EU Condemns Arrests

The website of the All for Syria group on February 5 carried a European Union statement condemning the detention of Riad Seif and other members of the Damascus Declaration.



The EU statement called for the immediate release of Seif and 11 other detainees who had “peacefully expressed their opinions and called for democratic reforms in Syria”.



It listed the 11 others as Ahmad Tomeh, Jabr al-Shufi, Akram al-Bunni, Walid al-Bunni, Mohammed Yasser al-Eiti, Fida al-Hurani, Ali al-Abdullah, Fayez Sarah, Mohammed Hajji Darwish, Marwan al-Ush and Talal Abu Dan.



The EU expressed concern for the detainees “safety and physical integrity” and urged the government to “reconsider all cases of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in accordance with its national constitution and international commitments”



The All for Syria group was founded by Ayman Abdul Noor, a reformist member of the ruling Baath Party, currently living outside the country.