Far From Justice - Human Rights Watch

elonging to groups planning terrorist acts. In these cases, the prosecution presented noevidence in court to show that these individuals, or the groups they are accused ofbelonging to, planned to use violence or terrorism. We did find a handful of cases where theSSSC prosecutor presented additional evidence against presumed salafis, such aspossession of explosives, firearms or specific plans. But generally, the court was notpresented with any such evidence before convicting the defendants. In the words of aDamascus-based diplomat who has been a long-time observer of the court, “the onlyevidence against many of the so-called Islamists is their possession of CD's, booklets etc. ofapparently radical Imams.” 2The SSSC has cast the net too wide in its prosecution of Islamists and has blurred the linesbetween holding or expressing fundamentalist religious opinions or beliefs (which isprotected by international law) and actual acts which warrant being criminalized, such asinvolvement in violence. Individuals who simply hold salafi opinions but do not inciteviolence and otherwise abide by a state’s laws should not be prosecuted.Criminalizing Kurdish ActivismThe arrest and trials of Kurdish activists is part of the broader Syrian policy of suppressingthe demands for cultural rights and increased autonomy by the Kurdish minority in Syria. Thecrackdown on Kurdish activists accelerated after March 2004 when serious clashes occurredbetween Kurdish demonstrators and security forces in the northern town of Qamishli that leftmore than 30 dead, most of them Kurds.The most common accusation against Kurdish activists is undertaking any “acts, speeches,writings or other means to cut-off part of Syrian land to join it to another country” (Art. 267 ofthe Penal Code). The SSSC invoked this provision against at least 16 defendants betweenJanuary 2007 and June 2008, the vast majority of whom had only participated in peacefulactivities. Examples include sentencing activists for presenting a petition to the NationalAssembly to “remove the barriers imposed on the Kurdish language and culture” or forparticipating in a peaceful demonstration to demand that Syrian authorities allow Kurdishchildren to learn in their own language.Past Criticisms of the SSSC and the Way ForwardThe SSSC’s repeated breaches of basic human rights standards have not gone unnoticed.The United Nations, Syrian and international human rights groups, and Syrian lawyers in the2 Human Rights Watch e-mail from Damascus-based Western diplomat N.R., August 28, 2008.5 Human Rights Watch February 2009