Security Officials Accused of Abusing Citizens

Syrian security services have recently summoned many well-known figures in the northern city of Aleppo and ransacked their homes in a search for illicit books and compact discs, the Syrian Committee for Human Rights said in a September 21 statement posted on its website.



The London-based organisation, which has ties to the banned Syrian Muslim Brotherhood party, said that during the last week of the Muslim month of Ramadan, the military secret services interrogated many prominent personalities from the cultural and social elite of Aleppo as well as businessmen known for their charity work.



The group said that some of the individuals summoned by authorities were members of the city council of Aleppo or heads of licensed charity organisations, naming among others, Ibrahim al-Tayeh, a physician, Mahmoud Azeza, a dentist, and Waddah Bawadeqgi, a businessman.



It said that the questioning lasted for many hours, adding that authorities confiscated large numbers of books, computers and CDs from the homes of these prominent figures.



The organisation did not give the reason behind the interrogations.



In an earlier statement posted on September 21, the organisation said that the citizens of Hama, in the centre of the country, were complaining about “harsh and unjustified treatment” administered by the head of the city’s intelligence service, Brigadier Mohammed al-Muflih.



Many citizens of Hama, including men, women and elderly people, have expressed anger at being badly treated by security forces, said the statement.



It reported that Syrian expatriates on vacation in Hama were ill treated and arrested for no apparent reasons by security forces on the orders of the local intelligence bureau.



These arbitrary measures have caused many of them to lose their jobs abroad because they had failed to receive permits to leave the country on time, it said.



Hama’s citizens complained that the harsh policies of security officials caused “apprehension and tension” and harmed the “national harmony of the city”.