(Beirut,
November 4, 2015) – Syria’s
authorities have yet to disclose the whereabouts of Bassel Khartabil, a
software developer and defender of freedom of information, one month after his transfer
to an undisclosed location, 22 organizations said today. Syrian authorities should
immediately reveal his whereabouts and release him.
Military Intelligence detained Khartabil on March 15, 2012. On October 3, 2015,
Khartabil managed to inform his family that security officers had
ordered him to pack but did not reveal his destination. His family has received
no further information. They suspect that he may have been transferred to the
military-run Field Court inside the military police base in Qaboun.
“Each day without news feels like an eternity to his family,” a spokesperson
for the organizations said. “Syrian authorities should immediately reveal his whereabouts
and reunite him with them.”
The Syrian authorities should immediately reveal Khartabil’s whereabouts and
release him immediately and unconditionally, the organizations said. He is
facing Military Field Court proceedings for his peaceful activities in support
of freedom of expression.
International law defines an enforced disappearance as an action by state authorities
to deprive a person of their liberty and then refuse to provide information
regarding the person’s fate or whereabouts.
Military Field Courts in Syria are exceptional courts that have
secret closed-door proceedings and do not allow for the right to defense. Based
on accounts by people who have appeared before these courts, the proceedings
were perfunctory – lasting minutes – and did not meet minimum international
standards for a fair trial. During a Field Court proceeding on December 9,
2012, a military judge interrogated Khartabil for a few minutes, but he had
heard nothing about his legal case since then.
A Syrian of Palestinian parents, Khartabil is a 34-year-old computer
engineer who worked to build a career in software and web development. Before
his arrest, he used his technical expertise to help advance freedom of speech
and access to information via the Internet. Among other projects, he founded
Creative Commons Syria, a nonprofit organization that enables people to share
artistic and other work using free legal tools. Despite his imprisonment,
Khartabil’s digital work is still advancing knowledge; last month, colleagues
produced a
new 3D model of the ancient Palmyra ruins using data collected by Khartabil
before his detention. The UNESCO world heritage site is currently being
destroyed by Islamic State, also known as ISIS, fighters, but the project was
able to reconstruct their earlier appearance based on Khartabil’s measurements.
Khartabil has received a number of awards, including the 2013 Index on
Censorship Digital Freedom Award for using
technology to promote an open and free Internet. Foreign Policy magazine named
Khartabil one of its Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2012, “for insisting,
against all odds, on a peaceful Syrian revolution.”
List of Signatories:
For more information, please contact:
In Beirut,
Nadim Houry (Arabic, French, English): +961-3-639-244 (mobile); or houryn@hrw.org. Twitter: @nadimhoury
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