

Human Rights Watch pushes for prisoner’s immediate release
(HRW/IFEX) – Human Rights Watch on 15 September 1998 called for urgent action to save the life of imprisoned Syrian dissident Nizar Nayouf, a 36-year-old writer and human rights activist suffering from Hodgkin’s disease in a Damascus military prison. **For background, see IFEX alert of 10 September 1998** “We are deeply concerned that Nizar Nayouf […]

Suffering from cancer and denied treatment, journalist Nizar Nayyouf in danger of dying
(RSF/IFEX) – Nizar Nayyouf, the 43-year old Editor-In-Chief of the monthly “Le vote de la Démocratie”, sentenced in 1992 to ten years of forced labour, has, for the last several months, been suffering from Hodgkin’s disease (leukaemia), which is a curable form of cancer if it is treated with chemotherapy in its early stages. According […]

ARTICLE 19 calls on French president to remind Syria of its international obligation to respect freedom of expression
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – On 8 July 1998, ARTICLE 19 sent a letter to French President Jacques Chirac in advance of the state visit, on 16 and 17 July, of Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad. The letter accompanied a copy of a recent report by ARTICLE 19, titled Walls of Silence: Media and Censorship in Syria. In […]

Stifling free expression adds to political and economic dangers, according to ARTICLE 19 report
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The stifling censorship imposed by Syria’s authoritarian government is adding to the political and economic dangers already facing the country, according to a report published released by ARTICLE 19. “Walls of Silence: Media and Censorship in Syria” is the latest in a series of reports on media law and practice in the […]

Continued concern for detained journalist and human rights activist Nizar Nayouf
In a letter to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, Human Rights Watch has called for the release of Nizar Nayouf, a 34-year-old writer, journalist and human rights activist, who is serving a ten-year prison term imposed by the State Security Court in 1992 following an unfair trial. Nayouf has been held in solitary confinement in a […]

Journalists Nizar Nayyuf and Jadi Nawfal enter fourth year in prison
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 […]