Region | Syria
Rights groups urge Syria to halt trial of dissidents
International human rights groups are calling on Syria to halt the "unfair trial" of a dozen dissidents and to release them unconditionally.
- Agencies
- Published: 00:18 September 19, 2008
Geneva: International human rights groups are calling on Syria to halt the "unfair trial" of a dozen dissidents and to release them unconditionally.
They also urged the European Union to pressure Damascus to drop the charges, calling on Brussels to link further strengthening of the bloc's trade and political ties with Syria to lasting improvements in the country's human rights record.
The dissidents, among Syria's leading intellectuals, were arrested last year after leading a meeting to revive a movement calling for freedom of expression and a democratic constitution as an alternative to four decades of Ba'ath Party rule.
Eight of the detainees told the investigating judge that they had been beaten during interrogation, and it is likely that forced false confessions would be used against them in court, according to the groups which include Human Rights Watch.
Subordination
"We fear that the 12 defendants will not benefit from their right to a fair trial. The provisions of the penal code articles are so vague and broad that they will allow the authorities to use them to crack down on peaceful dissidents and human rights activists," said a statement issued late on Wednesday in Geneva.
"The subordination of Syrian judges and prosecutors to the executive authorities and the lack of judicial independence leave us limited hope that this will be a fair trial conducted in accordance with international standards," the human rights groups said.
They called upon Syrian authorities to "recall the charges and put an end to the trial" at the Damascus Criminal Court. The dissidents' arrest last December sparked international condemnation, with the United States and European nations calling for their release.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who went to Damascus earlier this month, has taken the lead in the West to re-engage with Syria after President Bashar Al Assad embarked on indirect peace talks with Israel and adopted what was seen as a more conciliatory stance towards Lebanon. Sarkozy raised the detainees' plight during an earlier meeting in Paris.
The next hearing is set for September 24, according to the groups which include the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights and the World Organisation Against Torture.
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