Syrian Elector

US condemns demands Syria release political prisoners

The United States said Wednesday that Syria's treatment of political prisoner Kamal Labwani flouts international standards of human rights and the rule of law.

Labwani is among six government critics and human rights campaigners arrested since May and given long prison sentences by a Damascus court. Labwani's was the longest, 12 years; US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack condemned Syria on Wednesday for having a military court add three years to Labwani's sentence for insulting President Bashar Assad.

"This decision, coupled with the Syrian High Court's verdict to uphold Mr. Labwani's earlier 12-year sentence for calling for political reform, demonstrates the Syrian regime's contempt for human rights, freedom of expression and the rule of law," McCormack said.

His statement also demanded the immediate release of Labwani and all other political prisoners.

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Associated Press

Syria: Attack against human rights defender Karam Ibrahim Yousef

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that human rights defender and writer Karam Ibrahim Yousef was shot in the head on 20 March 2008. Karam Ibrahim Yousef has written extensively in defence of the human rights of the Kurdish community in Syria.

Further Information

Posted 17/04/2008 On 20 March 2008, Karam Ibrahim Yousef was reportedly shot in the head by Syrian Security Forces whilst photographing the national Kurdish celebrations for their traditional new year, Nawrooz, in the city of Qamishli. He was hospitalised for his injuries and has recently been released, although his condition remains critical. While no charges have yet been brought against him, he is currently being subject to regular interrogations by the authorities.

Front Line believes that the attack against Karam Ibrahim Yousef is related to his legitimate human rights activities, in particular his work to defend the rights of the Syrian Kurdish community. Furthermore, Front Line believes that this attack represents part of a trend of escalating intimidation and acts of hostility against human rights defenders in Syria. Front Line is concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Karam Ibrahim Yousef and fears that he may be subject to ill-treatment during interrogations.

A Bloody Era of Syria's History Informs a Writer's Banned Novel

By ROBERT F. WORTH

DAMASCUS,Syria _ PEOPLE still talk about what happened here in the 1980s as "the Events," as if they were too awful to describe. The Syrian military's bloody struggle with militant Islamists left at least 10,000 dead in the city of Hama, and produced a trauma the authorities do not like to hear discussed.

So when Khaled Khalifa decided to write about it in his latest novel, "In Praise of Hatred," he knew he was touching a taboo subject. The book, a Balzacian tale full of romance and murder that ranges from Afghanistan to Yemen to Syria, was promptly banned when it was first published here in 2006.

Last month, the novel, republished in Beirut in 2007, became a finalist for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, a new award modeled on Britain's Man Booker Prize. It is now being translated into English and other languages.

All that has given Mr. Khalifa, who is better known here for his television screenplays, a new prominence as one of the rising stars of Arab fiction, and a rare public voice on a largely forbidden topic.

"If I had won the Booker, the regime would have had a huge problem," he said with a barrel-chested laugh. "I think the culture minister breathed a big sigh when I lost." (The top prize went to an Egyptian novelist, Bahaa Taher, the éminence grise of Arab letters.)

A bearish man with a boiling corona of steel-gray hair, Mr. Khalifa, 44, has a clownish humor that undercuts his large literary ambitions. He smoked, drank and plowed through a table full of appetizers during a late-night interview at Ninar, a Damascus restaurant popular with Syrian artists and intellectuals, his long answers interrupted by bursts of raucous laughter.

The facts of the Syrian-Israeli flirtation

By Michael Young
Daily Star staff

Amid rumors that the political furniture is being moved around in Damascus, perhaps the strangest thing is how Syria has organically lodged itself between Iran and Israel, states that are otherwise mortal foes. The Iranian connection is well known, but less understood are the dynamics of the Syrian-Israeli relationship, and where they might lead.

Rarely a day goes by without someone in the Israeli press advocating a revival of Syrian-Israeli negotiations. The arguments are familiar: Syria has a "secular regime," therefore is worthy of Israel's attention; now is Israel's best chance to "break Syria off from Iran"; Syria alone can control Hizbullah; and so on. That each of these arguments has been explicitly contradicted by Syrian actions or statements is generally ignored. The fetish of "talking" is too strong for anyone to punch through the myths.

And yet the rationale for Syrian-Israeli peace talks rests on a bed of myths. Syria's regime may be secular, but it has built long-term alliances mainly with Islamist regimes and groups, such as Iran, Hizbullah, and Hamas. When possible, as in the case of Fatah al-Islam, Syria has created or overseen militant Islamist groups, while Al-Qaeda operatives caught in Iraq will routinely describe their training and passage through Syria, usually via networks linked to the country's intelligence services. Given all this, the Assad regime's "secularism" seems irrelevant.

Urgent Appeal to Save the Freedom of Expression in Syria

It is sad and worrying that the Syrian government and its security branches continue to practice brutal media censorship. Human rights activists and journalists are tried, indicted, and jailed because of articles they have published.

There has recently been alarming changes in the behavior of the Syrian security forces, such as the unprecedented shooting and killing of protesters, in addition to arresting journalists who happen to be covering these protests.

