Demands for Improved Conditions for Political Prisoners

Syrian human rights groups have urged the government to improve conditions for political prisoners, in a June 8 statement posted on several local opposition and pro-government websites.



In a statement, which was signed by six organisations, the groups denounced the treatment of detainees held at the Adra prison in Damascus, whom, they said, are prohibited from reading, listening to the radio or exercising.



They called on authorities to allow prisoners to receive books, radios, clothes and food as well as to take part in language classes and computer-training courses within the prison.



In their statement, the groups also urged the authorities to allow political prisoners to receive visitors without officers being there, as their presence, they said, was an invasion of detainees’ privacy.



Human rights advocates also denounced all forms of spying on political prisoners.



They criticised the prosecution of political dissident Dr Kamal al-Labwi, who was recently sentenced for three years because of statements he made to another prisoner while already serving a jail term.



They also called for officials to stop the trial of Dr Walid al-Bunni, a 46-year-old physician already serving a jail term.



Last October, Bunni, along with 11 other dissidents, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for organising a meeting to revive opposition to the Ba’ath party, which has held absolute power in Syria since 1967.



Bunni is currently being prosecuted for “spreading false statements that weaken the national sentiment” after allegedly telling another inmate that Iran exercised an influence over Syria and that Damascus had a hand in the political crisis in Lebanon.