Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
interviews to foreign radio stations. Released on 2 September 2001. She
is the wife of Taghi Rahmani, journalist with Omid-é-Zangan (see
above).
Amid NAINI: Editor-in-chief of the now-banned monthly Peyam-é-
Emrouz. Reportedly àrrested on 21 April 2001 by Tehran's Press Court
for publishing an article denouncing the recital of verses from the Koran
as a "superstitious practice", and for publishing another article
describingthe angel Gabriel as an "imaginary creature". Reported in July
2001 to have been recently released.
Released
Morteza FIROOZI: Edilor of English-language newspaper Iran News,
reported to have been held on a charge of spying for the U.S. since June
1997. On 28 January 1998, the official news agency IRNA announced
that he had been sentenced to death. Ayatollah Khamenei is said to have
ordered a retrial on the advice of the Iranian National Security Council.
Reported in July 2001 to bave been recently released. .
IRAQ
Main case
Azlz AL-SYED JASIM
Profession: Journalist and author Date of Arrest: 14 April 19~1
Sentence: Not known Details of Arrest: Detained without ~harge.m
Baghdad on 14 April 1991 by plainclothes members of IraqI secunty
forces. Reported. to have been taken to General Secur!ty Directorate in
Baghdad, beld in solitary confinement and tortured. He ISthought ~ohave
been detained after being repeatedly asked by membe~s of the Ir~ql secr~t
service to write a book on Saddam Hussein. He persIstently resIsted this
pressure and was arrested with.his brother, Dr ~uhsin AI-Musawi, editorin-chief
of Afaq Arabia .. Mubsm was released m July 1991.and allowed to
go into exile. Jasim reported to have .~een charge~ WIth treason for
refusing to write the book. Iraqi authontles rep.orted m November 1991
that the case bad been investigated and that Jaslm was never arrested or
charged, that he was last seen in Karbala City in March 1991 and has
since disappeared. The government claimed he was a fi.rmsup~orter of the
President and enclosed a cover of Saddam Hussem: a gIant on the
Rafidain a book they said he had written and which proved his loyalty to
the gove~ent. AI report in March 1993 indica~ed that the government
had then acknowledged his arrest. but refused to disclose why or where he
is held. AI has apparently unconfirmed reports that Jasim was transferred
to Iraqi intelligence beadquarters in Baghdad in July 1992 ~d that he
may bave been allowed regular family visits since, although thIS has ~ot
been confirmed. In 1998, the WiPC heard from another source that JaSlm
was stilI alive andstiII in prison. Professional Details: Jasim was editorin-chief
of Al- Thrawa newspaper (1969-70), editor of Al-Ghad magazine
(1969-70) and acting editor of Labour Voices (1971-78). Author of many
books on women's rights, Kurds, etc. Member of Ba'th Party since 1963.
Author of a collection The Rooster and Other Stories, and, after Iraq's
invasion of Kuwait, he wrote an open letter criticising Iraq's role in the
crisis. Health Concerns: Said to have been in poor health, suffering from
diabetes and heart condition at time of arrest and reports in 1994 that he
had been bospitalised. In 1998 tliere were unconfirmed reports that "he
suffers from paralysis." Previous Political Imprisonment/Problems:
Previously detained on a number of occasions, most recently in 1989
wben be was beld for over a year. Other Details: Married with seven
children. Honorary Member.of: German PEN.
Case closed
Hachem HASAN: Reported arrested in late September 1999 in El
Kadissia near the border with Jordan. He is the editor-in-chief of the
newspaper Azzaoura, owned by Saddam Hussein's son Ouddai. One
report suggests that Ouddai Hussain asked him to edit another of his
newspapers and Hasan refused. Then, fearing for bis life, be tried to flee
the country but was apprehended in the attempt. He was reportedly
sentenced to three years' imprisonment for attempting to leave the
country illegally. Case closed for lack of further information.
Saad SAYEL: Poet. Reportedly arrested on 5 March 2000 at the border
point Tribel by Iraqi security forces after being forcibly returned to Iraq
from Jordan. One report suggests he may have been arrested for having
made an application for asylum to the United Nations High Commission
for Refugees (UNHCR). Case closed for lack of further information.
IRAQI KURDISTAN
Investigation Case
Biwa AHMAD: Member of the executive committee of the Iraqi
Workers' Communist Party (IWCP). Reportedly arrested on 16 October
2000 by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) security and intelligence
service for writing an article in an IWCP publication criticising the
PUK's buman rights record. Still detained at the Security Directorate in
Sulaimaniya as of 17 November 2000. WiPC seeking an update.
SYRIA
Main case
Nu'man 'Ali 'ABDU
Profession: Journalist for Lebanese monthly Al-Tarik. Date of arrest:
1992 Sent~nce: 15 years Expires: 2007 Details of trial: Apparently
sentenced m 1993 to fifteen years' imprisonment for his membership of
the Party for Communist Action. Place of detention: Reportedly transferred
from Seydnaya prison to a detention centre in Damascus on 16
November 2000. Health concerns: He is said to suffer from a chronic
open leg wound, according to reports from former prisoners.
Facing charges
*Nlzar NAYVUF
Profession: Writer, sociologist and human rights activist. Details of
charges: Charged in absentia on 3 September 2001 with "trying to
change the constitution by illegal means and issuing false reports from a
foreign country". The charges are believed to relate to critical statements
mad~ by Nayyuf whilst in France, where he is currently receiving
medIcal treatment. Nayyuf has given numerous interviews to the Arab
press since his release in which he has criticised the human rights situation
in Syria. Nayyuf's family were given an ultimatum by the authorities
to either condemn Nizar Nayyouf's statements by 22 November 2001 or
face exile, and at the end of November 2001 the Syrian authorities were
preparing to exile the family. Nayyuf's brothers Amjad and Mamdouh
Nayyuf have been dismissed from their positions as teachers, his
youngest brother Hayyan Nayyuf - a student - has been threatened with
expulsion by university officials, and land belonging to their parents, Ali
and Douba Nayyuf, bas been seized by the authorities. Previous political
imprisonment/problems: Nizar Nayyuf was previously arrested. in
January 1992 and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for his membership
of the banned Committee for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms
and Human Rights (CDF), and for "disseminating false information" via
its monthly newsletter Sawt al-Democratiyya (Democracy's Vote), of
w~ich he was editor-in-chief. He was a PEN main case. Nizar Nayyuf
was held in solitary confinement in Mezze Prison, Damascus, and
throughout his detention has suffered from serious medical problems,
some of them reportedly related to torture under interrogation following
his arrest. He was released from prison on 6 May 2001 after serving nine
years of his ten-year sentence, and was permitted to travel to France on
22 June 2001 to receive urgent medical treatment. Honorary member
of: American, English, Finnish, and Slovak PEN Centres.
Brief detention
*Muhammad HAMO: Kurdish writer living in Syria and member of
Syrian PEN. Reportedly arrested in Syria on 29 August 2001. At the time
of his arrest he had reportedly been taking part in meetings with other
Kurdish writers to explore the possibility of setting up a Kurdish PEN
centre in Syria. Released on 1 September 2001.
Released
Adel ISMA'IL: Journalist with the Lebanese daily Al Raïa, contributor
to the underground newsletter El Democrati and professor of journalism.
Arrested in 1996 and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for "spreading
false information" and membership of the banned Baas Democratic
Party. Released on 18 November 2001 under a presidential amnesty.
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