Syria
09.11.09
Urgent Interventions

88 Arab lawyers express solidarity with Syrian human rights lawyer Mohanad Al Hassani

To the attention of:

  • Mr. Nizar Assakkef, President of the Syrian Bar Association

  • Mr. Mohammad Jihad Al-Lahham, President of the Damascus section of the Syrian Bar Association

Dear Sirs,

We have been informed that the Disciplinary Board of the Bar Association of Damascus has been examining since August, 11, 2009 a case concerning Mr. Mohanad Al Hassani and might issue its ruling on November 10, 2009.

As lawyers, we wish to share our strong concern in relation to the fate of Mr. Al Hassani, a human rights lawyer, President of the Syrian Organization for Human Rights “Sawasiya” and member of the Damascus Bar Association for 15 years.

Mr. Al Hassani is accused of having failed to request the President of the Bar Association’s authorisation to create the above-mentioned human rights organisation, of having attended hearings before the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) within the framework of his judicial observation activities related to the respect of international standards on fair trial in the absence of any authorisation, and of having expressed slanderous comments undermining the image of the State.

We are aware that Mr. Al-Hassani is also facing criminal charges brought against him by an investigating judge at the end of July for allegedly “weakening national sentiment” and “spreading false information that could debilitate the morale of the nation and harm the reputation of the state abroad”.

Such charges have been frequently used by the judiciary to target human rights defenders and political dissidents, and we consider them politically motivated. The fact that the Bar Association’s referral of the case of Mr. Al-Hassani to its disciplinary board occurred within a week and was based on similar grounds is therefore of particular concern to us.

These two proceedings, in themselves, appear to contravene international standards relating to the independence of lawyers and the role of human rights defenders, including as contained in the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998 and to the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers adopted in September 1990. Article 16 of the Basic Principles provides that lawyers must be “able to perform all of their professional functions without intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference” and that they “shall not suffer, or be threatened with, prosecution or administrative, economic or other sanctions for any action taken in accordance with recognized professional duties”.

The role of the Bar Association is to defend the role of lawyers in the society, in particular in their capacity as human rights defenders, and to promote debates on the law and its implementation.

Without intending to interfere with the competencies or independence of the Syrian Bar Association we wish to share with you our strong concerns and urge you to drop all accusations against Mr. Al Hassani, as they manifestly aim at obstructing his human rights activities and his right to freedom of expression and association.

We hope that you will take this request into consideration.

Sincerely,

  1. Mr. Hafez ABU SAADA, Lawyer and General Secretary of the Egyptian Organization For Human Rights (EOHR), Egypt

  2. Mr. Mokhtar TRIFI, Lawyer and President of the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH), Tunisia

  3. Mr. Mostefa BOUCHACHI, Lawyer and President of the Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights (LADDH), Algeria

  4. Mr. Abchi MOHSEN, Lawyer at the Tripoli Bar Association, Lebanon

  5. Mr. Abdelaziz NOUAYDI, Lawyer and President of Adala, Morocco

  6. Mr. Houcine BARDI, Lawyer at the Paris Bar, France

  7. Mr. Hassan SEMLALI, Lawyer at the Kenibra Bar, Morocco

  8. Mr. Sofiane CHOUITER, Lawyer, Algeria

  9. Mr. Amine SIDHOUM, Lawyer and human rights defender, Algeria

  10. Mr. Anouar KOUSRI, Lawyer before the Cassation Court, Tunisia

  11. Mr. Zarad Al- Sayed, Lawyer and member of the Mousawa Center for Human Rights, Egypt

  12. Mr. Ahmed Dorgam, Lawyer and member of the Mousawa Center for Human Rights, Egypt

  13. Mr. Hanim Elbaz, Lawyer and member of the Mousawa Center for Human Rights, Egypt

  14. Mr. Ahmed Abo Msalam, Lawyer and member of the Mousawa Center for Human Rights, Egypt

  15. Mr. Rimaz Zarad, Lawyer and member of the Mousawa Center for Human Rights, Egypt

  16. Mr. Mohamed Bayoumi, Egyptian Lawyer and Executive Director for Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights (EFRR)

  17. Mr. Ahmed Badawy, Egyptian Lawyer and EFRR Chairman

  18. Dr. Martin David Jones, Canadian Lawyer and Vice Chairman for EFRR

  19. Mr. Mohamed Ahmed, Lawyer, Bahrain

  20. Mr. Mohamed Al Tajer, Lawyer, Bahrain

  21. Mr. Mohammed Al Jishi, Lawyer, Bahrain

  22. Mr. Mohamed Amarti, Lawyer and member of the Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights (Organisation marocaine des droits humains – OMDH)

  23. Mr. Mohamed Abdel Monem, Lawyer and member of the Association for Human Rights Legal Aid (AHRLA), Egypt

  24. Ms. Kahina Azdaou, Lawyer, Algeria

  25. Mr. Abdesattar Ben Moussa, Lawyer and former President of the Bar Council of Tunisia

  26. Mr. Abderazak KILANI, Lawyer and President of the Tunis Branch of the Bar Council, Tunisia

  27. Ms. Radia Nasraoui, Lawyer, former member of the Bar Council and President of the Tunisian Association Against Torture (Association tunisienne de lutte contre la torture), Tunisia

  28. Mr. Abderaouf Ayadi, Lawyer, former member member of the Bar Council and former secretary general of the National Council for Freedoms in Tunisia (Conseil national des pour les libertés en Tunisie – CNLT), Tunisia

