HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP: ABDUL SALAAM FACES PRIME

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000286

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR ZEYA, LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/26/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SY
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP: ABDUL SALAAM FACES PRIME
MINISTER,S WRATH; MALEH AND AZEEM TRIALS CONTINUE; AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL DELEGATION VISIT TO SYRIA

REF: (A) 2005 DAMASCUS 006075 (B) 2005 DAMASCUS 006509

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen Seche for reasons 1.4(b)/(d)


1. (C): ABDUL SALAAM FACES WRATH OF PRIME MINISTER: The
SARG has taken additional steps against Etana Press manager
and civil society activist Maan Abdul Salaam, who has faced
multiple confrontations with the SARG in recent months.
According to Abdul Salaam, a directive was sent by the Prime
Minister,s office during the week of January 16 to all
ministries, forbidding contact with Etana Press. This is the
latest in a series of steps taken against Abdul Salaam in
recent months, stemming from problems originating with the
Etana-sponsored women,s conference in November (ref A) and
ensuing difficulties with a book critical of the Muslim
headcovering for women (hejab) distributed at the conference
(ref C). Abdul Salaam told Poloff that he had expected to be
arrested upon his return from a conference in Malaysia on
January 17.


2. (C): According to Abdul Salaam, the Prime Minister,s
directive was a direct result of complaints directed to the
SARG by a variety of Islamists about what they consider to be
"the anti-hejab" book. Those lodging complaints to SARG
officials included--of all people-- fellow human rights
activist Haithem Maleh, who complained that if such books
were allowed by SARG censors, there should be no reason that
his conservative Islamic books are banned. (NOTE: Maleh had
voiced a similar complaint about the book to Poloff in
December.) An unidentified sheikh has also launched a
campaign against Abdul Salaam,s book and criticized the SARG
for allowing its publication in Syria. According to Abdul
Salaam, Maleh had reached out to him and told him that he had
not/not registered his complaint with any high-level figures.
Maleh had also offered to mediate between Abdul Salaam and
the sheikh. Abdul Salaam added that he had been told that
Higher Education Minister Hani Murtada had come under fire
within the SARG for approving the conference (which was held
at Damascus University) in the first place.


3. (C): Abdul Salaam noted that he had met with officials
from the German, Dutch, Finnish, and Canadian embassies that
had sponsored the November conference, and that the embassies
were considering protesting the SARG directive. While
encouraged, Abdul Salaam noted his skepticism that the German
ambassador would take part. In the meantime, Abdul Salaam
plans to attend NGO conferences in Europe beginning next
week. He has also declined to participate in an upcoming
USG-sponsored International Visitor program on NGO
Management, citing concerns about potential SARG backlash,
particularly in a &post-Labwani8 environment.


4. (C): MALEH, ABDUL AZEEM TRIALS CONTINUE: On January 19,
the separate military trials of Maleh and Hassan Abdul Azeem,
both Damascus Declaration signatories, continued. In
Maleh,s case, the presiding judge denied Maleh,s request
that the single military-law charge be dropped (ref B). The
judge set the next trial date for February 2 for Maleh. In
separate proceedings, the case against Abdul Azeem also
continued with mainly administrative procedures. Abdul
Azeem,s next trial date is February 12.


5. (C): AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL DELEGATION VISITS SYRIA: Two
representatives of Amnesty International (AI) visited Syria
January 18-23, in AI,s first visit since 1997. According to
Swedish embassy officials, the Syrian ambassador to Sweden
was instrumental in arranging the AI visit, which took nearly
two years to finalize. According to human rights lawyer
Anwar al-Bunni, the AI representatives, Carl Soderbergh,
General Secretary of AI,s Swedish Section, and Neil Sammond,
a researcher from AI London,s International Secretariat, met
with a number of Foreign Ministry officials, attended a State
Security Court Session with a brief follow-up discussion with
presiding judge Faez al-Nouri, and also met with a number of
European diplomats.

SECHE