The situation of human rights defenders in Syria has considerably deteriorated over the past year. Peaceful human rights activists have been subjected to increasing repression.  The May 2006 "Beirut-Damascus, Damascus-Beirut" Declaration that called for better relations between Lebanon and Syria was followed by the largest crackdown on civil society since the repression of the "Damascus Spring" in 2001.  A dozen human rights activists and intellectuals, who co-signed the Declaration, were arrested by the Syrian authorities. Three of the signatories, including the writer and journalist Michel Kilo and human rights lawyer and activist Anwar al-Bunni, are still detained. Al-Bunni was recently subjected to physical abuse by prison guards who beat him and forcibly shaved his hair.

Numerous other human rights defenders and peaceful civil society activists remain in prison. Among them is prominent academic and pro-democracy advocate, Aref Dalilah, who was arrested as part of the crackdown on the “Damascus Spring” in 2001 and continues to serve a 10-year prison sentence for criticizing the government. In 2006, he suffered a severe stroke and was reportedly denied proper medical care by the prison authorities. Activist Kamal al-Labwani, who has been detained since November 2005 upon his return from a trip abroad during which he met with European and American officials, has been repeatedly beaten by the prison guards and other inmates.  

The past year was also marked by the increasing use of travel restrictions on human rights defenders to deter them from pursuing their legitimate activities. Among those who were barred from traveling in the past twelve months are film director and civil society activist Omar Amiralay; Radwan Ziadeh, director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies; Suhair al-Atassi, founder and president of the Jamal al-Atassi Forum for Democratic Dialogue and Anwar al-Bunni’s brother, human right activist Akram al-Bunni, who was prevented last January from traveling to attend meetings with European Union officials in Brussels. These four and many others have been added to a long list of activists, artists and intellectuals subject to onerous travel restrictions.

To further stifle the activities of the human right community, the Syrian authorities have systematically denied registration requests by human rights organizations.  For example, the Committee for the Defense of Democratic Liberties and Human Rights in Syria (CDF), the Syrian Organization for Human Rights, the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Syria and the National Organization for Human Rights have all been denied registration by the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Crackdown on Dissent Timeline