Committees in charge of defending human rights in Syria commends political detente and ask for democracy
Syria, Politics, 4/11/2001

In an initiative which reflects the atmospheres of political detente in Syria, the human rights committees have released its annual report for the year 2000 for the first time from inside Syria after used to be issued in previous years from outside Syria.

The report said that Syria has been witnessing " detente at the security level under the rule of President Bashar al-Assad and these detente of security nature has been coincided with similar detente at the political and economic level."

However, according to the report:" the steps and measure are still incomplete for one reason or another," adding that Syria still suffers the continuity of the " state of emergency and the arrest, though less than before and the judicial system is still obstructed."

The report estimated that there are still 800 political prisoners in the Syrian jails, noting that the Syrian prisons still suffer bad health conditions but noted some improvement in certain prisons in 1992 and in others in 1999. The report also indicated that simultaneously " an open cultural movement has been emerging and expressed itself in cultural forums spread inside the country, noting new expressions for a civil society that have been gradually clarified without strong or tough measures against it." The report added that the human rights committees, as they name themselves, " are working openly but without licensing," noting that there is no " law for the parties or a modern or contemporary law for people's societies."

In its economic part, the report considered that the recent increase in salaries is not enough and that the " majority of the Syrians" still suffer " great poverty."

Previous Stories:
  Syrian judicial committees call for restoring back dignity to people deprived of their freedom   (3/24/2001)
  Syria human rights record   (3/10/2001)
  Khaddam warns the intellectuals: we will not allow to convert Syria in Algeria or Yugoslavia   (2/19/2001)
  Syria and the human rights defense committee   (1/27/2001)
  A new intellectual forum in Damascus   (1/18/2001)
  The One thousand statement calls for democracy and the revival of the civil society in Syria   (1/12/2001)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search