Amnesty International Syria: Kurdish lawyer detained, risks torture

Kurdish lawyer Mustafa Ismail was detained on 12 December, and has been held incommunicado since then. He is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

Mustafa Ismail, who writes about the treatment of Kurds in Syria and Turkey for a number of foreign-based websites, was detained when he went to the Air Force Security Branch in the northern city of Aleppo, in response to an order from the local security office in his home town of Ain Arab. His family went to the same Air Force Security Branch on 17 December to find out what had happened to him, but they were told that he was not there and they were ordered to leave.

The day before he was detained Mustafa Ismail had posted an article on the London-based Levant Newswebsite, in which he said he had been ordered to go to the Air Force Security Branch in Aleppo, commenting that he could “easily get into the Guinness Book of Records” because of the number of times that he had been summoned to report to security offices since 2000.

He had recently been questioned by officials of several different security services: the Political Security Branch on 3 October, the Military Security Branch on 5 October and the State Security Branch on 7 and 8 November. He told colleagues that the questioning on these occasions had focused on his media work, especially phone interviews he had given to a European-based Kurdishsatellite TV station, Roj TV.

As yet, the Syrian authorities have not acknowledged that he is in detention or provided any explanation, prompting feaRS that he could be subject to torture or other ill-treatment.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in Arabic, English, French or your own language:

• Expressing concern that Mustafa Ismail has been held incommunicado at an unknown location since 12 December, putting him at risk of torture and other ill-treatment;

• Calling on the authorities to ensure that he is not tortured or otherwise ill-treated, and reminding them that Syria is a state party to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;

• Urging them to allow him, immediately, visits from his family, a lawyer of his choosing, and any medical attention he may require;

• Calling on them to release Mustafa Ismail unless he is to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence and tried promptly in proceedings which meet international fair trial standards.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 7 JANUARY 2010 TO: