Syrian Elector

SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON

SYRIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS IN PRISON

Damascus (dpa) - Syrian human rights activist Kamal Labwani was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison on charges of ``spreading false information'' and of contacting a foreign country with the aim of spurring it to aggression against Syria.

Labwani was arrested in November 2005 at Damascus airport upon his arrival from the United States, where he had allegedly met with members of the Syrian opposition.

He was sentenced by the Second Criminal Court in Damascus in the presence of representatives from European embassies in Syria.

In 2001, Labwani, 49, a physician, was arrested in a government clampdown on so-called political "salons'' - political gatherings held in private homes during which Syrian intellectuals discussed democratic reforms. He was sentenced to three years in prison on charges that include inciting rebellion, spreading false information and weakening national unity.

He was released in September 2004 and launched two months later a campaign for the release of political prisoners in Syria.

Upon succeeding his father in 2000, President Bashar Assad had initially released hundreds of political prisoners, but authorities have increasingly clamped down on pro-democracy activists in recent years.

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From the Prisoners of Conscience in Damascus Central Prison Al Adra

We are prisoners of conscious and opinion in Damascus Central Prison, lawyer Anwar Al Bunni, writer Michel Kilo, Dr. Kamal Labwani, and activists Mahmoud Issa, Faek Al Mir and Professor Aref Dalila that could not be reached as he spends his sixth year in solitary confinement.  After the sentencing of lawyer Anwar Al Bunni on 24 April 2007, we would like to say thank you and greet our families, friends, and all the people, groups, committees, organizations, associations, parties and political assemblies of Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians in Syria and the Arab world.  We thank and greet the official representatives, countries, media and websites that support us by protesting our trials and arrests, and denying the accusations against our colleague Anwar Al Bunni.   

We would like to send our heartfelt greetings and thanks to all of you and hope that your noble and brave attitude will not stop only with denying these accusations and supporting our cause.  Our case as prisoners of conscious is part of the continuing crisis of basic freedoms and human rights in Syria that began with the Emergency Law 44 years ago.  This crisis reached its height in the 1980s and again today by an increase in tyranny, arrests and the suppression of fundamental freedoms. 

Tens of thousands of Syrians have paid a horrible price, some with their lives, others with the loss of years and youth from inhumane prison conditions and cruel torture.  Still more have suffered by being forced to escape the tyranny or enter into voluntary exile, another difficult experience.  Other Syrians stayed, throwing salt on their wounds and binding their tongues to save themselves pain.  Those that couldn’t live with their tongues tied faced a future in prison, homeless and alone.  For the few people that climbed to the top of the tyranny and darkened Syrian society, they have contributed to the corruption, theft and poverty that have strangled the necks of the people. 

The denial of fundamental human rights in Syria is the main case that we work for and your support for prisoners of conscious is part of this fight.  Fighting for the release of these prisoners is a duty, not only to decrease their suffering and their families’ pain, but also to encourage others by knowing they are not alone.  We must give society hope, making sure its doors and streets are not closed.  With the power of hope it is possible to fight the crisis of freedom and human rights in Syria in a peaceful way.

How can we take part in a nation wide fraud?

An interview with Ashraf Almoukdad, the representative of the National Salvation Front in New Zealand

What’s your take on upcoming legislative elections in Syria?

To refer to what is going on in Syria today as popular vote is an insult to any reasonably intelligent human being. How could you call this a democratic process when the ruling party has a given right to get 2/3 of the seats regardless of popular desire? The elections are nothing but a national scam, and they are quite shameful indeed. It is no surprise that candidates cannot post a program, anyone who is brave enough to ask some of the hard question will face dire consequences. We have seen it happen too many times. 

Why does the Assad regime insist on conducting such elections despite popular apathy and international condemnation?

It is nothing short of a cynical attempt to show that he could manipulate a legitimate process to get the desired results and claim victory. It’s meant a show of control.

Do you agree with the call to boycott these elections?

Of course. How can a sane person to participate in this? Especially we in the opposition. I mean, how could we get involve in such a national fraud?

