Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DAMASCUS1920
2006-04-27 13:15:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Damascus
Cable title:
HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP: REPORT OF DEATH IN CUSTODY;
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHDM #1920 1171315 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 271315Z APR 06 FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8591 INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0027
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 001920
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SY
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP: REPORT OF DEATH IN CUSTODY;
ARRESTS CONTINUE; TWO NEW HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
LAUNCHED
Classified By: CDA Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 001920
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SY
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP: REPORT OF DEATH IN CUSTODY;
ARRESTS CONTINUE; TWO NEW HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
LAUNCHED
Classified By: CDA Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d)
1. DEATH OF POLITICAL DETAINEE REPORTED: According to news
reports, the body of 26-year old Mohammed Shaher Haysa was
turned over to his family earlier this week. News reports in
offshore media stated that Haysa had died as a result of
torture. Human rights activist Anwar al-Bunni told Poloff on
April 26 that Haysa had died of a heart attack and that his
body bore evidence of earlier torture from several months
ago. According to Bunni, Haysa had no previous history of
medical problems. Haysa, along with 12 other men from the
Hama province village of Sauron and four men from the village
of Shiha, had been arrested approximately six months ago by
Syrian Military Intelligence on charges of being members of
the militant Islamist group Jund-e Sham. According to Bunni,
the men were devout Muslims but there was no indication that
they were members in a militant Islamic organization. Bunni
noted that Haysa and the other detainees had been transferred
to Sednaya Prison and that Haysa's torture probably occurred
while they were held in detention facilities, as "they don't
torture" at Sednaya.
2. (C) ARRESTS CONTINUE UNABATED: Human rights organizations
also report that the arrest wave continues, affecting civil
society and Islamist activists alike. According to Bunni,
twenty men were arrested in the city of Dara'a on April 19.
The men are accused of being members of the Islamist group
Hezb ut-Tahrir (HuT). Meanwhile, a number of activists were
also arrested. In as-Salamiya, civic activist Hossein Daood
was arrested on April 18. Post contacts were unable to
provide further information on Daood's background or reasons
for his arrest. In Damascus, 87-year old Muooteei Mansour
was arrested April 19 after distributing a flyer criticizing
the Syrian government. Also on April 19, Jihan Mohammed Ali,
Adnan Khalil Rashid, Waheed Jihad Moustafa, and Fawzi Ali
Kahwa were arrested by Political Security Directorate forces
in Aleppo on suspicion of being members of the Kurdish
PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party.
3. (C) TWO NEW HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS ANNOUNCED: Two
new human rights organizations have appeared on the activist
stage in the last two weeks. The National Organization for
Human Rights (NOHR, or in Arabic al-Monazema al-Wataniya
L-Huquq al-Ensan) distributed its first press release on
April 8, announcing its formation. Former Arab Human Rights
Organization (AHRO) spokesman Ammar Qurrabi, activist lawyer
Khalil Maatouk, and former Damascus Spring prisoner Habib
Aissa are among the founding members. According to Bunni,
the NOHR was formed by AHRO members like Qurrabi who were
disgruntled by the AHRO's increasingly ideological platform.
"Now only the Nasserists are left (in the AHRO)," said Bunni.
4. (C) Meanwhile, the Syrian Human Rights Network announced
its formation by press release on April 18. The Network
serves as an umbrella organization for nine different local
human rights organizations, and is led by veteran human
rights activist Aktham Naisse, who runs three of the network
member organizations. According to Bunni, whose Syrian
Center for Legal Research and Studies is another member, the
organization seeks to improve cooperation between Syria's
myriad of human rights organizations. Both Bunni and
Zeituneh, however, were skeptical that the Network would in
fact take an active role, noting that a number of prominent
organizations like the Human Rights Association of Syria
(HRAS) had not joined. Bunni added that there had not yet
been a meeting of the Network members and that none was
scheduled. Haithem al-Maleh, founder of HRAS, questioned the
motivations of the Network's founders, telling Poloff on
April 27 that the Network's founders were more interested in
seeking publicity than actually working on human rights
issues.
