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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

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FACTS OF THE CASE:

Kurdish activist Khalil Sulayman is being detained incommunicado in Damascus. He is at risk of torture or ill-treatment in detention. He may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for his political beliefs.

Khalil Sulayman, an agricultural engineer, was arrested by military intelligence personnel on 30 August from his workplace at the Department of Agriculture in the village of Tell al-Dhaman, in the Governate of Aleppo. No warrant was issued for his arrest. He was then reportedly taken to Damascus, where he is apparently being held at a military intelligence detention center.

No reasons have been given for Khalil Sulayman’s arrest and it is not yet known whether any charges have been brought against him. Amnesty International is not aware of any recognizably criminal offence committed by Khalil Sulayman and considers his arrest and detention to be without due legal process.

According to Amnesty International, Khalil Sulayman is known to have been involved in politics and was nominated as an independent candidate in the 1994 parliamentary elections. He was then reportedly subjected to harassment and was transferred to a new place of employment 240 kilometers from his home. His arrest and detention appears to form part of an ongoing pattern of repressive measures by the Syrian authorities against Syrian Kurdish activists.

The Kurd population consists of about 8.5 to 10 percent of the total population of 13.8 million people, making them the largest non-Arab ethnic minority in Syria. In 1962, about 120,000 people belonging to the Syrian Kurdish population were stripped of their Syrian citizenship, leaving them stateless and without claim to another nationality. They have become a stateless people under international law and have been issued special red identity cards by the Ministry of Interior. In accordance with state policy, Syrian Kurds are denied many rights that other Syrians enjoy, such as the right to vote, the right to own property, and the right to have marriages legally recognized. They are not entitled to passports and thus cannot exercise the internationally guaranteed right to freedom of movement nor can they legally leave and return to Syria.

(Sources of information for this case include: Amnesty International USA and Human Rights Watch.)

RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Article 19(1): Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
• Article 9(3): Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage of the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the judgement.
• Article 9(2): Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his [or her] arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him [or her].
• Article 9(1): Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• Article 10: Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his [or her] rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him [or her].
• Article 19: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
• Article 05: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Article 09: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

His Excellency President Bashar al-Assad
President of the Republic
Presidential Palace
Abu Rummaneh, Al-Rashid Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
SYRIA
Fax: 011 963 11 332 3410
Salutation: Your Excellency

His Excellency Major General Ali Hammud
Minister of the Interior
Ministry of Interior
Merjeh Circle
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
SYRIA
Fax: 011 963 11 222 3428
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES SENT TO:

Ambassador Dr. Rostom Al Zoubi
Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United States
Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic
2215 Wyoming Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: (202) 234-9548
Salutation: Dear Dr. Ambassador

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Victoria Baxter, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6797; email vbaxter@aaas.org; or fax 202-289-4950.

The keys to effective appeals are to be courteous and respectful, accurate and precise, impartial in approach, and as specific as possible regarding the alleged violation and the international human rights standards and instruments that apply to the situation. Reference to your scientific organization and professional affiliation is always helpful.

To ensure that appeals are current and credible, please do not continue to write appeals on this case after 90 days from the date of the posting unless an update has been issued.

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