Syria’s surge of deaths in detention revealed

Amnesty International 30 August 2011

At least 88 people are believed to have died in detention in Syria during
five months of bloody repression of pro-reform protests, a new Amnesty
International report reveals today.

Click here to download the report

Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria
documents reported deaths in custody between April and mid-August in the
wake of sweeping arrests.

The 88 deaths represented a significant escalation in the number of deaths
following arrest in Syria. In recent years Amnesty International has
typically recorded around five deaths in custody per year in Syria.

“These deaths behind bars are reaching massive proportions, and appear to
be an extension of the same brutal disdain for life that we are seeing
daily on the streets of Syria,” said Neil Sammonds, Amnesty
International’s researcher on Syria.

“The accounts of torture we have received are horrific. We believe the
Syrian government to be systematically persecuting its own people on a
vast scale.”

The victims recorded in the report were all swept up in arrests after
Syrians took to the streets en masse from March this year. All male, the
victims include 10 children, some as young as 13.

All the victims are believed to have been detained because they were
involved, or suspected of being involved, in the pro-reform protests.

In at least 52 of these cases there is evidence that torture or other
ill-treatment caused or contributed to the deaths.

Amnesty International has seen video clips of 45 of the cases – taken by
relatives, activists or other individuals – and has asked independent
forensic pathologists to review a number of these.

Injuries on many of the victims’ corpses indicate that they may have
suffered horrendous beatings and other abuses. Signs indicating torture
include burns, blunt force injuries, whipping marks and slashes.

Most of the cases in the report occurred in Homs and Dera’a governorates,
which have seen major protests. Deaths in detention have also been
reported in five other governorates, namely Damascus and Rif Damashq,
Idlib, Hama and Aleppo.

Thirteen-year-old Hamza Ali al-Khateeb disappeared on 29 April during
protests against the siege of Dera’a, and was later found dead with
apparent blunt force injuries and a severed penis.

One video clip seen by Amnesty International shows the body of Tariq Ziad
Abd al-Qadr from Homs, which was returned to his family on 16 June. His
injuries included pulled-out hair, marks to the neck and penis possibly
caused by electric shocks, an apparent cigarette burn, whipping marks,
stab wounds and burns.

The body of Dr Sakher Hallak, who ran an eating disorders clinic in
Aleppo, was discovered by the side of a road a few days after his arrest
on 25 May. Sources told Amnesty International that his injuries included
broken ribs, arms and fingers, gouged eyes and mutilated genitals.

Amnesty International is not aware of any independent investigation having
been carried out into the causes of death in any of the cases in the
report.

Amnesty International has called on the UN Security Council to refer the
situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, to impose an arms
embargo on Syria and to implement an asset freeze against President Bashar
al-Assad and his senior associates.

“Taken in the context of the widespread and systematic violations taking
place in Syria, we believe that these deaths in custody may include crimes
against humanity,” said Neil Sammonds.

“The response from the Security Council has been utterly inadequate so
far, but it is not too late for them to take firm and legally binding
action.”

Amnesty International has compiled the names of more than 1,800 people
reported to have died since pro-reform protests began. Thousands of others
have been arrested, with many held incommunicado at unknown locations at
risk of torture or death.


Amnesty alleges death, torture in Syrian prisons

By DON MELVIN - Associated Press August 30, 2011

BRUSSELS (AP) — A human rights group said Tuesday it believed that at
least 88 people, ten of them children, have died in detention in Syria
during five months of anti-government protests — a dramatic increase that
coincides with the government's bloody crackdown.

Some of the victims were as young as 13, Amnesty International said. It
said that in recent years the annual number of deaths behind Syrian bars
has been about five.

"These deaths behind bars are reaching massive proportions, and appear to
be an extension of the same brutal disdain for life that we are seeing
daily on the streets of Syria," said Neil Sammonds, Amnesty
International's researcher on Syria.

Sammonds also said the group had heard accounts of horrific torture. "We
believe the Syrian government to be systematically persecuting its own
people on a vast scale," he said.

The victims, all men or boys, were arrested after mass protests began in
March. All the victims are believed to have been detained because they
were suspected of being involved in the protests, Amnesty said in a
report.

In at least 52 of the cases there was evidence that torture or
ill-treatment caused or contributed to the deaths, the report said.

The group said it had seen video clips relating to 45 of the cases, and
had asked independent forensic pathologists to review a number of them. It
said injuries on many of the bodies indicate the victims may have suffered
beatings, burns, whippings, slashings and stabbings.

The report cited the case of Hamza Ali al-Khateeb, a 13-year-old who
disappeared April 29 during protests against the siege of Dera'a, and was
later found dead with apparent blunt force injuries and a severed penis.
Most of the cases in the report occurred in the Homs and Dera'a
governorates, which have seen major protests.

Deaths in detention have also been reported in five other governorates —
Damascus and Rif Damashq, Idlib, Hama and Aleppo, Amnesty said.

It also cited the case of a doctor from Aleppo, whose body — discovered by
the side of a road a few days after his arrest — had broken ribs, arms and
fingers, as well as gouged eyes and mutilated genitals.

Amnesty International has called on the U.N. Security Council to refer the
situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court, to impose an arms
embargo on Syria and to freeze the assets of President Bashar Assad and
his senior officials.

"Taken in the context of the widespread and systematic violations taking
place in Syria, we believe that these deaths in custody may include crimes
against humanity," Sammonds said.

Amnesty International says it has compiled the names of more than 1,800
people reported to have died since pro-reform protests began. Thousands of
others have been arrested, with many held incommunicado at unknown
locations, according to the group.