Sentencing of Mr. Mustafa Dalati

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Syria.

Brief description of the situation

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.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Syria urging them to:

1. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Mustafa Dalati;
2. Guarantee immediate and unconditional access to his lawyer, family and any medical treatment he may require;
3. Order his immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring him before an impartial, independent, competent and fair tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times;
4. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
5. Ensure the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses

• President, His Excellency Bashar al-Assad, Presidential Palace, al-Rashid Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: + 963 11 332 3410
• Minister of Defence, His Excellency General, Hassan Ali Turkmani, Ministry of Defence, Omayyad Square, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 223 7842
• Minister of Justice, His Excellency Muhammad al-Ghafari, Ministry of Justice, Al-Nasr Street, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, Fax: +963 11 666 2460
• Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Walid 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 the UN in Geneva, 72 rue de Lausanne, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 738 42 75, Email: mission.syria@ties.itu.in
• Embassy and Mission to the European Union of the Syrian Arab Republic in Brussels, 1 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 648 14 85.

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.