Posted
April 8th, 2010
by
English PEN is seriously concerned by the arrest of writer Raghdah Sa’id Hassan on 10 February 2010, after writing her first novel. Since then, she has been held incommunicado at the Political Security Branch in Tartus. The novel The New Prophets is said to discuss the political situation in the country in the 1990′s through a love story involving two Syrian prisoners.
English PEN fears that Hassan may be held solely for her writings and therefore in denial of her right to freedom of expression, and seeks information on the reasons for her arrest and any charges against her. We are also seeking urgent guarantees of her well-being, and urging the Syrian authorities to abide by their obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
The following background is given by Amnesty International:
Raghdah Sa’id Hassan, a 38-year-old female Syrian writer, has been held incommunicado since she was arrested on 10 February. She may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression. She is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Raghdah Hassan was arrested on the Syrian side of the Al ‘Arida border crossing with Lebanon, while she was travelling by car to Lebanon. According to sources from Syria, Raghdah Hassan is now being kept at the Political Security branch in Tartus, a city on Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
On 13 February, Raghdah Hassan’s flat was ransacked when nobody was there, apparently by the security forces. There were no signs of a break-in. A paper print-out of Raghdah Hassan’s unpublished first and only novel, The New Prophets, was confiscated, as were several publications by various Syrian opposition political parties.
The Syrian authorities have not revealed the reasons behind Raghdah Hassan’s arrest or any charges brought against her. Amnesty International believes that her arrest may be related to her intention to publish her novel, which describes political conditions in Syria in the 1990s, as well as to suspicions that she is active in an opposition party.
Raghdah Hassan was questioned by Political Security on several occasions during the last three months of 2009. She was summoned to their branch in Tartus twice and they visited her twice, once in her flat and once in her clothes shop. They demanded she sign a statement that she would not publish the novel, but she refused to do so.
Raghdah Hassan suffers from recurrent attacks of a renal colic resulting from kidney stones. The condition causes her great pain, which requires regular intake of daily and specific antibiotics together with strong painkillers.
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
Please send appeals:
• Expressing serious concern about the incommunicado detention of Raghdah Sa’id Hassan, and seeking information on the reasons for her arrest and the charges against her;
• Expressing concern for her welfare, and seeking assurances that she is not being tortured or ill-treated in detention;
• Expressing concern that she may be being held in violation of her right to free expression and urging the Syrian authorities to abide by their obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Send appeals to:
President
Bashar al-Assad
Presidential Palace
al-Rashid Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: 963 11 332 3410
Minister of Interior
Major Sa’id Mohamed Samour
Ministry of Interior
‘Abd al-Rahman Shahbandar Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: 963 11 222 3428
And copies to:
Minister of Foreign Affairs
His Excellency Walid al-Mua’llim
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Abu Rummaneh
al-Rashid Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: 963 11 332 7620
Please also send copies of your appeal letters to the diplomatic representative for Syria in your country if possible:
His Excellency Dr Sami Khiyami
Syrian Embassy
8 Belgrave Square
London
SW1X 8PH
Fax: 020 7235 4621
Online form: http://www.syremb.com/
Originally posted with the url: www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/syrianovelistarrestedfearsofill-treatment/
