Syria: Stop Internet Censorship, Release Syrian Detainees Now!

Having moaning for a month about the laziness of Ramadan and the inactiveness of Damascus, it took me another report of human rights' abuse in Syria to wake me up. Last night I saw Ben Gharbia's updated post on the Advocacy Global Voices' site and this time it was about my country.

Two cyber activists were detained for posting online comments that were disfavored by our Syrian government. The report also talked about a case in which the government detained a third Syrian citizen for posting comments opposing KSA. the Syrian Military Intelligence detained him for "breaking ties" with an ally.

I quote the HRW report: ( even though I hold reservations on the motives behind such report, but with a subject matter like the Syrian regime-I find it OK to use the site).

"Syrian security services frequently require internet cafe owners to spy on customers that access “sensitive” sites. On December 13, 2006, Political Security arrested `Ahed al-Hindi, 23, and one of his relatives, in an internet cafe in Damascus, because al-Hindi was sending comments and information to opposition websites outside Syria. The owner of the internet cafe had filmed al-Hindi posting the comments. Al-Hindi and his relative were released on January 15, 2007."

"In the first documented application of the directive, the Ministry of Communications and Technology restricted access to www.damaspost.com, a popular Syrian news website, for 24 hours after a commentator identified as “Jamal” criticized the head of the Journalists’ Union and the al-Ba`ath newspaper for nepotism".

"Under international law, the rights to privacy and free expression entail a corollary right to communicate anonymously. Allowing persons to speak anonymously, without fear of reprisal or stigma, encourages the sort of expression that is critical to protection of rights and a democratic society – from political pamphleteering, to anonymous tips for journalists, to “blowing the whistle” on corruption by officials or companies. While the right to anonymity is not absolute, the restrictions imposed by the Syrian decree eliminate it altogether in the name of repressing purportedly “criminal” expression".

"The last six years have seen an explosion of internet use in Syria, with close to 1 million of the country’s 18 million people now online, compared to just 30,000 in 2000. The Arab Advisors Group, an Amman-based business-consulting firm, projects that the number of Syrian internet users will exceed 1.7 million by 2009".

All these were naively shocking incidents on my part, but what made me even more furious is to find the one parliament nominee whom I loved and wished her luck in her campaign arrested last year! I have came across her blog during the Parliament elections this year, I checked her program and I liked her, I wanted to elect her but they told me I had to elect other people too, which I wont do. but i did not know that she was arrested till yesterday! After nominating herself for the parliament, the Syrian intelligence repeatedly threated her to withdraw her nomination.

It was really outrageous to find an admired person behind bars for doing the right thing. she courageously attacked the biased corrupted legal, banking and administrative systems in Syria. And she was arrested, in her pajamas, in front of her three children, a gun pointed on her head, by the Syrian intelligence.

I have been living in Syria over a month now ever since I left Lebanon, and no one has mentioned these incidents. Unlike in Lebanon, Syrians know nothing about what's happening in Syria, if it wasn’t for her blog, or international human rights, or opposition sites, no one would ever know about these violations of human rights. If I mentioned this in front of some friends they will probably not believe me for these things are abnormal to the Syrian consciousness and psyche. The Syrian government is not just detaining these amazing Syrian citizens in prison, but also detaining the "discussion" about them-the right to know, to think, and to wonder!

While some Syrians are busy "building Syria" by attacking Iraqi presence in Syria, Jews, feminism and attacks against sexist Syria and racist Syria, the Syrian government is busy attacking Syrian citizens who are attacking corrupted, dictator, unjust regime/Syrians.

Syrian regime is only punishing those who pointed out the wrong wanting to fix it, some Syrians are attacking other Syrians for noticing the wrong willing to fixing it. in both cases, there is an unwillingness for some not to admit the wrong about Syria. To them, there is nothing wrong about Syria or in the Syrians. If anything is wrong in Syria, it is these very wrong-highlighters. To them Syria is "pure", and it will remain pure by jailing/ attacking those who speak "ill" about "their" Syria.

Still, life worths nothing without a fight.

I Syrian citizen, call the Syrian regime to release all the freedom of speech detainees and prisoners immediately, to stop censoring cyber activists' blogs and comments posters. Syrian citizens have the right to express their simplest right of freedom of speech whether anonymously or not.

Among those detained in the past for posting information online are:

* `Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghuri: On February 23, 2003, Syrian secret police agents arrested `Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghuri for emailing articles copied from the Akhbar al-Sharq (Levant News) website, http://www.thisissyria.net. The government said it considered the site’s content “detrimental to the reputation and security of the nation,” and “full of ideas and views opposed to the system of government in Syria.” His captors beat and tortured al-Shaghuri and held him incommunicado at the Palestine Branch of Military Intelligence in Damascus before moving him to the Sednaya military prison on the outskirts of the city. On June 20, 2004, the Security Court found him guilty, under the Press Law, of “publishing lies” and disseminating articles “that harmed the image and security of Syria.” The court sentenced him to three years in prison and then reduced the sentence to two-and-a-half years. He was released on August 31, 2005.

* Yahya al-Ous and the Qutaish Brothers: In September 2002 two construction workers were reportedly killed while digging a tunnel in Damascus. Over the course of the following few weeks, Haytham Qutaish, his brother Muhannad, and Yahya al-Ous were arrested for sending emails to a Gulf-based newspaper about the incident. They had previously sent articles criticizing the Syrian government’s economic, political, and human rights policies and government corruption. Syrian Military Intelligence held them in Sednaya prison for nearly two years before the Supreme State Security Court found the three guilty, on July 25, 2004, of “receiving secret information on behalf of a foreign state which threatens the security of Syria” and using the internet to publish “false news outside of Syria” under the terms of the Press Law. The court found the Qutaish brothers guilty of “encouraging the transfer of secret information.” The court further found Haytham Qutaish guilty of “writing that threatens the security of Syria and her relations with foreign states.” The court sentenced Haytham Qutaish and his brother Muhannad to four and three years in prison, respectively. They were released on November 4, 2005. Al-Ous spent two years in prison before being released.

* Mas`ud Hamid: On June 25, 2003, police violently dispersed a demonstration of Syrian-Kurdish children in front of the Damascus office of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Mas`ud Hamid, a Kurdish-Syrian journalism student, posted photographs of the event on several websites, including the German-based Kurdish website http://www.amude.com. One month later, on July 24, 2003, Public Security officers arrested Hamid as he was taking an exam. Witnesses told Reporters sans frontières that the manner of his arrest, in which he was handcuffed in front of a room full of students, seemed intended to intimidate the future journalists. The authorities held him in solitary confinement in `Adra prison for one year before allowing him monthly visits from his lawyer and family. Interrogators reportedly tortured him on several occasions and beat him with a studded whip on the soles of his feet. On October 10, 2004, the Supreme State Security Court sentenced Hamid to three years in prison after finding him guilty of “membership of a secret organization” and having “attempted to annex part of Syrian territory to another country” – charges frequently leveled against detained Syrian Kurds. Hamid was released from `Adra prison on July 24, 2006.

* Habib Salih: On May 29, 2005, Military Intelligence officers arrested Habib Salih in Tartus, approximately 100 miles (130 kilometers) north of Damascus, for posting on two websites a series of open letters addressed to the delegates attending the June 2005 Ba`ath Party Conference in which he detailed his prison experiences. In the months since his release, he had also written critical articles for the Lebanese newspaper an-Nahar and the banned website http://www.elaph.com. He was sentenced to three years on August 15, 2006 by the Tartus Criminal Court for “spreading false news that weaken the spirit of the nation.” He was released on September 12, 2007.