Obstacles to Mr. Danial Saoud's freedom of movement

July 3, 2009

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), expresses its deepest concern regarding the following situation in the Syrian Arab Republic.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the obstacles to the freedom of movement imposed on Mr. Danial Saoud, President of the Committees for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights (CDF).

According to the information received, Mr. Danial Saoud was prevented from leaving Syria and from travelling to Geneva, Switzerland, where he was supposed to take part in the Seminar that is currently organised by OMCT from June 29 to July 3, 2009 and which is entitled “Addressing the economic, social and cultural root causes of violence through the UN Special Procedures System”.

The Observatory denounces these obstacles to the freedom of movement imposed on Mr. Danial Saoud, and strongly condemns harassment faced by human rights defenders in Syria, which only aims at muzzling their freedom of expression and sanctioning their human rights activities.

Obstacles to freedom of movement are indeed common practices in Syria. In 2008, more than 400 travel bans would have been issued by the authorities, including more than 100 against human rights defenders, preventing them from leaving Syria to attend workshops and human rights seminar abroad.

Travel ban is an additional tool to silence Syrian human rights defenders and aims at restricting the right to travel based on the Emergency Law since the end of the 1960s. Since 2006, it has become a systematic policy by Syrian authorities that reached its climax in September 2008, when security agencies drafted extensive lists, which included individuals who had participated in general political and human rights activity.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Syria, urging them to:

1. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Danial Saoud;
2. Put an end to any obstacle to his freedom of movement as well as of all human rights defenders in Syria, and ensure in all circumstances that Syrian human rights defenders are able to carry out their work without unjustified hindrances;
3. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, in particular with its Article 1, which provides that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels”, its Article 5 (c), which states that “for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at national and international levels (...) to communicate with non-governmental or intergovernmental organizations”, its Article 6 (b) regarding the right “to freely publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms”, as well as with Article 12.2 (“the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”);
4. More generally, ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with international and regional human rights instruments ratified by the Syrian Arab Republic.

Addresses

• President, His Excellency Bashar al-Assad, Presidential Palace, al Rashid Street, Damascus, Syria Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 332 3410
• Minister of Defence, His Excellency General, Hassan Ali Turkmani, Ministry of Defense, O mayyad Square, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 223 7842
• Minister of Justice, His Excellency Mr. Ahmad Hamod Younes, Mazeh "Otstrad", Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 666 2460
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Wallid Mu’allim, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 332 7620
• Ambassador Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to UN in Geneva, 72 rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 738 42 75, Email: mission.syria@ties.itu.in
• Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in Brussels, 1 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Tel: +32 2 554 19 22; Fax: +32 2 648 14 85

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of the Syrian Arab Republic in your respective country.

Geneva-Paris, July 3, 2009

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80