"LENIENT" SENTENCE FOR KURDISH PROTESTERS AS SARG

C O N F I D E N T I A L DAMASCUS 000650

SIPDIS

PARIS FOR JORDAN; LONDON FOR TSOU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL SY
SUBJECT: "LENIENT" SENTENCE FOR KURDISH PROTESTERS AS SARG
CONTINUES ROUND-UP OF KURDISH LEADERS

REF: A. 2005 DAMASCUS 2615

B. 2005 DAMASCUS 2871

C. 2005 DAMASCUS 2942

D. 2006 DAMASCUS 0686

Classified By: CDA Maura Connelly for reasons 1.5 band d.


1. (C) Summary: Fifty Kurds who had been arrested in 2005
for participating in a demonstration following the mysterious
death of Kurdish leader Sheikh Mashook Khaznawi received
six-month sentences, the minimum sentence allowed by Syrian
law, on September 14. But a recent spate of arrests of an
untold number of senior Kurdish oppositionists and human
rights leaders, including Mashaal Tammo and most recently
Abdul Baqi Khalaf, suggest the SARG is undertaking a more
organized campaign to stamp out dissent. End Summary.

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2005 PROTESTERS SENTENCED
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2. (C) After a series of postponements and delays lasting
nearly three years, 50 Kurds who participated in
demonstrations in June 2005 following the suspicious death of
Sheikh Mashook Khaznawi were sentenced on September 14 to
six-month prison terms for violating article 307. The court
extended "clemency" to those Kurds who attended any portion
of the trial, held at the Military Court in central Damascus,
with reduced sentences of four months.


3. (C) POLOFF attended the sentencing hearing and counted
between two and five of those Kurds charged in attendance.
Given the length of the trial and persistent delays, many of
the Kurds charged in this case had long since stopped making
the lengthy trek from the northern Syrian city of Qamishli to
Damascus, a nearly 10 hour drive each way.


4. (C) A six month sentence represents the minimum allowable
length of imprisonment for violating article 307 of the penal
code. This article prescribes a six month to two year prison
term for any act, writing or speech that aims to cause unrest
or conflict between different sects or ethnic groups.


5. (C) One Kurdish human right contact expressed her
surprise and relief at the sentences meted out by the SARG
given its track record on similar cases, but added that it is
"ridiculous" for anyone to receive such a lengthy sentence
for simply participating in a demonstration. She noted that
most of the men had spent some months in prison before being
released on bail in August 2006 (reftel D) and that "they had
served too much time already."

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SARG ROUND-UP OF KURDISH LEADERS
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6. (C) The "leniency" displayed at this trial belied an
on-going SARG round-up of Kurdish human rights and opposition
leaders. Most recently, human rights activists Abdul Baqi
Khalaf disappeared from his shop on September 7. (Note: SARG
security services often hold human rights and oppositionists
in secrecy for weeks before handing them over to the
criminal, military or security courts.) Others arrested
include the Secretary of the Kurdish Leftist Party Mohamed
Moussa, arrested in mid-July, Mashaal Tammo, spokesman of the
Kurdish Future Movement and his deputy Amran al-Saed,
arrested in mid-August.


7. (C) Diplomatic and Kurdish contact have been unable to
shed any light on potential SARG motivations. Some sources
suggest that Syria's rapprochement with the French and
movement on the Israel/Syrian peace talks may have emboldened
the SARG and may have provided some "breathing room" on the
human right file for the SARG.


8. (C) Comment: Though some European diplomatic contacts are
arguing Syria is responding positively on human right issues
in response to Western engagement, few Syrian contacts
believe the SARG will modify its hard-line policy anytime
soon. The recent arrests and disappearances of a number
Kurdish human rights and opposition leaders such as Tammo and
Moussa suggest the SARG is undertaking an organized campaign
of targeting Kurdish leaders and remains eager to suppress
voices of conscience, particularly those with a Kurdish
accent. End Comment.
CONNELLY