Concluding observations of the UN Committee against Torture SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC

Committee against Torture
Forty-fourth session
26 April – 14 May 2010
Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 19 of the convention
ADVANCE UNEDITED VERSION
Concluding observations of the Committee against Torture

SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
1. The Committee against Torture considered the initial report of Syrian Arab Republic (CAT/C/SYR/1) at its 937th and 939th meetings (CAT/C/SR.937 and 939), held on 3 and 4 May 2010, and adopted, at its 951st meeting (CAT/C/SR.951), the following concluding observations.

A. Introduction
2. The Committee welcomes the submission of the initial report of Syria, which, while generally following the Committee’s guidelines for reporting, lacks statistical and practical information on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and relevant domestic legislation. However, the Committee regrets that the report was submitted 5 years late which prevented the Committee from conducting an analysis of the implementation of the Convention in the State party following its ratification in 2004. Read more

22nd anniversary of Anfal, the genocide attack against Kurdish nation

The year of 1988 carried with it a brutal, relentless and torturous terror campaign that lasted from 23rd February until 6th September against a defenseless and oppressed society, that of the Kurds of Kurdistan. This premeditated operation was designated the name ‘Al-Anfal’ or ‘the Spoils of War’ as mentioned in the eighth chapter of the Qur’an.

The Anfal Campaign waged against the Kurds was undertaken by Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime directed by his ruthless cousin Ali Hassan al-Majid or as he became known ‘Chemical Ali’ or ‘The Butcher of Kurdistan’. The campaign consisted of eight phases that attempted to exterminate a vulnerable population. Anfal was characterized by acts of mass executions and disappearance of women, children and at times an entire village. Read more

Shocking News on a Happy Day

How a report of shootings cast a shadow over Kurdish New Year celebrations.

By an IWPR-trained reporter (SB No. 98, 29-Mar-10)
I felt the cool breezes of that beautiful, sunny morning brushing gently against my face. From the back of a pickup truck, I joined hordes of Syrian Kurdish families driving towards a small village not far from the northeastern Syrian town of Qamishli.

Women and children wore colourful, traditional dresses. Some waved Kurdish national flags. We were all longing to celebrate the festival that symbolises the coming of spring and the renewal of life.

On March 21 every year, like Iranians, Kurds celebrate Nowruz, which marks the start of the Persian New Year.

Typically, on this occasion, people set up tents in the country and spend the day dancing, singing, barbecuing and drinking tea.

But for Syrian Kurds, who constitute more than ten per cent of the population, the celebration of Nowruz has sometimes been marred by skirmishes between revellers and security forces. Police patrol the streets in Kurdish cities to confiscate flags and posters. Read more

Yekiti Party statement on the killing and wounding of a number of Kurds celebrating Newroz after security forces fired on them in the city of al-Raqqa

Information has been received regarding the events that took place today in the city of al-Raqqa whilst Kurdish people were celebrating Newroz, confirming that live ammunition was fired at unarmed Kurds on 21 March 2010. Two people were killed and several wounded, some seriously according to a surgeon. There is no doubt that the security forces, presumably using the excuse of protecting people and providing security and reassurance, provoked people and then spread chaos and turmoil. Read more

KHRP Calls for Immediate Enquiry into Killing of Civilians in Syria

Kurdish Human Rights Project condemns the indiscriminate killing of Kurdish civilians by Syrian security forces at the Newroz festival in al-Raqqa, Syria.

Yesterday three people were shot dead and more than 41 were injured when Syrian security forces opened fire on crowds celebrating the Newroz festival. Eyewitnesses have also reported that many of the wounded have been arbitrarily detained. Others who are seriously wounded are being treated in their own homes for fear of being arrested in the state hospital.

In the evening Kurdish revellers went to celebrate their New Year in the Kurdish area of al-Raqqa. A reported fifteen minutes into the festivities Ba’ath Party members arrived waving Syrian flags and photos of the President. According to reports from the ground, the Syrian security forces shot live ammunition rounds at the crowd and sprayed them with tear gas. Other members of the security forces were on stand-by near the area. Mohammed Omar Haider was said to have died last night in hospital due to his injuries. A young man and a 15-year-old Kurdish girl were also believed to have been killed. Their bodies were taken away by security officials and their names have not been released. People who have visited the hospitals to enquire after family members have been arrested.

KHRP very strongly condemns the Syrian State for its flagrant disregard of international norms in the killing of its civilians. We call for those who were injured to be given appropriate treatment for their injuries without fear of arrest and that those who were arbitrarily detained are immediately released. KHRP demands an immediate investigation into the events in al-Raqqa to be undertaken by a neutral authority, in order that those responsible are held accountable.

