Scientists and Human Rights in Syria (1993) / Chapter Skim
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REPRESSION OF SCIENTISTS
REPRESSION OF SCIENTISTS
Pages 4-14
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From page 4... ...
, President Assad "wields almost absolute authority" over a regime that "does not hesitate to use force against its citizens when it feels it is threatened." In the early 1980s, for example, following widespread popular unrest, the government reportedly killed 10,000 to 20,000 Syrian citizens when it ruthlessly crushed a rebellion in Kama and other cities. From 1979 to 1982, more than 1,000 political detainees were reportedly executed in Syrian jails by security forces.
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From page 5... ...
When Arab medical associations meeting in Algiers in the 2 A recent Middle East Watch report (1992c) estimates that about 4,400 to 4,800 people remain in political detention in Syria following recent amnesties.
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From page 6... ...
In both 1989 and 1990 the government allowed demonstrations in front of the presidential palace by the mothers and wives of political prisoners and disappeared persons. In 1989 representatives of Amnesty International, participating in a conference held in Damascus, had discussions with the Syrian vice president and other government officials, the first such contacts by Amnesty International since 1978.
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From page 7... ...
Among those recently released (see Appendix E for a complete list) : Riad al-Bastati, former secretary general of the Damascus branch of the Syrian Engineers' Association, held for more than 11 years; Muhammad Nabil Salim, professor of soil mechanics and head of the Department of Civil Engineering at Aleppo University, held for more than 11 years; Jalal Khanji, lecturer in engineering at the University of Aleppo, held for more than 11 years; Jihad Msouti, assistant professor of mechanical and electrical engineering at the University of Damascus, held for more than 11 years; Ghassan Najjar, mechanical engineer and lecturer at the University of Aleppo, held for more than 11 years; Mamoun Sawah, electrical engineer in private practice in Damascus and general manager of Schindler Elevator Company, held for more than 11 years; Abdul Al-Hadi Akhras, civil engineer and prominent building contractor in private practice in Aleppo, held for more than 11 years; Mahmoud al-Jaziri, professor of surgery in the Faculty of Medicine, Damascus University, held for more than 11 years; Salman 'Abdallah, 61-year-old economist and former member of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party, held for more than 20 years.
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From page 8... ...
Those seeking to resume their private practices have been placing announcements in newspapers to inform their former patients of their return. The CHR does not know whether Syrians are discouraged from patronizing health professionals and engineers formerly in detention.
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From page 9... ...
, a sociologist, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment with hard labor; according to trial observers, he was unable to walk into the court room unaided because he had apparently been tortured; he is being held in Saidnaya Prison. The third scientist who was arrested, Samir Nu'aysa, a civil engineer, was sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment for withholding information from the security forces about his brother Aktham, an active CDF lawyer, who was sentenced to 9 years' imprisonment; Samir Nu'aysa was released in May 1992 after 5 months in prison.
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From page 10... ...
In addition, other scientific colleagues are also reported to be facing trial for suspected involvement in the Party for Communist Action or the Communist Party Political Bureau, including physicians Muhammad Ghanim and Ahmad Faiz al-Fawwaz; pharmacist Nicola al-Zahr; engineers Fateh Jamous, Munzir Jum'a, Adnan Abu Janab; and geologist Nihad Nihhas. In addition, engineers Salim Khairbek and 'Abd al-Karim Darwish are reported to be facing trial for opposition political activities.
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From page 11... ...
Ghassan Qassis, for example, a lecturer in civil engineering at the University of Damascus "was reportedly shot in the hands at the time of his arrest in September 1987 and allegedly tortured shortly afterwards by being suspended from a ceiling by his wrists for prolonged periods, causing some paralysis." He was reportedly arrested both for human rights activities and suspected involvement in a prohibited political party. Arrested along with him was Nizar Maradni, an assistant professor at the University of Damascus, who was reportedly "suspended from a ceiling by his wrists and later dropped to the floor, fracturing his pelvis" (Amnesty International, 1992:21)
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From page 12... ...
. The flesh on his feet was ripped off." When a doctor refused to sign a certificate that Fransis had died of natural causes, the doctor was reportedly arrested but then subsequently released (Amnesty International, 1992:31-33; Middle East Watch, 1990:21; 1992c:28; CHR sources)
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From page 13... ...
Most political prisoners are held in "windowless underground cells, or in giant communal cell blocks with open-mesh roofs." Those in interrogation centers are held "three to six feet below ground level" (Middle East Watch, 1992c:l, 11)
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From page 14... ...
But at the same time, prisoners suspected of involvement with banned political parties are asked orally if they will inform on anyone who asks them to join or become politically active in a particular party. They also must sign statements that they will no longer continue their membership or activities in particular political parties even if they never admitted having been a member of the party.
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