Urgent Action 9-17-10

URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA

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http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa20310.pdf

17 September 2010

UA 203/10 Risk of torture

SYRIA Tal al-Mallohi (f)

Tal al-Mallohi, a 19-year-old Syrian woman, has been held incommunicado at a State Security branch in Damascus for nearly nine months. Amnesty International believes she may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression. She is at grave risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

Tal al-Mallohi, a resident of Homs, in central Syria, has not been seen since 27 December when she traveled to Damascus, the capital, to visit a State Security branch, after she had been summoned for questioning. State Security is one of several branches of the Syrian security forces, all of which regularly detain people on even the slightest suspicion of opposition to the government.

Two days later, officers from State Security visited Tal al-Mallohi’s family home and confiscated her computer, some CDs, notebooks and a mobile phone.

Officials at State Security have told Tal al-Mallohi’s family that they are holding her, but have not revealed the reasons for her arrest and refused to let them visit her. According to Tal al-Mallohi’s family, she has no political affiliations, but suspect that her detention may partly be related to poems and articles on various political and social issues that she has written and published in a blog (http://talmallohi.blogspot.com); some of the material contains references to restrictions on freedom of expression in Syria.

Ever since her arrest, Tal al-Mallohi’s family have regularly visited the State Security branch in Damascus to seek information about their relative and to try to see her. Initially officials invited them inside and provided limited details about the circumstances of her detention, but subsequently confined themselves to vague reassurances about her health at reception. The family also submitted three written visitation requests to State Security and in September posted on the internet two appeals to the Syrian President urging him to intervene for her release. As far as Amnesty International is aware no response has been made to any of these requests or appeals.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Freedoms of expression and association are strictly controlled in Syria, aided by “state of emergency” laws which have been in force since 1964. Only the Ba’ath Party and some parties linked to it are officially recognized as political parties in Syria and human rights organizations are not authorized to operate. Human rights defenders, government critics and advocates of political reform face constant harassment, arbitrary arrest and detention.

In particular, a number of young people in Syria have been sentenced in recent years for their roles in publishing politically sensitive material on the internet. In September 2009, the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) sentenced Kareem ‘Arabji, a blogger then aged 31, to three years in prison for moderating an internet youth forum. He was reported to have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated during prolonged pre-trial incommunicado detention. Kareem ‘Arabji was later released under a presidential amnesty.

In June 2007 seven men - ‘Allam Fakhour, Ayham Saqr, Diab Siriyeh, Hussam ‘Ali Mulhim, Maher Isber Ibrahim, ‘Omar ‘Ali al-‘Abdullah and Tareq al-Ghorani – were sentenced by the SSSC to lengthy prison sentences for their involvement in developing an on-line youth discussion group and publishing articles on the internet advocating democratic reform. They were reported to have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated during prolonged pre-trial incommunicado detention in the custody of Air Force Intelligence. They were aged between 21 and 30 at the time of their arrests in early 2006.
There are widespread reports of torture and other ill-treatment in Syria’s detention and interrogation centers, police stations and prisons. In 2009, seven people were reported to have died as a possible result of abuses in custody. The authorities took no action to investigate these allegations, as far as Amnesty International is aware. “Confessions” extracted under duress are systematically used as evidence in Syrian courts, and the defendants’ claims that they have been tortured or otherwise ill-treated are almost never investigated.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Expressing concern that Tal al-Mallohi may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression;
- Demanding that the authorities release her immediately and unconditionally if this is the case;
- Calling on the authorities to ensure that she is not exposed to torture or other ill-treatment, and reminding them that Syria is a state party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
- Urging the authorities to immediately allow her visits from her family, access to a lawyer of her choosing and any medical treatment she may require.

APPEALS TO:

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

Minister of Interior
Major Sa’id Mohamed Samour
Ministry of Interior
‘Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar Street
Damascus, SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Fax: 011 963 11 222 3428
Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Walid al-Mu’allim
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
al-Rashid Street
Damascus, SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
Fax: 011 963 11 332 7620
Salutation: Your Excellency

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

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 29 October 2010.

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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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