Amnesty International on Friday called on the Syrian authorities to put an immediate end to arbitrary arrests and intimidation of Islamist activists including nationals from other countries.
According to Amnesty, in recent weeks and months the authorities have arbitrarily arrested scores of Islamist activists without due legal process and contrary to the Syrian Constitution and international human rights treaties to which Syria is a state party.
At least 50 Islamist activists have been arbitrarily arrested over the last two months according to information reaching Amnesty International. The magnitude of arrests is not known given they were carried out secretly by the security forces during night raids and the authorities do not immediately acknowledge that such arrests have taken place, the international body said in a statement.
The latest wave of arrests took place on 2 July when military intelligence officers carried out night raids on homes in Qatnah on the outskirts of Damascus and arrested an unspecified number of people. Most of those arrested and subsequently detained incommunicado are reportedly secondary school students.
According to a statement issued by the Human Rights Association in Syria, the detainees include Anwar Badr al-Din, Ayham Ahmad 'Umran, Sari Muhyi al-Din Badr al-Din, Fadi Muhammad 'Abd al-Ghani, Usama Ahmad Atiyyah, Ahmad Dib al-Zayn, Rami Ahmad 'Arafa, Adkar Bundugji, Yahya Bundugj, Gasem Bundugj, Arshid al-Shaykh, Tareq Nadim Shehadah, Ibrahim Sabbura, Ahmad al-Shaykh, and 'Umar Nader.
On 7 June, Lebanese national Muhammad Ramiz Sultan was arrested by members of the Syrian security forces at the Syrian-Lebanese borders as he and his wife travelled to Syria for a holiday. (albawaba.com)
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