English  |  Français  |  Español
 
OMCT LogoOMCT logo
Make a donationRSSOMCT on FacebookOMCT on TwitterOMCT BlogHomeAbout OMCTActivitiesCATOMCT NetworkOMCT EuropeContactsMake a donation
  • Urgent campaigns
  • Assistance to victims
  • Human rights defenders
  • ESCR
  • Rights of the child
  • Violence against women
  • Monitoring protection mechanisms
 Save as PDF Print version
Human rights defenders / Urgent Interventions / Syrian Arab Republic / 2016 / March

Syrian Arab Republic: Renewed calls for Bassel Khartabil’s release on 4th anniversary of detention

 


(17 March 2016)  Syria’s authorities should reveal the whereabouts of Bassel Khartabil, a software developer and free speech activist, and release him immediately, 31 organizations said on the fourth anniversary of his detention.

 

On 15 March 2012, Military Intelligence arrested Khartabil and held him in incommunicado detention for eight months before moving him to ‘Adra prison in Damascus in December 2012. During this time he was subjected to torture and ill-treatment. He remained in ‘Adra until 03 October 2015, when he managed to inform his family that he was being transferred to an undisclosed location. Since then his whereabouts remain unknown and there are serious concerns for his life.

 

Based on unconfirmed information that the family received from some local sources, there are fears that he may have been tried and sentenced to death by a Military Field Court in the Military Police headquarters in Al-Qaboun, Damascus. These courts are notorious for conducting closed-door proceedings that do not meet minimum international standards for a fair trial.

 

Since his detention, many human rights groups have campaigned for his release. On 21 April 2015, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention declared his detention a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and called for his release, yet the Syrian authorities refuse to free him.

 

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, Khartabil used his technical expertise to help advance freedom of speech and access to information via the internet. He has won many awards, including the 2013 Index on Censorship Digital Freedom Award for using technology to promote an open and free internet, and was named one of Foreign Policy magazine’s Top 100 Global Thinkers of 2012 “for insisting, against all odds, on a peaceful Syrian revolution.”

 

The signatory organizations express concern at his on-going arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance and believe that it is a direct result of his peaceful and legitimate work for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of expression.

 

The groups call on the authorities in Syria to:

  1. Immediately disclose the whereabouts of Bassel Khartabil and grant him access to a lawyer of his choice and to his family;
  2. Ensure that he is protected from torture and other ill-treatment;
  3. Immediately and unconditionally release him;
  4. Release all detainees in Syria held for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and association.

 

Co-signed:

 

1.     Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)

2.     Association for Progressive Communications (APC)

3.     Amnesty International

4.     CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

5.     Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

6.     English PEN

7.     Euromed Rights (EMRHN)

8.     Front Line Defenders (FLD)

9.     Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR)

10.  Human Rights Watch (HRW)

11.  Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries  (HIVOS)

12.  Iraqi Network for Social Media (INSM)

13.  International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)

14.  International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

15.  International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)

16.  Iraqi Association for the Defence of Journalists’ Rights (IJRDA)

17.  International Media Support (IMS)

18.  Index on Censorship

19.  Jordan Open Source Association (JOSA)

20.  Lawyers Rights Watch Canada

21.  Metro Centre to Defend Journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan

22.  No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ)

23.  PAX for Peace

24.  PEN International

25.  Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

26.  Samir Kassir Foundation

27.  Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF)

28.  Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression

29.  The Day After

30.  Tunisian Initiative for Freedom of Expression

31.  World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Properties

Date: March 17, 2016
Activity: Human Rights Defenders
Type: Urgent Interventions
Country: Syrian Arab Republic
Subjects: Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances, Human Rights Defenders, Threats, intimidation and harassment

Share this

Tweet

Related articles

  • Syrian Arab Republic:  Joint Statement: Rights groups condemn execution of human rights defender and software engineer Bassel Khartabil
    Urgent Interventions / August 2, 2017
  • Syrian Arab Republic:  Fears for Life of Free Expression Advocate: Bassel Khartabil, in Undiscloed Location, May Face Death Sentence
    Statements / November 20, 2015
  • Syrian Arab Republic:  No Word on Activist’s Whereabouts: Bassel Khartabil Transferred to Undisclosed Location on October 3
    Statements / November 4, 2015
  • Syrian Arab Republic:  Disclose Whereabouts of Detained Freedom of Expression Advocate Bassel Khartabil
    Statements / October 7, 2015

Languages

This page is available in:

English


You can also translate it on the fly:

Recently Viewed Articles

OMCT International Secretariat
PO Box 21, 8, rue du Vieux-Billard, CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 809 4939
Fax: + 41 22 809 4929
E-mail:
OMCT Europe
Rue Franklin 111
1000 Brussels
Tel. / Fax: +32 2 218 37 19
E-mail:
OMCT TUNIS
3, Rue Hassen Ibn Nooman
Cité Jardins | Tunis 1002
Tel: +216 71 791 114
Fax: +216 71 791 115
E-mail:
  • Blog
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Rss
  • Privacy Policy