Report Says Activists Face ‘Considerable Persecution'

The London-based Syrian Human Rights Committee has condemned the Syrian government for exposing civil society and human rights activists “to considerable persecution, harassment, oppression and punitive and vengeful measures”.



In its seventh annual report on human rights practices, published on January 15, the committee highlighted the crackdown on members of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration late last year.



The report noted that Syria “widely practiced, on a systematic and routine basis” torture against detainees including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamists, Kurds and Arabs from other countries.



According to the report, dozens of citizens of other Arab states were arrested between June 2006 and late 2007.



The committee also said that the Syrian authorities had adopted new methods to prevent vigils and sit-ins, such as detaining and beating individuals who are on their way to such gatherings.