By Zach Waksman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
DAMASCUS, Syria – Monday marked a step forward for the rights of those detained by the Syrian government since protests against the regime of longtime President Bashar al-Assad began in mid-March. During a meeting with Jakob Kellenberger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Syria agreed to grant the ICRC access to its primary prison facility.
This recent breakthrough comes on the heels of new information on what happens inside the detention facilities. Last week, Amnesty International released a report on the treatment of detainees, whose number may run into the tens of thousands over just the past six months. Highlights of the report include eyewitness accounts of beatings using both bare hands and occasionally weapons, and the use of electric shock on prisoners. A minimum of 88 people are reported to have died in Syrian prisons between April 1 and August 15 alone, including 10 teenagers. Amnesty International said evidence existed that 52 of those deaths were connected to torture of some form. Syria denies that torture took place.
The results of the meeting provide limited access for the time being. For now, the ICRC will only be able see people who were detained by the Minister of the Interior. Kellenberger was optimistic of the possibility to expand the visits in the future. “[W]e are hopeful that we will soon be able to visit all detainees,” he said.
Kellenberger also met with Syrian Walid Muallem Foreign Minister. In a statement released by SANA, the country’s state-run news agency, Muallem emphasized that there was no shortage of access to medical care. Despite recent claims that people had difficulty gaining such access, he said that the public hospitals were “constantly ready [to] provide the required medical services for all the citizens.” He also said he was grateful for the efforts of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent Organization, which had been invaluable in ensuring present needs were met.
While he spoke with Assad, Kellenberger said they “the rules governing the use of force by security forces in the current situation and the obligation to respect the physical and psychological well-being and human dignity of detainees.”
He reiterated that topic while talking to Muallem and other top Syrian officials.
A news release from SANA issued today said that Assad also embraced the ICRC’s visit. Assad, it claimed, considered it vital that the detention center be directly examined so that alleged media distortions of what happens there could be rectified. Continuing further, he said he “welcomed the Committee’s work as long as it remains independent and objective and is not politicized.”
The visit will give the Red Cross the chance to talk directly to detainees about their treatment in the facility. It will also be able to request that Syrian authorities improve prison conditions and tell families about the fate of those detained.
While this news is promising, do not expect to learn exactly what the ICRC finds. It told the BBC that, as a general rule, it does not release details of its findings during prison inspections to the public because it thinks revealing that information might limit future access to the facilities.
For more information, please see:
SANA — President al-Assad Affirms to Head of ICRC the Importance of Direct Examination of Situation in Syria in Light of Media Distortion — 06 September 2011
BBC — International Red Cross visits Syrian prison — 05 September 2011
CNN — Red Cross granted access to Syrian detention facility — 05 September 2011
ICRC — Syria: ICRC president concludes visit by holding talks with Syrian president — 05 September 2011
New York Times — Syria Allows Red Cross Officials to Visit Prison — 05 September 2011
Al Bawaba — Amnesty: Huge increase of deaths in Syrian prisons — 31 August 2011
Amnesty International — Deadly Detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria — 31 August 2011
