Kurdish Leader Dies Following Release
Syria Media Report, 22-Feb-08
Kurdish Leader Dies Following Release
Syria Media Report, 22-Feb-08
A minority rights organisation in Germany has called on the Syrian government to explain the death of Osman Sulayman, a 61-year-old Kurdish ex-member of parliament who died shortly after being held in custody for weeks.
Kurdish rights workers in Aleppo believe that Sulayman died as a result of torture inflicted while he was in detention, according to a statement by the Germany-based Society for Threatened Peoples published on the Kurdish Media Website on February 21.
Sulayman was arrested in November 2007 in Ain al-Arab in Aleppo during a Kurdish protest against Turkish plans to invade northern Iraq. He was taken to al-Kendy Hospital and admitted there under a false name on January 18, and was subsequently released from al-Muslimiye prison on February 6. He died in hospital on February 19.
The Society for Threatened Peoples also appealed to German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to press for the release of 71-year-old Kurdish singer Eli Tico, who suffers from cardiac problems and has been detained since January 17. He has not been charged, and his whereabouts are unknown.
Kurdish rights workers in Aleppo believe that Sulayman died as a result of torture inflicted while he was in detention, according to a statement by the Germany-based Society for Threatened Peoples published on the Kurdish Media Website on February 21.
Sulayman was arrested in November 2007 in Ain al-Arab in Aleppo during a Kurdish protest against Turkish plans to invade northern Iraq. He was taken to al-Kendy Hospital and admitted there under a false name on January 18, and was subsequently released from al-Muslimiye prison on February 6. He died in hospital on February 19.
The Society for Threatened Peoples also appealed to German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to press for the release of 71-year-old Kurdish singer Eli Tico, who suffers from cardiac problems and has been detained since January 17. He has not been charged, and his whereabouts are unknown.