KHRP Chief Executive, Kerim Yildiz today stated, ‘KHRP is very concerned to hear reports of such extreme and indiscriminate force being unleashed on unarmed civilians. The use of such lethal force is a grave violation of their right to assembly and an unacceptable abuse of state authority. Such irresponsible violence should be utterly condemned and those responsible for abuses should be brought to justice.’

http://www.khrp.org/content/view/541/2/

Correction: two young Kurds died yesterday in the Newroz shooting in Syria

The Media Institute of West Kurdistan Society reports today that in fact two people were killed yesterday in al-Raqqa, not three as at first thought. They sent their apologies for passing on misleading information yesterday, however there was a lot of confusion and secrecy at the time.

Mihemed Umer Osman ‘Haider’ died, aged 18, in Aleppo University Hospital. There is no information available about the girl who died. Intelligence Security have been obscuring facts.

We are told that the parents of Mohammed Khalil who was originally thought to have been killed, have been detained by the security forces, but Mohammed’s whereabouts are currently unknown.

Previous report: http://supportkurds.org/news/three-young-kurds-shot-dead-41-injured-at-a-newroz-event-in-syria/

Human Rights organisations call for immediate enquiry into Newroz killings

Similar reports about the killings of Kurds at the Newroz celebration in al-Raqqa, Syria have been received from the following human rights organisations:

Kurdish Committee for Human Rights in Syria al-Rased

Kurdish organization for the defence of human rights and public freedoms in Syria – DAD

Human Rights Organization in Syria – MAF

SKS joins with these organisations to very strongly condemn the Syrian State, and to hold it accountable for the killing of Kurds in cold blood while they are celebrating their New Year.

We demand that those who were injured today be given appropriate treatment for their injuries and that they are released immediately.

These human rights organisations are demanding that the Syrian Government immediately orders an investigation into the events in al-Raqqa to be undertaken by a neutral authority.

[Update] The Alliance for Kurdish Rights joins this call: http://kurdishrights.org/2010/03/22/syrian-authorities-fire-at-kurds-celebrating-norouz-killing-3-and-injuring-over-40

Three young Kurds shot dead, 41 injured at a Newroz event in Syria

Intelligence security and informers turned Newroz celebrations into a massacre when two young men and a teenage girl were murdered and forty-one others injured when they were fired on by intelligence service personnel.

General Khalid al-Halabi – head of state security branch in al-Raqqa, and Abdul Razzak al-Jassim – head of the Ba’ath Party branch in al-Raqqa had attended a meeting a week ago in al-Raqqa province where it was decided that Ba’ath Party members would go to the Newroz celebrations area on 21 March 2010 to provoke the Kurdish revellers.

Today Kurds went to celebrate Newroz where wheat is kept and processed in al-Raqqa, and were enjoying theatre and festivities, having decorated the place with Kurdish flags and pictures of martyrs and the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. Fifteen minutes into the celebrations, Ba’ath Party members arrived with Syrian flags and photos of the President to incite trouble, and without provocation, the security forces opened fire randomly at the crowd and used tear gas on them. Other members of the security forces were seen to be on standby near to the area. Read more

Newroz killing of Kurds in Syria

[Updated] We are getting reports from Yekiti media http://yekitimedia.org/en/
and Soparo that 3 people have been killed and others injured this morning in the Kurdish area of al-Raqqa, Syria, near the place where they sort out wheat.

Update 8.30pm [UK time]:

Rudaw – Kurdish news websites report that between 2-3 people were killed, when Syrian security forces opened fire on Newroz celebrations.

According to the Kurdish news agency ANF more than 50 people were wounded and two killed in the Kurdish area of al-Raqqa, Syria today. One of the victims, is a 15-year old girl, whose name is not identified yet.

ANF says that four of the wounded, were heavily wounded and are treated in their own homes, because they are afraid to be arrested in the state hospital.

http://www.rudaw.net/details.aspx?lang=English&page=articles&c=News&id=19348

Continued killing of Kurdish conscripts in Syria

According to Syrian Committee for Human Rights – MAD, a Kurdish conscript Issa Baki Khalaf , born 1991 in the Kobani area was killed whilst engaged in compulsory military service with 15th platoon stationed in Adra province. His family received his corpse on Sunday 10 January 2010, and they were told that he had committed suicide by shooting himself. He had complained of ill-treatment and the severity of corporal punishment inflicted by a senior officer in a telephone call to his family the day before they received the news of his death.

Syrian Committee for Human Rights- MAD has previously issued statements expressing concern about the increasing number of Kurds killed as serving soldiers in the Syrian army, under the pretext that they have committed suicide. We continue to demanded that this series of deaths is investigated, so that the families of the conscripts can be reassured about what happened to their loved ones, and those responsible can be brought to justice.

We repeat again that if there is no investigation by the authorities, this will have a negative impact on the relationship between citizens and the military establishment.

Syrian Committee for Human Rights – MAD
Kobani, 14 January 2010