Urgent Action 5-7-09

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

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http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html
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http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa09009.pdf

Note: Please write on behalf of these persons even though you may not have received the original UA when issued on March 30, 2009. Thanks!

6 May 2009

Further information on UA 90/09 (30 March 2009), and update (9 April 2009) - Fear of torture or other ill-treatment

SYRIA Maryam Kallis (f), aged 36, UK national

Maryam Kallis received a second visit from two members of staff of the British Consulate in Damascus on 23 April. The meeting took place in the presence of an officer of the Syrian security forces at a detention center in Kafr Sousa, Damascus. The Consulate staff are allowed to see her for around 15 minutes, having asked to visit her when delivering food and toiletries, among other items, to the detention center.

It is not known which security branch is holding Maryam Kallis. She has apparently been moved several times during her detention.

Maryam Kallis appeared frail and fatigued during her meeting with the Consulate staff. According to the authorities detaining her, she is being treated daily by a doctor as an apparently routine measure. She has been held without charge for 46 days and a reason for her detention has not been provided.

Amnesty International remains seriously concerned for Maryam Kallis' health. She remains at risk of being subjected to torture or other ill-treatment while in detention. She continues to be denied access to her family or legal representation.

BACKGROUND
Maryam Kallis arrived in Syria from the UK on 5 March and had been staying with her sister before her arrest on 15 March 2009. She had returned to Syria to collect her three children, who were staying in Damascus with her sister and who are aged between five and eight years. She intended to return with them to London at the end of March but was arrested by around 10 men in plain clothes in the Rukna al-Din area of Damascus. She was with her eight-year-old son at the time and was taken back with him to her sister's apartment, where her passport and those of her children were confiscated. She was then taken away to detention.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- calling on the authorities to release Maryam Kallis immediately and unconditionally unless she is charged with a recognizably criminal offense and given a prompt and fair trial;
- urging the authorities to ensure that Maryam Kallis is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated;
- welcoming the news that Maryam Kallis has been given access to British Consulate staff for the second time and urging that she be permitted regular visits from UK representatives in Damascus as well as immediate access to her family and to a lawyer of her choosing.

APPEALS TO:

President
His Excellency Bashar al-Assad
Presidential Palace
Al-Rashid Street
Damascus
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Fax: 011 963 11 332 3410
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Interior
His Excellency Sa'id Sammour
Ministry of Interior
'Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar Street
Damascus
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Fax: 011 963 11 2223428
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Defense
His Excellency General Hassan Ali Turkmani
Ministry of Defense
Omayyad Square
Damascus
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Fax: 011 963 11 223 7842
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Justice
His Excellency Ahmad Yunis
Ministry of Justice
Al-Nasr Street
Damascus
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Fax: 011 963 11 666 2460
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Ambassador Dr Imad Moustapha
Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic
2215 Wyoming Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 234 9548
1 202 265 4585
1 202 232 4357
Email: info@syrembassy.net


PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 17 June 2009.
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This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.

Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
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Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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