Imprisoned Damascus Declaration Head Ill

The media office of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration for Democratic Change has warned that Fida al-Hurani, the imprisoned head of the council, is in need of urgent medical attention.



The council reported on February 18 that al-Hurani, the 51-year-old doctor elected as head of the opposition group, suffers from high blood pressure and heart problems. It demanded that the government transfer her to hospital from the Duma women’s prison in Damascus.



The council said it would hold the government responsible for any deterioration in the health of Hurani, who has been held since December 16.



The authorities have detained at least a dozen of the council’s members since early December. The New York-based group Human Rights Watch reported earlier this month that at least eight of the detainees told a judge that state security officials beat them during interrogation. They were also forced to sign confessions that they planned to accept money from foreign countries “in order to divide the country by giving the Kurds a separate state”, Human Rights Watch said.