AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

On 6 September 2005, Mustafa Omar Abdi Malik, a 19-year-old medical student and Somali national, was arrested in a suburb outside of Damascus, where he lives with his family. Malik has not been charged, but officials reportedly told his mother that he was arrested in order to interrogate him about "someone he knows," who is wanted for interrogation by the Syrian authorities. Family members believe that Malik has no political connections or affiliations.

After many trips to the police station inquiring about him, Malik's mother was finally allowed to visit him on 28 September, but no one has been allowed to see him since, including his lawyer. Apart from this one visit he has been held incommunicado since 6 September. He is held at the Political Security Branch in al-Fayha'a in the capital, Damascus.

Three prison officials were present throughout the meeting and Malik's mother was able to give her son some money and clothing. The family had apparently arranged the meeting with an official from the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Somali embassy in Damascus. Although she was told that he would be released "soon," he remains detained without charge. Malik and his family moved to Syria four years ago and he is now a second year student in the Faculty Medicine of Damascus University.

Amnesty International reports that "torture is widespread in Syrian detention and investigation centers, particularly during pre-trial detention, and during periods of incommunicado detention." "Confessions" extracted under duress are systematically used as "evidence" in Syrian courts, and the defendants' claims of torture are almost never investigated.

(Sources of information for this case include: Amnesty International, Syrian Human Rights Committee.)

RELEVANT HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

• Article 14(1): All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him [or her], or of his [or her] rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.
• Article 7: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• Article 9(4): Anyone who is deprived of his [or her] liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his [or her] detention and order his [or her] release if the detention is not lawful.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

• 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.
• 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 20(1): Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send faxes, letters, or emails:

• Seeking the government's assurances that Mustafa Omar Abdi Malik will not be tortured or ill-treated while detained and that he be given full access to his lawyers, family and medical care; and
• Requesting that the charges against Malik be clarified or that he be immediately released.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

His Excellency General Ghazi Kan'an
Minister of the Interior
Ministry of the Interior
Merjeh Circle
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: 00963-11-222-3428
Salutation: His Excellency

COPIES SENT TO:

Ambassador Dr. Imad Moustapha
Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic
Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic
2215 Wyoming Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 202-234-9548
Salutation: Mr. Ambassador

Please send copies of your appeals, and any responses you may receive, or direct any questions you may have to Sarah Olmstead, AAAS Science and Human Rights Program, 1200 New York Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005; tel. 202-326-6787; email shrp@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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