SECHE
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2016
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SY
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP: REPORT OF DEATH IN CUSTODY;
ARRESTS CONTINUE; TWO NEW HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
LAUNCHED
Classified By: CDA Stephen A. Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d)
1. DEATH OF POLITICAL DETAINEE REPORTED: According to news
reports, the body of 26-year old Mohammed Shaher Haysa was
turned over to his family earlier this week. News reports in
offshore media stated that Haysa had died as a result of
torture. Human rights activist Anwar al-Bunni told Poloff on
April 26 that Haysa had died of a heart attack and that his
body bore evidence of earlier torture from several months
ago. According to Bunni, Haysa had no previous history of
medical problems. Haysa, along with 12 other men from the
Hama province village of Sauron and four men from the village
of Shiha, had been arrested approximately six months ago by
Syrian Military Intelligence on charges of being members of
the militant Islamist group Jund-e Sham. According to Bunni,
the men were devout Muslims but there was no indication that
they were members in a militant Islamic organization. Bunni
noted that Haysa and the other detainees had been transferred
to Sednaya Prison and that Haysa's torture probably occurred
while they were held in detention facilities, as "they don't
torture" at Sednaya.
2. (C) ARRESTS CONTINUE UNABATED: Human rights organizations
also report that the arrest wave continues, affecting civil
society and Islamist activists alike. According to Bunni,
twenty men were arrested in the city of Dara'a on April 19.
The men are accused of being members of the Islamist group
Hezb ut-Tahrir (HuT). Meanwhile, a number of activists were
also arrested. In as-Salamiya, civic activist Hossein Daood
was arrested on April 18. Post contacts were unable to
provide further information on Daood's background or reasons
for his arrest. In Damascus, 87-year old Muooteei Mansour
was arrested April 19 after distributing a flyer criticizing
the Syrian government. Also on April 19, Jihan Mohammed Ali,
Adnan Khalil Rashid, Waheed Jihad Moustafa, and Fawzi Ali
Kahwa were arrested by Political Security Directorate forces
in Aleppo on suspicion of being members of the Kurdish
PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party.
3. (C) TWO NEW HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS ANNOUNCED: Two
new human rights organizations have appeared on the activist
stage in the last two weeks. The National Organization for
Human Rights (NOHR, or in Arabic al-Monazema al-Wataniya
L-Huquq al-Ensan) distributed its first press release on
April 8, announcing its formation. Former Arab Human Rights
Organization (AHRO) spokesman Ammar Qurrabi, activist lawyer
Khalil Maatouk, and former Damascus Spring prisoner Habib
Aissa are among the founding members. According to Bunni,
the NOHR was formed by AHRO members like Qurrabi who were
disgruntled by the AHRO's increasingly ideological platform.
"Now only the Nasserists are left (in the AHRO)," said Bunni.
4. (C) Meanwhile, the Syrian Human Rights Network announced
its formation by press release on April 18. The Network
serves as an umbrella organization for nine different local
human rights organizations, and is led by veteran human
rights activist Aktham Naisse, who runs three of the network
member organizations. According to Bunni, whose Syrian
Center for Legal Research and Studies is another member, the
organization seeks to improve cooperation between Syria's
myriad of human rights organizations. Both Bunni and
Zeituneh, however, were skeptical that the Network would in
fact take an active role, noting that a number of prominent
organizations like the Human Rights Association of Syria
(HRAS) had not joined. Bunni added that there had not yet
been a meeting of the Network members and that none was
scheduled. Haithem al-Maleh, founder of HRAS, questioned the
motivations of the Network's founders, telling Poloff on
April 27 that the Network's founders were more interested in
seeking publicity than actually working on human rights
issues.
SECHE