  29. Mr. Ayachi Hammami, Lawyer, Tunisia

  30. Mr. Mohammed Abbou, Lawyer, Tunisia

  31. Mr. Faouzi Ben Mrad, Lawyer and former member of the Association of the Young Lawyers in Tunisia (Jeunes Avocats de Tunisie)

  32. Ms. Amel Abada, Lawyer, militant and member of the Algerian league for defense of human rights (Ligue algérienne pour la défense des droits de l'Homme – LADDH)

  33. Ms. Maya Mansour, Lawyer, member of the Beirut Bar Association and lecturer at the university, Lebanon

  34. Mr. Nizar Saghieh, Lawyer at the Beirut Bar Association (Lebanon)

  35. Mr Karim NATOURI, Lawyer and President of the Bejaia branch of the LADDH, Algeria

  36. Ms. Zaha al Majali, Lawyer and member of Amman Centre for Human Rights Studies, Jordan

  37. Mr. Aissa RAHMOUNE, Lawyer and President of "oumouhand amrane" office, LADDH of Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria

  38. Mr. Abdelhamid REHIOUI, Lawyer at the Bar of Constantine a,d President of the Constantine Branch of the LADDH, Algeria

  39. Mr. Mohammed Naji Saleh Alaw, Lawyer, Yemen

  40. Mr. Abdulkarim Alkhaiwani, Lawyer, Yemen

  41. Mr. Bechir Essid, President of the Bar Association of Tunisia

  42. Mr. Ibrahim Bouderbala, Lawyer and former persident of the Tunis Branch of Lawyers, Tunisia

  43. Mr. Khaled Krichi, Lawyer and member of the Tunisian Association of Young Lawyers, Tunisia

  44. Mr. Chokri Belaid, Lawyer, Tunisia

  45. Mr. Jalel Hammami, Lawyer, Tunisia

  46. Mr. Amor Satraoui, Lawyer, Tunisia

  47. Mr. Reda Bel Haj, Lawyer, Tunisia

  48. Mr. Slah Ourimi, Lawyer, Tunisia

  49. Mr. Bassam Trifi, Lawyer, Tunisia

  50. Mr. Gamal Eid, Lawyer , Executive Director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information – Egypt

  51. Mr. Emad Mubarak, Lawyer and Executive Director of the Foundation for Freedom of thought and expressio, Egypt

  52. Mr.Improved Bahnasi, Lawyer, Legal Aid Society for Human Rights, Egypt

  53. Mr. Mohammad Zarea, Lawyer and Director of the Arab Organization for Penal Reform, Egypt

  54. Mr. Nasser Amin, Lawyer and Director of the Arab Center for the Independence of the Judiciary and Lawyers, Egypt

  55. Mr.Negad Albourae, Lawyer before the cassation court and Director of the Legal Unit of the United Group, Egypt

  56. Ms. Inas Ismail Hussein, Lawyer and member of the United Group ,Egypt

  57. Ms. Sarah Hisham, Lawyer and member of the United Group, Egypt

  58. Mr.Abdul Hamid Salim Abdul-Hamid, Lawyer and member of the United Group, Egypt

  59. Mr.Karim Ahmadinejad, Lawyer and member of the United Group, Egypt

  60. Mr. Muhammad Ali, Lawyer and member of the United Group, Egypt

  61. Mr. Yasser Shook, Lawyer and member of the United Group, Egypt

  62. Ms. Rawda Ahmed Sayed, Lawyer and member of the Arabic Network for Human Rights, Egypt

  63. Mr. Najah Wakim, Lawyer and former member of Parliament, Chairman of the People's Party, Lebanon

  64. Mr. Radwan Seydou, Lawyer, Syria

  65. Mr. Ethene Mahmoud, Lawyer, Syria

  66. Mr. Sulaiman Ismail, Lawyer, Syria

  67. Mr. Masood Caso, Lawyer, Syria

  68. Mr. Mustafa Owusu, Lawyer, Syria

  69. Mr. Abdullah Khalil, Lawyer, Syria

  70. Mr. Abdallah Imam, Lawyer, Syria

  71. Mr. Hassan Abdel-Azim, Lawyer, Syria

  72. Mr. Habib Issa, Lawyer, Syria

  73. Mr. Mahmoud Marei, Lawyer, Syria

  74. Mr. Samer Al-Huwaidi, Lawyer, Syria

  75. Mr. Ali Fares, Lawyer, Syria

  76. Ms. Daad Moses, Lawyer, Syria

  77. Ms. Razan Zaytoon, Lawyer, Syria

  78. Ms. Catherine Tally, Lawyer, Syria

  79. Mr. Radeef Mustafa, Lawyer, Syria

  80. Mr. Abdul Razak Zureik, Lawyer, Syria

  81. Mr. Burgess El Fna, Lawyer, Syria

  82. Mr. Nazem Al Hammadi,Lawyer, Syria

  83. Mr. Tayseer Kardas, Lawyer, Syria

  84. Mr. Hussein Issa, Lawyer, Syria

  85. Mr. Nasr-Eddine Lezzar, Lawyer and human rights defender, Algeria

  86. Mr. Wadie Meraghni, Lawyer and member of the LADDH, Algeria

  87. Mr. Siham Hammache, Lawyer and member of the Algiers Bar, Algeria

  88. Mr. Raji Sourani, Lawyer, Palestine