Another arbirtrary arrest of a Kurdish man in Syria
Kurdish Organization for Defending Human Rights and Public Freedoms in Syria –DAD reports that a patrol of the State Security Branch in Qamishli arrested Emad Askan Ahmed at about 11pm on Friday 27 August 2010, without a warrant or court order. He was taken to an unknown destination, and his whereabouts remain unknown at the time of writing.
Emad Askan Ahmed born 1975, from the Qamishli area is married with six daughters. He is a contractor, and is suffering from kidney disease. Read more
Efraz Mohammed Amin Yousef in court in Syria
The Military Criminal Court in Aleppo heard the case of Efraz Mohammed Amin Yousef on 25 August 2010, in case no. 598 of 2010. He was imprisoned for three years, on charges of weakening national sentiment, according to Article 285 of the General Penal Code. The sentence was commuted to one year.
Efraz Mohammed Amin Yousef was arrested by security forces on 12 December 2009 in the city of Derek in Hassaka province. Read more
Mohammed Saadoun in Court in Syria
Military judge in Qamishli questioned Mohammed Saadoun, member of the Political Committee of the Kurdish Azadi Party in Syria
The individual military judge in Qamishli heard the case of Mohammed Saadoun member of the Political Committee of the Kurdish Azadi Party in Syria, on Tuesday 24 August 2010 [case no. 4928 of 2009].
In answer to the questions, Mohammed Saadoun said: ‘I am a member of the Kurdish Azadi Party in Syria, I am a member of the political committee. The purpose of my writings and articles published on the Internet and in the party newspapers is to identify the rights of the Kurdish people, and it is not my intention to encourage the Kurdish people to do acts which would incite conflict between the elements of the nation.’ Read more
A Syrian Kurdish man has been held incommunicado since 19 August 2010
UA: 188/10 Index: MDE 24/023/2010 Syria Date: 26 August 2010
A Syrian Kurdish man has been held incommunicado since 19 August, after he was forcibly returned to Syria from Norway. He is in grave danger of torture.
‘Abd al-Karim Hussein was detained on arrival at Damascus International Airport on 19 August. He was apparently taken that day to Bab al-Musala prison, which is run by the Immigration and Passports Directorate in the capital, Damascus. It is believed that the next day he was taken to the al-Fayha’ branch of Political Security in Damascus. Political Security is one of several branches of the Syrian security forces, all of which regularly detain people on even the slightest suspicion of opposition to the government. The authorities have told his family where he is, but have refused to let them or his lawyer visit him. Read more
US Journalist Deported from Turkey After Reporting on Plight of Kurds
See the video of this interview on our homepage.
Twenty-five-year-old American journalist Jake Hess was arrested in Turkey nearly two weeks ago and deported back to the United States over the weekend. Turkey accused him of allegedly having ties with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which Turkey and the United States classify as a terrorist organization. But Hess and his lawyer have maintained that Hess was targeted because of his writings. His recent articles for Inter Press Service have focused on Turkish soldiers deliberately starting forest fires, the depopulation of Kurdish villages, and Turkish-Iranian air strikes on Kurdish homes in northern Iraq. Read more
A new victim of the mysterious killings in the Syrian army
According to Kurdish Organization for Defending Human Rights and Public Freedoms in Syria – DAD and the Media Institute of Western Kurdistan Society, the family of a military conscript, Shiar Osman Osman, born 1991 in Deyrik, were told on the morning of Sunday, 22 August 2010 about the death of their son, who was serving in one of the military units at Khan al-Sheikh, Damascus. He had not been doing his military service any more than eight months, and was sent to this new unit just three days before he died. His body was expected to arrive the same evening to be buried in Deyrik.
The responsible authorities informed Shiar’s family that he had committed suicide. We have learned from informed sources that the conscript was shot in the abdomen.
The former candidate for the parliamentary Syrian people’s assembly, Arif Shekho, is still unaccounted for
The former candidate for the parliamentary Syrian people’s assembly, Arif Shekho, a Kurd from Afrin, was arrested by a security patrol about two months ago when he was summoned for questioning. He has not been heard of since that time.
Aref Shekho was a member of the City Council of Aleppo for four years, and he is well-known among the Kurdish people for his good reputation, strong morals, and national loyalty.
Democratic Union Party – PYD has demanding that the Syrian security authorities release Arif Shekho and to immediately disclosure his fate as there are suspicions about his health. They also demand the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of thought and opinion, in the light of reports about ill-treatment in Sednaya prison and other notorious Syrian jails. Detainees are arrested, some held in solitary confinement for long periods, their health problems are neglected and exacerbated by the poor conditions of detention.
Media Institute of Western Kurdistan Society
20 August 2010
Press statement: Abdulkarim Hossain arrested upon arrival
Press statement from SOS Racism in Norway and The Association of Syrian Kurds in Norway:
In spite of protests and warnings, Norwegian authorities chose to forcibly send Abulkarim Hossain back to Syria. He was arrested on arrival.
Hossain arrived on the Syrian capital Damascus around 0245 Friday morning. Information SOS Racism has obtained says that he was immediately arrested by Syrian authorities and placed in the prison Bab Musala. At ten o’clock Saturday 21st August he was to be transferred to the prison Al Faiha, famous for its crimes against political activists, and under the rule of security police. Read more
Arrest of 17 year old Kurdish teenager in al-Raqqa, Syria
Syrian Committee for Human Rights – MAD and Kurdish Organization for Defending Human Rights and Public Freedoms in Syria – DAD report that the house of Ahmed Ali ‘Beghdek’, a Kurdish residents of al-Raqqa, was raided on 10 August 2010 by an armed military security patrol, and his young son Marwan Ahmed Ali, aged 17, was arrested. He was taken to an unknown destination and his whereabouts are still unknown.
There has been a fear and terror since the events of Newroz in al-Raqqa earlier this year, despite the relative calm, however, the arrests are still continuing and the fate of the Kurds who were arrested is still unknown. Read more
Damascus: Interior Ministry seeks 287 residents of al-Hasakah province living abroad for ‘crimes against the state’
KURDWATCH, August 16, 2010—As previously reported, at the beginning of May lists with the names of people living abroad were forwarded to the civil register offices in al-Hasakah province with the stipulation that those listed could only be issued identification papers and other documents if they reported to the State Security Service. In the meantime KurdWatch has obtained a copy of the complete list of all those affected from al-Hasakah province—a total of 287 people—as well as a copy of the corresponding letter from the Syrian Interior Minister. Read more
