Name: Abeer Wanas
Father’s name: Adel
Mother’s name: Rahima Maesa Modares
Date of incident: 18/6/2013
Sex: Female
Date of birth: 1977
On Tuesday, 18 June 2013, Syrian Security Forces’ patrol broke into human rights defender, and member of the Syrian Network for Human Right activist Abeer Wanas, without any formal charge and absent of prior-notifications.
Syrian Network for Human Rights has almost certain information that she is in political security branch in Aleppo.
SNHR daily documents more than 5 cases of civilians being tortured to death, including activists, where Syrian Security Forces do not distinguish between human rights activists, media activists, and fighters. Also, security forces do not take gender into account.
SNHR documented 26 cases where women were tortured to death. The last one was the media activist Marwa Hamdo Khalil, 21 years old – student in Sharia college – Aleppo governorate.
From this standpoint we are so afraid on the fate of human rights defender Abeer Wanas, where she might have been subjected to torture in order to reveal the SNHR members that she was dealing with. The other goal is to send threatening letters to SNHR through the arrest of its members or their relatives to stop not just their work, but collectively ours also.
The detainee of Syrian nationality hasn’t been mentioned by any Arab or International human rights hand, or made any action for his arrest.
The SNHR confirms the call for the immediate release of Abeer, and request that the necessary means to protect her life and ensure her physical and psychological safety while she is under arrest, and to increase pressure on the Syrian Government to stop daily ongoing human rights violation, and escalating attacks on human rights defenders.
We request the Syrian government to pay attention to fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organizations of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, as recognized internationally, in particular:
Article 5
For the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels:
(b) To form, join and participate in non-governmental organizations, associations or groups;
Article 12
2. The State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration.
