the release on 1 October 2006 of writer and human rights advocate Mohammed Ghanem, who was arrested on 31 March because of the articles he had posted on his website, http://www.surion.org. He said he was often mistreated during his six months in detention. “Let us not forget that […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of online journalist Muhened Abdulrahman, arrested on 7 September 2006 for posting articles on independent news websites, and urged diplomats in posts in Damascus to intervene on behalf of the four cyber-dissidents now in Syrian jails. “Syria is today the Middle East’s biggest prison for […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has called for the release of Ali Sayed al-Shihabi, a 50-year-old English teacher who was arrested on 10 August 2006 for posting articles on far-left websites and who is still being held by the security services without being able to see his family. Two other cyber-dissidents are currently imprisoned in […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has voiced concern about the fate of freelance journalist Ali Abdallah and his son Mohammad, who appeared before a court martial in Damascus on 14 August 2006 on charges of “disturbing the peace”, “disseminating false news viable to undermine the financial prestige of the state” and “insulting a high official” […]

(RSF/IFEX) – RSF welcomes the 23 July 2006 release from prison of Massoud Hamid, winner of the 2005 RSF – Fondation de France Internet Freedom Prize, at the end of a three-year sentence for posting photos online of a pro-Kurdish demonstration in Damascus. RSF noted that he had been “frequently ill-treated during his totally unjustified” […]

(CIHRS/IFEX) – The following is a CIHRS press release: Cairo, June 28, 2006 Syrian Authorities Escalate Security Campaign to Suppress Reformers and Human Rights Activists The Syrian authority has seriously escalated its security campaign, and continued to terrorize and suppress civil society reformers and human rights activists in total disregard of all human rights principles. […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 7 June 2006 CPJ press release: Syria: Online journalist to serve six months in prison New York, June 7, 2006 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the prison sentence handed down to a Syrian online journalist by a military court for articles advocating rights for […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 20 May 2006 Human Rights Watch press release: Syria: Free Activists Detained Over Petition 12 Held for Declaration on Relations with Lebanon (New York, May 20, 2006) – Syria should immediately release all activists arbitrarily detained for signing a petition calling for improved Syrian-Lebanese relations, Human Rights Watch said […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a 16 May 2006 CPJ press release: SYRIA: Two journalists detained after writing about divisions New York, May 16, 2006 – The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the detention of two journalists who have written about divisions within Syria. Military intelligence service detained prominent activist and writer Michel […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of Michel Kilo, a Syrian journalist, human rights activist and political scientist, who was arrested on 14 May 2006 in Damascus. His wife said he had not been seen since he got a phone call in the afternoon ordering him to report to a […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrest and detention of writer and website editor Mohammed Ghanem, who was arrested at his home in the northeastern city of Ar Raqqah on 31 March 2006 by military intelligence officers. Ghanem, who edits the http://www.surion.org website, refused to leave with military intelligence officers until the local […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a 25 March 2006 Human Rights Watch media release: Syria: Rights Activists Detained in Crackdown (New York, March 25, 2006) – Syrian authorities escalated a crackdown on the country’s human rights activists by arresting four of them over the past week, Human Rights Watch said today. As of Friday evening […]

(HRW/IFEX) – The following is a Human Rights Watch press release: Syria: Rights Activist Arrested Upon Return Home (New York, March 14, 2006) – The Syrian government should immediately release from detention a spokesman for the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria, Dr. Ammar Qurabi, Human Rights Watch said today. Syrian security forces detained […]

(RSF/IFEX) – Chaaban Abboud, correspondent for Lebanese daily “An-Nahar” and the Kuwait daily “Al Ra’i al Aam”, has been released on bail. The journalist was arrested on 2 March 2006 under a 1963 state of emergency law and charged by a Damascus military court with “publishing mendacious reports harmful to national security”. Abboud had written […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release: Moroccan paper says it is a victim of state-organized protests over cartoons New York, February 15, 2006 – The weekly Le Journal Hebdomadaire has accused Moroccan authorities of orchestrating protests against it for publishing a photograph of a French newspaper showing a cartoon of the Prophet […]