II. Methodology

Sources of current information on the SSSC are very limited.  The SSSC does not publish any of its proceedings or judgments. Access to another potentially important source of information, the defendants themselves, is also severely restricted because most defendants tried by the SSSC in the last three years are still in detention, with the vast majority of them in Sednaya prison, a military-run jail, where visits are strictly controlled.

To counter this lack of information, Human Rights Watch relied on five main sources of information:

• Observation notes prepared by foreign diplomats attending the SSSC: The diplomats provided Human Rights Watch with notes covering 27 court sessions they attended from July 2007 to June 2008.  The observation notes usually provide basic information on the defendant, the charges against him, the evidence raised in court, whether the defendant alleged being tortured, the sentence, and other limited observations by the diplomats about the proceedings.
• Statements issued by Syrian lawyers and organizations: A number of Syrian human rights groups, in particular the Syrian Human Rights Organization-Swasiah and the National Organization for Human Rights, issue almost-weekly statements on SSSC trials. These statements are usually based on information obtained from lawyers representing the defendants. Human Rights Watch reviewed all statements issued by the Syrian groups for 2007-2008 and used the information in these statements to prepare Annex I, which lists all of the defendants known to have appeared before the SSSC between January 2007 and June 2008.
• Interviews with diplomats, human rights activists and lawyers representing defendants: Human Rights Watch interviewed six Western diplomats who attended sessions before the SSSC, four defense lawyers who regularly represent defendants before the SSSC, and five Syrian human rights activists who met with defendants who had appeared before the SSSC and had information on the treatment of detainees. We conducted six of these interviews in person outside of Syria, and the rest over the phone or by e-mail.
• Interviews with individuals tried by the SSSC: We conducted interviews with five defendants whom the SSSC tried between 2004 and 2005 but who had finished serving their sentence. Four of these defendants left Syria following their release; we conducted interviews with them over the phone. The fifth defendant answered our questions via e-mail.
• Indictments used before the SSSC: a Syrian human rights activist provided Human Rights Watch with copies of three indictments of cases before the SSSC. These indictments proved helpful in understanding the type of evidence relied on by the SSSC.

Human Rights Watch also reviewed previously published studies on the SSSC, as well as any comments or decisions on the SSSC by UN institutions such as the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.[6]

Most persons interviewed for this report asked Human Rights Watch not to reveal their names out of fear that Syrian authorities would harass them or their families, or in the case of diplomats, cause a backlash against their presence in court.  In such cases, Human Rights Watch has not used names but descriptive terms to explain the source (for example, “western diplomat,” “Kurdish activist,” etc.) and initials (for instance, “J.K.”) that do not correspond to the interviewees' real names.

Despite Human Rights Watch’s best efforts, we were unable to interview Syrian authorities for this report, nor are we able to reflect the Syrian government’s views, as they have failed to reply to our requests for information or interviews.  Syrian authorities have denied our requests to visit Syria and meet with Syrian officials. We sent a letter to the Syrian ambassador to the United States on January 9, 2009 outlining the findings of our report and asking for comments. To date, Human Rights Watch has received no response.