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Ref: 65/2004

Date: 29 April 2004

PCHR Calls upon the Syrian Authorities to Immediately Release Human Rights Activist Aktham Nu’aisa

 PCHR is gravely concerned about continued detention of a Syrian human rights activist, Aktham Nu’aisa, Director of Committees to Defend Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria.  He has been detained now for more than 2 weeks.  PCHR calls upon the Syrian authorities to immediately release Nu’iasa and drop all charges against him with regard to his and the committees’ activities.

 On 13 April 2004, Nu’aisa was summoned to the offices of military security in Lathqia.  He was arrested.  On 22 April 2004, he appeared before the State Security Court in Damascus.  He was charged according to the Emergency State Law of “carrying out activities that contradict with the socialist regime of the state”, “opposing the goals of the revolution” and circulating false information damaging the reputation of the state.  PCHR learnt that Nu’aisa, who suffers from medical problems in the heart and the kidneys, was subject to cerebral vascular emboli.  He was transferred to a hospital. 

 Aktham Nu’aisa is one of the prominent defenders of human rights in Syria and the Arab world.  He was arrested in the past for his activities in this field.  The Committees to Defend Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights had issued an annual report on violations of human rights in Syria.  In the past few months, the Committees also launched a campaign to collect signatures to demand cancellation of the state of emergency, which has been effective in Syria for about 4 decades.  Two of Nu’aisa’s colleagues, Ahmed Hazem and Hassan Watfa, have been arrested since the middle of March. 

 PCHR remains concerned for the health conditions of Aktham Nu’aisa.  PCHR calls for his immediate release, cancellation of all charges against him and lifting of all restrictions imposed on activities of human rights organizations and defenders in Syria.             

Public Document

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For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 – 2825893

PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: [email protected], Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org