What do you believe the turn out for the elections will be?

You and I know that other than people who are forced, directly or indirectly, or are getting paid, no one will take part in this sham. For everybody knows that the ruling party will be here and that voter turnout will not change that.

Do you think the legislative elections are going to change anything in Syria?

It defies logic to even expect a change. The elections are taken place to consolidate the status quo and regime control not to change anything.

“My Experience in the People’s Assembly,”

Parliamentary elections will be held in Syria on April 22-23. The public takes little interest in the elections because parliament does not write or modify legislation, merely ratifying it. Voter turnout is expected to be between 4 and 10 percent, according to unofficial estimates. "Only one third of the 250 parliamentary seats are actually up for grabs. The other two thirds (167 seats) are automatically allocated to the Nationalist Progressive Front (NPF), a coalition of the Baath party and nine other parties that has ruled Syria since 1972. NPF candidates are selected for their loyalty to the party line and clean record with Syrian security services. The only real competition is among thousands of independent candidates for the remaining 83 seats. Independents have been allowed to run for parliament since 1990, a step that was intended to add a gloss of legitimacy and representation to the People's Assembly." Read the informative article by Omayma Abdel Latif, "Syria: Elections without Politics," published in the Arab Reform Bulettin.

The Project on Middle East Democracy Blog alerts us to this Economist article: "Baath Party Unchallenged in Syria". The Economist predicts that turnout will be high, either through economic incentive or intimidation and this will pave the way for Bashar Assad's re-election in May to another seven year term as president. The briefing also notes that any opposition movement has ostensibly been crushed and that the Baath party and its allies operate in the country unopposed.

The Economist also reviews how government statistics for the economy have been revised upword bringing all Syrian statistics into doubt. It states: These have included bumping up real GDP growth in 2004 from 4% to 8.5%, changing the current-account balance for 2005 into a large surplus, rather than a deficit, as reported by the IMF, and changing the inflation figure for 2006 to 10.5% from 17.9%. The high level of growth claimed by the government appears to be at variance with the evidence pointing to a steady decline in oil production, with the finance minister, Mohammed al-Hussein, recently stating that in 2006 Syria became a net oil importer.

Riyad Sayf, an ex MP in Syria's parliament who was jailed for five years because of his activities as one of the leading activists of the Damascus Spring movement of 2001 has published a very long article in As-Safir, describing his experience in the People's Assembly or parliament.

American Official – “We are no longer interested in dealing with Syria.”

US officials meet with Syria opposition and criticize sham elections

Syrian Elector, Washington D.C. – A National Salvation Front delegation in the Unites States held meetings with officials from the National Security Council, the US Department of State and a number of Congressional staff from April 17-19, 2007. The delegation, headed by Dr. Hussam al-Dairi, the official representative of the National Salvation Front (NSF) in North America, and comprised of members of the NSF General Secretariat as well as representatives of the Syrian National Council, highlighted to US officials the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria, and the growing clampdown on democracy activists in the country.

The NSF delegation briefed US officials on the human rights situation in Syria, especially the physical and mental abuse that many prominent political prisoners, such as Dr. Kamal Labwani, Mr. Michel Kilo, Dr. Anwar al-Bunni and Dr. Aref Dalilah are routinely subjected to, and the sham parliamentary elections and presidential referendum slated for April and June, respectively. These events, the delegates insisted, are indeed quite useless, if not downright farcical, due to the numerous legal restrictions imposed on independent parties and candidates, thus guaranteeing the victory of the Baath Party and its satellites and cronies. Meanwhile, the delegates noted, no real freedom of choice is given to the Syrian people in the presidential referendum where balloting takes place in the open allowing for direct intimidation of the voters. The NSF delegation raised the need for focusing public attention on these issues, particularly in light of recent visits by congressional delegates to Damascus, and the way these visits were portrayed in official press in Syria.

Spot Light on the Election Boycott in Syria

Ahed Al-Hindi

The election in Syria will take place on the 22nd of April.

