To the People of Syria:
We were profoundly saddened to
learn of the tragic death of Ghiyath Mattar, a 26-year old non-violent activist
who inspired his fellow Syrians in their struggle against the cruel repression
of the Assad government. We send our deepest condolences to you and to Mattar’s
friends and family, in particular to his widow, who is expecting a
child.
Mattar was murdered after being
arrested on September 6, and when his body was returned to his family on
September 10 it showed massive bruising and other signs of horrible torture.
According to Amnesty
International, this brings the total number of reported deaths in detention
in Syria since April to more than 90, and heightens concern for four other
activists from the Damascus suburb of Daraya who were detained at the same time
as Mattar and who are at grave risk: Yahya Shurbaji and his brother Ma’an
Shurbaji, Mohamed Tayseer Khoulani and Mazen Zyadeh. All four have been held
incommunicado at an unknown location since their arrest.
We want you to know that you are
not alone. People around the world have been moved by your determined fight for
justice and elementary democratic rights, by your refusal to end your protests
despite the brutal violence rained upon you and the arrests of thousands of
protesters. As peace activists in the United States, we are writing to express
our solidarity with your inspiring struggle. We do not support military
intervention in Syria by our government or NATO because we know too well the
history of such interventions, made in the name of democracy but actually
bolstering Western power rather than popular movements for freedom
We wish you success in your
courageous resistance to tyranny. Below is the letter of protest we have faxed
to President Assad and Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu’allim.
In peace and solidarity,
Joanne Landy Thomas
Harrison
Joanne Landy and Thomas Harrison
Co-Directors
Campaign for Peace and Democracy
New York, NY, USA
OPEN
LETTER TO THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT IN PROTEST
AGAINST
THE DEATH OF NON-VIOLENT ACTIVIST GHAYATH MATTAR AND BRUTAL REPRESSION OF SYRIAN
DEMOCRATIC ACTIVISTS
President Bashar al-Assad
Presidential Palace
al-Rashid Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11 332 3410
Minister of Foreign Affairs Walid
al-Mu’allim
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
al-Rashid Street
Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic
Fax: +963 11 214 6251
Dear President Bashar al-Assad and Minister
of Foreign Affairs Walid
al-Mu’allim,
We are peace activists from the
United States, and we write to express our horror and outrage at the reported
death in custody of the non-violent activist Ghayath Mattar. We call for an
immediate independent investigation of the cause and circumstances of his death
and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
We protest the continuing detention
of Yahya Shurbaji, Ma’an Shurbaji, Mazen Zyadeh and Mohamed Tayseer Khoulani and
urge your government to immediately disclose their whereabouts in detention,
allow them immediate access to their families, lawyers and any medical care they
need, and to protect them against possible torture or other ill-treatment. These
prisoners should be released from custody.
Beyond these particular cases, we
call for an immediate end to the mass arrests, the release of all of those
detained for exercising their basic democratic right to protest, and the
violence and killings your government has inflicted on Syrians fighting for
their elementary freedoms.
Sincerely,
Joanne Landy Thomas
Harrison
Joanne Landy and Thomas Harrison
Co-Directors
Campaign for Peace and Democracy
New York,
NY, USA
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