Matouq boycotts human rights society meeting

In a statement to the Kuwaiti daily al-Rai al-Am issued on Friday, lawyer Khalil Matouq said he had boycotted the founding meeting of the human rights society in Syria which was held on Thursday and that he intends to revive the cultural forum for human rights which used to be active in his house two months ago.

Matouq also announced his withdrawal from the Syrian communist Party "Youssef Faisal wing." He explained: " in recent years my interests started to concentrate more and more towards human rights issues concerning cultural and practical aspects and built on my conviction that working in this area requires utmost rate of independence from authority, noting that parties participating in the National Progressive Front or in the opposition decided to withdraw and resign from the Syrian Communist Party.

He stressed that his forum in Sednaya town ( in the outskirts of Damascus), will continue its work in order to disseminate human rights culture.