Reuters AlertNet Lite - Syria: Peaceful Activist Gets 12 Years With Hard Labor

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

Syria: Peaceful Activist Gets 12 Years With Hard Labor

10 May 2007 19:41:26 GMT
Source: Human Rights Watch

(New York, May 11, 2007) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should immediately exonerate prominent human rights activist Dr. Kamal al-Labwani, who was sentenced today to 12 years in prison including hard labor on politically motivated charges, Human Rights Watch said.

A Damascus criminal court convicted Labwani of "communicating with a foreign country and inciting it to initiate aggression against Syria." Labwani had visited the United States and Europe in the fall of 2005 where he had met with government officials, journalists and human rights organizations.

Labwani's sentence was handed down two weeks after another prominent Syrian human rights activists, Anwar al-Bunni, was sentenced to five years in prison on politically motivated charges.

"The Syrian government has accelerated its crackdown on free speech and peaceful activism," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Peaceful activists like Labwani are paying a heavy price for expressing their views."

Syrian security forces arrested Labwani, a physician and founder of the Democratic Liberal Gathering, on November 8, 2005 upon his return from a two-month trip to Europe and the United States. During his trip, he appeared on the pan-Arab Al-Mustaqilla and Al-Hurra television networks where he called on the Syrian government to respect fundamental freedoms and human rights.

The Democratic Liberal Gathering is a group of Syrian intellectuals and activists who advocate for peaceful change in Syria based on democratic reforms, liberalism, secularism and respect for human rights.

From the onset, Labwani's trial was marred by the interference of the state security agencies. The prosecution added the charge of "communicating with a foreign country and inciting it to initiate aggression against Syria" after the head of National Security sent a letter on November 17, 2005 to the Minister of Justice asking him to add this accusation to the lesser charges that the General Prosecutor's office had initially filed against Labwani. In his defense pleadings, Labwani's attorney referred to the letter and argued that the new charge would not have been included if National Security had not intervened because the investigation had not revealed any evidence that Labwani had called on any country to initiate aggression against Syria.

On April 28, following al-Bunni's conviction, Labwani and other imprisoned political and human rights activists smuggled out a joint letter which said that detainees in Syria "should feel that they are not alone... and that there is hope for a peaceful resolution of the crisis of freedoms and human rights in Syria."

"Syrian officials repeatedly claim that their country wants to play a constructive role in the region," Whitson said. "But this is hard to believe as they continue to imprison peaceful dissidents at home."

Background

Syria has a long record of prosecuting political activists who peacefully express their opinions. In 2002, the State Security Court sentenced Labwani to three years in prison on charges of "inciting rebellion, spreading false information and weakening national unity" after he had participated in political reform discussions. Labwani was released after serving his sentence in full.

Article 38 of Syria's Constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to "freely and openly express his views in words, in writing, and through all other means of expression" and to "participate in supervision and constructive criticism in a manner that safeguards the soundness of the domestic and nationalist structure and strengthens the socialist system." As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Syria has an international obligation to uphold the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article Send comments

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.

Reset map

• Syria profile
· View map

MORE >>

NGO latest

• IRC Urges Donor Nations to Respond to Iraqi Refugee Crisis
IRC - UK

• Christian Aid joins green.tv
Christian Aid - UK

• Christian Aid comment on 5 April Gleneagles event
Christian Aid - UK

• Governments must invest to help poor people adapt to climate change
CARE International - UK

• Beware of hidden strings on EU's offer on trade
Christian Aid - UK

MORE >>

Latest news

• Syria: Peaceful Activist Gets 12 Years With Hard Labor

• Young Muslim saviour helps two elderly Iraqi Christians start a new life

• Group says Syria kills 4 militants on Iraq border

• Syria might not cooperate with Hariri court-Assad

• Cheney to press Arab allies for help on Iraq

MORE >>

Last updated:Thu May 10 19:42:38 2007