Far From Justice - Human Rights Watch

H UMAN R I G H TS WATCH350 Fifth Avenue, 34 th FloorNew York, NY 10118-3299www.hrw.orgH U M A NR I G H T SW A T C HFar From JusticeSyria’s Supreme State Security CourtForty years after its creation, the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) remains one of the main pillars ofrepression in Syria. An offspring of Syria’s state of emergency, this special court exists outside the ordinarycriminal justice system and is used to prosecute those who fall foul of the Syrian authorities in trials that lackbasic due process guarantees. It must be abolished.Amongst those recently tried by the SSSC are bloggers who posted articles critical of the authorities, Kurdishactivists demanding increased cultural recognition, members of the Muslim Brotherhood who returned from exileto Syria, suspected Salafis detained in possession of controversial books, and even ordinary Syrians accused of“insulting the Syrian president” in private conversations.This report documents in detail how the SSSC has violated the basic rights of these defendants. It is based on anextensive review of trial notes taken by Western diplomats who are the only outside observers to have access tothe court, as well as interviews with former defendants before the SSSC, their lawyers and Syrian human rightsactivists. In total, Human Rights Watch compiled information on 237 cases, representing all of those known tohave been decided by the SSSC between January 2007 and June 2008.The evidence paints a bleak picture. The SSSC sentenced a vast majority of defendants on the basis of vague andoverbroad charges, such as “spreading false or exaggerated information that weakens national sentiment,” thatcriminalize freedom of expression and association. The court denied the defendants the right properly to defendthemselves. Defendants frequently alleged that Syrian security services tortured them to extract their confessionswithout the court taking any steps to investigate the allegations or reject the confessions. Defense lawyers playeda minimal role; they usually saw their clients for the first time on the actual day of the trial and the court deniedthem the opportunity to engage in oral defense or call on witnesses. The decisions of the SSSC cannot beappealed to a higher tribunal.The Syrian authorities have demonstrated no commitment to end the use of SSSC as a tool of repression. Theinternational community, in particular, the European Union and its member states, need to play a stronger role inurging Syria to abolish this unjust court.Syrian riot police officers stand guard as amother carries a placard demanding the releaseof her son from jail in front of the State SecurityCourt on April 24, 2005 in Damascus, Syria.© Ghaith Abdul-Ahad/Getty Images