Syria: Sentencing of human rights defender Mohammed Badih al-Bab

Your Excellency,

I am deeply concerned following the recent sentencing of human rights defender Mohammed Badih al-Bab to 6 months in prison in Damascus. Mohammed Badih al-Bab is a member of the National Organisation for Human Rights in Syria.

On 29 June 2008, Mohammed Badih al-Bab was sentenced to 6 months in prison at the military court number 6 in Damascus. He had been arrested on 2 March 2008 and charged under article 287 of the Syrian Penal Code for the “broadcasting of false news” deemed to be harmful to the state. The charges related to articles he has recently written, in which he criticised the Minister for Information, Mohsen Bilal.

In 2000, Mohammed Badih al-Bab was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. He was released in 2005 following a presidential amnesty.

I believe that Mohammed Badih al-Bab was arrested and sentenced as a result of his legitimate human rights activities. I am concerned for Mohammed Badih al-Bab's psychological and physical integrity and fears that he may be subject to torture and ill-treatment in detention.

I urge the Syrian authorities to:

1. Revoke the 6-month sentence and grant the immediate release of Mohammed Badih al-Bab, as it is believed that he is being detained solely on the basis of his legitimate non-violent human rights work;

2. Guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mohammed Badih al-Bab while in detention;

3. Ensure that all human rights defenders in Syria are free to carry out their legitimate and peaceful work in defence of human rights, without fear of intimidation or reprisal, including judicial harassment.

I respectfully remind you that the United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1998, recognises the legitimacy of the activities of human rights defenders, their right to freedom of association and to carry out their activities without fear of reprisals.

I would particularly draw attention to Article 6 (c): “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others: (c) To study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”, and to Article 12 (2.): “The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.”

Yours sincerely,