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"Time is of the essence. Nizar Nayouf shouldn't be in prison in the first place. He has been tortured, unfairly tried, and held in solitary confinement for many years. Now, in perhaps the ultimate injustice, he is being forced to choose between his principles and his health, and quite possibly his life. Such coercion is unacceptable. We are calling on diplomats in Damascus to insist that Nizar Nayouf immediately receive medical care without conditions attached. This man should not be allowed to die in prison."
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Hanny Megally Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch |
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Related Material World Report chapter on Syria HRW World Report 1998 |
"Time is of the essence," Megally added. "Nizar Nayouf shouldn't be in prison in the first place. He has been tortured, unfairly tried, and held in solitary confinement for many years. Now, in perhaps the ultimate injustice, he is being forced to choose between his principles and his health, and quite possibly his life. Such coercion is unacceptable. We are calling on diplomats in Damascus to insist that Nizar Nayouf immediately receive medical care without conditions attached. This man should not be allowed to die in prison."
Nayouf was arrested in January 1992, following a government crackdown on Syria's nascent human rights movement that began with the arrest of activists in December 1991. Authorities held Nayouf's wife and baby daughter hostage to induce him to turn himself in. He was tortured in detention, which has left him with permanent physical injuries. The Supreme State Security Court sentenced Nayouf to ten years in prison in March 1992, following an unfair trial. He has been held in solitary confinement under punishing conditions at Mezze military prison in Damascus.
Trained at the University of Damascus as a political economist, Nayouf was a founding member of the independent Committees for the Defense of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria. He has authored three volumes of poetry, including "A Pipe for Smoking Dreams," a collection of political poems. Since his imprisonment, he has received international human rights awards, including the prestigious Hellman/Hammett Grant and a Freedom-to-Write Award from PEN American Center.
A photograph of Nizar Nayouf is available here.
The full text of the letter to French ambassador Charles de Dancalis de Maurel d'Argon is attached. Similar letters were sent to ambassadors in Damascus from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
For additional information, contact:
In New York
Hanny Megally 212-216-1230
Virginia Sherry 212-216-1231
BY FACSIMILE
14 September 1998
His Excellency Charles de Dancalis de Maurel d'Argon
Ambassador
Embassy of France
Damascus, Syria
Dear Ambassador de Dancalis de Maurel d'Argon:
I am writing as an urgent matter to request that you raise with Syrian authorities at the highest levels the case of Nizar Nayouf, a thirty-six-year-old Syrian writer and human rights activist who is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence at Mezze military prison in Damascus. According to information made public last week by Reporters Sans Frontieres, Mr. Nayouf is suffering from Hodgkin's disease, but has been denied the medical treatment required to save his life until he agrees to refrain from political activity and admit that he made "false declarations concerning the situation of human rights in Syria." Human Rights Watch wrote to President Hafez al-Asad on September 11, appealing for the immediate investigation and remedy of Nizar Nayouf's situation. A copy of this letter is attached.
We have long campaigned for the release of Syrian prisoners, including Mr. Nayouf, who have been sentenced to long terms by the Supreme State Security Court solely because they exercised the right to freedom of expression and freedom association. We have documented and publicly criticized practices of the court which have not met international fair trial standards, such as the trial in 1992 that resulted in the lengthy imprisonment of Nizar Nayouf and other human rights activists affiliated with the independent Committees for the Defense of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria (CDF). As you are no doubt aware, the government effectively crushed this nascent network between December 1991 and March 1992.
Nizar Nayouf graduated from the University of Damascus in 1986 with a degree in political economy, and earned a master's degree in economic development from the same institution in 1987. He was a founding member of CDF and, according to many Syrians interviewed by Human Rights Watch, was a driving force behind the organization and a strong advocate that CDF maintain its independence from various unauthorized political parties. At the time of his arrest in 1992, he was working on his doctoral dissertation, "Capital Evolution and Dependent Production in Syria, 1838-1963." He also published three volumes of poetry, including "A Pipe for Smoking Dreams," a collection of political poems. In 1996, Human Rights Watch wrote to President Asad about Mr. Nayouf's prolonged solitary confinement in Mezze prison, and urged his transfer to a civilian prison. This letter, a copy of which is attached, went unanswered.
Nizar Nayouf should never have been imprisoned, and it is a tragedy that he is now forced to confront a life-threatening illness from behind the bars of a solitary cell in a military prison. Human Rights Watch appeals to you, and to other members of the diplomatic community in Damascus, to raise his case urgently with Syrian government officials and to press as vigorously as possible for the immediate provision of the necessary medical treatment and his release on humanitarian grounds. We also strongly recommend that your embassy request access to Mr. Nayouf, without delay. Such an initiative, we believe, would send an important signal of concern to Syrian authorities.
We trust that you will respond to our appeal and take the appropriate action at the earliest possible moment. Nizar Nayouf's situation appears to be quite grave, and time is of the essence. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this most serious matter, and please do not hesitate to contact us there is any additional information that you require.
Sincerely,
/s/
Hanny Megally
Executive Director
Middle East and North Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
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