Far From Justice - Human Rights Watch

A third detainee sentenced by the SSSC in October 2004 described how in 2003 members ofPolitical Security tortured him after tying him to a rectangular wooden plank known as the“flying carpet” (bsat al-Reeh):After they tied me down, they started stepping on my legs, hands andstomach. Then they beat me with a cane and a cable. After beating me, theyforced me to do exercises to get the blood circulating again. At one point,they even used electricity on me. It was on my big toe. But the most commonform was the beating. 103Despite the frequent allegations that security services rely on torture to extract confessions,the SSSC has failed to investigate them. It continues to rely on confessions signed bydefendants while held incommunicado by security services. According to a lawyer whoappeared multiple times before the SSSC, “Fayez al-Nuri’s [the SSSC’s chief judge] reactionto the torture complaints was to mock them, saying that all defendants repeat theseallegations.” 104Another lawyer who frequently appears before the SSSC expressed frustration at his inabilityto challenge confessions extracted by security services:Unfortunately, the court accepts these confessions and bases itsjudgments—in the vast majority of cases—on these confessions alone. It isvery difficult for a lawyer to have the opportunity to challenge theseconfessions or prove otherwise. 105In June 2002, Judge al-Nuri threw the lawyer and human rights activist Anwar al-Bunni out ofcourt after al-Bunni insisted on requesting an investigation into claims that the securityservices had tortured his client, `Aref Dalilah, in detention. 106103 Human Rights Watch phone interview with former detainee H.H., August 19, 2008.104 Human Rights Watch e-mail from Syrian lawyer S.A., July 31, 2008.105 Human Rights Watch e-mail from defense lawyer C.C., October 8, 2008.106 Human Rights Watch interview with Syrian activist E.M. who heard the story from Anwar al-Bunni himself, October 28,2008.31 Human Rights Watch February 2009