The number of candidatures is 9665. The candidates will compete for 250 seats, of which 167 seats are reserved for the Bath Party and its alliances, and the other 83 for the so-called independents. The percentage of the population who voted last year was about 10%. Many people in Syria don’t vote, and this year, most of the opposition and activists have asked people to boycott the elections, meaning that the number of people who are going to vote will probably be even lower. In the following, we will present the opinion of some independent and opposition representatives.

Writer, human rights activist and politician Hasibah Abdulrahman said that the opposition has chosen to boycott these elections because of the absence of any real political process. At the same time she refers to the existence of two points of view within the opposition, one arguing that there is no point in participating in such  mock elections as the Syrian elections, and the second supporting participation in the elections, whatever the outcome. She added that the fact that real actors are not allowed to participate, and the majority of seats are reserved for the Baath Party and its allies, diminishes  the electoral process.

Damascus Declaration on Independence Day bemoans the lack of Freedom and development in Syria

“Where are we from the longed-for national state for which our father s have offered so many sacrifices?”

Damascus, Tharwa – On occasion of the National Independence Day, the Damascus Declaration Movement for Democratic National Change in Syria, a broad-based coalition that unites most important opposition inside and outside the country, released a statement criticizing the lack of progress and reform in the country and accusing the ruling regime of human rights abuses extending over more than four decades. The regime, the statement went, have led the country into an “endless cycle of crises and mistakes.” But, the authoritarian predilections of the regime will continue to render it incapable of finding solutions for them, the statement said. 

The statement also condemned continued recourse to sham elections and theatrical gestures and insisted that the only way out of quagmire in which the country currently finds itself is through the "national democratic change advocated by various Syrian opposition forces.” But this change can only be worked out by the Syrians themselves, the statement concluded.

The Syrian Authorities and the Legislative Elections 2007 - A Semi-Final Report

(Issuing a report on the Syrian Parliamentary Elections days before they actually take place is meant to underscore their enduring irrelevance. The actual results of the elections are not likely to have any serious impact on the conclusions below)

Syrian Parliamentary Elections under the Baath – A Brief Background

Parliamentary elections in Syria have for long been met with popular apathy, a phenomenon that is in no small part related to the formal, if not downright formulaic, role assigned to the parliament in the decision-making process in the country under Baath rule.

Indeed, according to Syrian Constitution imposed by the Baath party, following a “popular” referendum in 1973, the President of the country can dissolve the parliament very much at will. Moreover, the parliament has not been charged with giving a vote of confidence to the Cabinet ever since 1970. Conversely, it has never withdrawn its confidence from it or from any of its ministers, performance and corruption allegations notwithstanding.

The Parliament has also failed to propose any new laws for over three decades now, as it is only empowered to discuss laws proposed by the Cabinet. But even in this regard, the Parliament never dared reject to endorse any of these laws.

The National Salvation Front rejects "theatrical elections" in Syria

Akhbar al-Sharq – London: The Syrian National Salvation Front described the upcoming elections in the country as a "play" and declared its refusal to take part "in the process of falsification of the will of the people," and called for “a comprehensive boycott that cold pave the road to a national democratic change in Syria.

The 9th round of parliamentary elections in Syria under Baath rule are scheduled for April 22, 2007, but the main opposition forces have declared a boycott of the elections, both with regard to nomination and voting processes.

The Syrian National Salvation Front, a coalition that includes various Syrian opposition forces abroad, including the Muslim Brotherhood and former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam, in addition to other opposition parties, said that it "was fully aware that the situation in Syria, following more than forty-four years of persistent disfiguration and cooptation of the political process…has reached dangerous proportions,” a situation that posits “radical change” as the only solution for saving the country from imminent collapse.

The Front then called on all unions and association in the country to “break the barrier of fear, marginalization and falsification” and boycott the “farcical” elections, as this move might signal the beginning of a movement for a national democratic change, which represents the only way for “correcting the deviations that have touched upon all aspects of life” in Syria.