Mr. Karam Ibrahim Yousef, a Syrian journalist and writer, was shot in the head while taking pictures of the national Kurdish celebrations (Nawroz) in the city of Qamishli. Karam's health situation is critical, and he is recurrently losing consciousness. If he survives, he will have to deal with security interrogations, aggravation, and possible imprisonment.

We, the members of 'Journalistes sans press' appeal to international organizations that are committed to defending freedom of expression and freedom of the press, to stand by Syrian journalists and support them in their struggle. We urgently call for assistance in protecting these journalists from the aggressions of Syrian security forces.

Syria: President's brother-in-law 'accused of US-backed coup'

Damascus, 9 April (AKI) - Syrian president Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law has reportedly been arrested for aiding a possible US-backed coup against the Syrian regime, according to reports in various internet sites and newspapers of the Syrian opposition on Tuesday.

Al-Assad then sacked his brother-in-law, Assif Shawqat (photo), from his post as military intelligence chief, while the Syrian regime tried to keep media officials from confirming or denying the arrest, according to Arab satellite TV network Al-Arabiya.

According to the report, before his assasination, the leader in Lebanon's militant Shia group Hezbollah, Imad Mughniyeh, told al-Assad about Shawqat's betrayal, having taken advantage of his position as head of intelligence.

Imad Mughniyeh was the intelligence chief of Hezbollah's secretive military wing, the Islamic Resistance. He was killed in a bombing in Damascus on 13 February.

Reportedly, Shawqat had contacts with US intelligence and was planning a coup to unseat al-Assad.

Members of the Syrian opposition do not exclude the possibility that Shawqat's detention was done to please certain western and Arab countries who consider him the mastermind behind the assassination of former Lebanese president Rafik Hariri.

Shawqat is married to Assad's sister, Bushra al-Assad who is now in Paris, France with her children.

SYRIA: Joint action in support of Mazen Darwish

CAIRO, April 7, 2008 (EOHR/IFEX) – Thirty-five members and partners of IFEX and the Arab Working Group call for support for journalists and activists facing harassment and detention prior to the trial of human rights activist and journalist Mazen Darwish.

The following is a joint letter by 35 members and partners of IFEX and the Arab Working Group to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad:

President Bashar al-Assad
Office of the President
Presidential Palace Abu Rummaneh, Al-Rashid St.
Damascus, Syria
Fax: + 963 11 332 3410

Dear President Bashar al-Assad,

We, the undersigned organizations dedicated to freedom of expression, call upon the Syrian government to drop the charges against Mazen Darwish at the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM). Darwish is facing a military court trial in April 2008. The Syrian government should also allow activists and journalists to freely practice their work without being prosecuted or tried before military courts.

On March 17, Darwish stood before the Damascus Military Court facing charges of "libeling and insulting the State Administrative bodies" after the Adra Police Station referred him to the Military Prosecution Office. The trial was postponed until 15 April to summon prosecution witnesses to testify. Mazen Darwish is the director of SCM and is a prominent human rights and freedom of expression activist.

Syrian writer sentenced to four year in jail

Ahed Al-Hindi

The Supreme State Security Court in Damascus has sentenced yesterday (April.8.2008) The Syrian poet and writer Firas Saad to four years in jail on charges of "disseminating false information that could weaken the nation's morale.". The verdict is related to Saad's articles published on the internet criticizing The Syrian regime and asking for more freedom in the country.

Syria's Repression Of The Kurds

The U.S. State Department issued a statement condemning the March 20th attack on the Kurdish Syrian population of the northeastern city of Qamishli by Syrian security forces. Three civilians were killed and at least five were reportedly injured when security troops fired on Kurds celebrating Nowruz.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the U.S. calls upon the Syrian government "to refrain from using violent measures to repress Kurdish civilians and to open a full, independent investigation of the incident."

A participant in the Nowruz celebration in Qamishli told VOA's Kurdish Service that Syrian authorities used lethal force to break up a peaceful holiday celebration:

"They [Syrian authorities] said there was a demonstration, but that is not true. We were dancing. We were circling the [ritual] fire. There were no slogans, no chanting, nothing. They [the Syrian authorities] were looking for an excuse to shoot and kill us."

Syria got N. Korea help for N-facility

BY NANAE KURASHIGE
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

An Israeli airstrike against Syria last September targeted a nuclear-related facility that was under construction with technical assistance from North Korea, according to Israel's prime minister.

Japanese government sources said over the weekend that the Israeli leader, Ehud Olmert, briefed Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda about the attack during summit talks in Tokyo on Feb. 27.

It is apparently the first time that the intended target had been disclosed to the head of a foreign government.

Previously, Jerusalem had only acknowledged it carried out the Sept. 6, 2007, attack, but stopped short of identifying the type of facility.

Tokyo has shown keen interest in the disclosure as it suggests Pyongyang was providing nuclear technology to Damascus in violation of an agreement made at six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear issue not to transfer nuclear materials, technology or know-how.

According to the sources, Olmert told Fukuda that the site was a nuclear-related facility that was under construction with know-how and assistance from North Korean technicians dispatched by Pyongyang.

Olmert also said Israel remains concerned about the issue of nuclear proliferation by North Korea and sought greater information sharing with Tokyo through expanded dialogue on the issue.