(New York, October 25) Human Rights Watch today called on President
Hafez al-Assad of Syria to release on humanitarian grounds a 37-
year-old human rights activist serving a ten year sentence in solitary
confinement in Damascus. In a letter released today, the international
monitoring group asked for the release of Nizar Nayouf and four others,
who were imprisoned in 1992 for membership in an independent human
rights network in Syria.
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| "Nizar Nayouf's medical situation appears to be critical and he should
not have to endure any more punishment. Syria is the only country in the Middle East and North Africa
where human rights activists are serving lengthy prison terms. They all
should be released."
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Hanny Megally
Executive Director of the Middle East and
North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch
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"Nizar Nayouf's medical situation appears to be critical and he should
not have to endure any more punishment," said Hanny Megally, executive
director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights
Watch. "Syria is the only country in the Middle East and North Africa
where human rights activists are serving lengthy prison terms. They all
should be released."
Since last year, reports have reached international organizations that
Nayouf is suffering from Hodgkin's disease, a potentially deadly form of
cancer. Syrian authorities deny that Nayouf has the disease, and will
not permit an independent medical delegation to visit him. Arab and
international rights groups have campaigned for over a year for Nayouf's
release because of his medical condition.
Human Rights Watch's letter was prompted by a recent report that
Nayouf's disease had returned after apparent remission earlier this
year, and that chemotherapy was now necessary to prolong his life.
In addition to Nayouf, four other activists --Bassam al-Shaykh, teacher
Muhamed Ali Habib, and law students Afif Muzhir and Thabet Murad -- are
serving sentences of eight and nine years imposed by the supreme state
security court following an unfair trial in 1992.
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