"And I have found both freedom and safety in my madness, the freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us. But let me not be too proud of my safety. Even a Thief in a jail is safe from another thief. "

Khalil Gibran (How I Became a Madman)

Lübnan Marunîleri / Yasin Atlıoğlu

NEWS AND ARTICLES / HABERLER VE MAKALELER

Thursday, March 11, 2004

MOSSAD Başkanı'nın Telefonu Çalındı- VOA

Petition for reforms collected the signature of 7,000 persons; Damascus: releases the detainees

SOURCE: Arabic News

Two Syrian organization in defense for human rights in Syria yesterday announced that all persons who were detained during the sit in organized in front of the People's Assembly in Damascus on Monday in protest of the emergency law, and demanding the release of political prisoners on the 41st anniversary of the Baath party assumption of power in Syria, were released the same day, while the US had expressed its great concern over these detention which covered one of its diplomats.

The American embassy in Damascus complained against the detention of the diplomat and considered this act as "a violation for the Vienna agreement on diplomatic missions and working in it." The spokesman for the embassy said that the American Ambassador in Damascus strongly deplored to the government detention of the American diplomat for one hour. The spokesman for the US Department Of State Richard Boucher expressed his country's concern over what the Syrian authorities made "towards peaceful demonstrators" and said that his country protested against the short time detention of the American diplomat, noting that Damascus apologized for that.

The spokesman for human rights organization in Syria lawyer Anwar al-Bunni said that "some 98 persons were detained for hours and then all of them were released including lawyer Aktham Nueisah," the chairman of the defense committee in defense of democratic freedoms and human rights in Syria. The activist in the defense committees for freedoms and human rights Muzin Murshid who was among the detainees said that, all were released. She added " release was made on shifts. The journalists first and then women ( they are seven women ) and then the others." But Nueisah, for his part announced he will submit on March 17 the petition he had campaigned for in the beginning of this year which calls for canceling the emergency law in the country and to introduce vast political and economic reforms to the office of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

He told journalists in Damascus that number of detainees on the petition reached 7,000 and that the committees will form a committee of 10 or 15 persons to hand over the petition to the office of the President. He indicated that he was detained for five hours with some 104 persons including 7 women activists in the human rights field.