Case SYR 211108
Sentencing/ Arbitrary detention/ Fear for safety
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Syria.
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source and Antenna International, a member organisation of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the sentencing of Mr. Mustafa Dalati, a member of the Committee for the Democratic Dialogue in Zabadani as well as of the Syrian Communist Party, to six months in prison.
According to the information received, on 18 November 2008, Mr. Mustafa Dalati was sentenced by the fifth military judge of Damas to six months in prison for “weakening the State’s prestige” and to three additional months for “belonging to a forbidden political association”, according to Articles 287 and 288 of the Penal Code. However, the two sentences were reduced to a total of six months in prison.
Mr. Dalati had been arrested in Damas on 9 June 2008 by the military intelligence services over alleged links to a pro-democracy group known as the Damascus Declaration. He is currently detained in Adra prison.
The OMCT recalls that the National Council of the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change (NCDD) is a collective pro-rights and pro-democracy movement comprising more than 160 Syrian political activists, human rights defenders, intellectuals and artists, which met on 1 December 2007 to follow-up on the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change of 16 October 2005. After publishing its concluding statement, the NCDD was subject to crackdown by the authorities. Starting on 9 December 2007, 40 of its members were arbitrarily arrested by the Syrian State Security Intelligence. Twelve of them were tried on 24 September and remain detained, pending verdict. The others were previously released without charges. Their only crime is to have peacefully exercised fundamental freedoms - having called for the establishment of a democratic system that respects citizens’ rights, ensures freedom of speech and association, and ends discrimination based on religious or political beliefs.
The International Secretariat of OMCT expresses its deep concern about the sentencing of Mr. Mustafa Dalati, who seemed to have been arrested solely for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and peaceful political opposition. OMCT is further very much concerned with regard to his physical and psychological integrity.
Please write to the authorities in Syria urging them to:
Please also write to the embassies of Syria in your respective country.
Geneva, 21 November 2008
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
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