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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Kurd Parties Accuse Syria of Mass Arrests |
| 2004-04-11 |
| Syrian Kurds accused authorities yesterday of arbitrarily arresting hundreds from their community and torturing some of them to death since a bout of unrest died down last month. âThe campaign of arrests and raids is continuing in all the Kurdish areas as well as in Aleppo and Damascus,â Syrian Kurdish parties said in a joint statement. âThis campaign has in the past two days resulted in the arrest of hundreds of Kurdish citizens, including women and schoolchildren no more than 15 years old, all of whom were and remain subjected to savage torture.â Syrian officials were not immediately available for comment. About 30 people were killed in unprecedented clashes between Syrian Kurds and police in March after a soccer match brawl in the northern town of Kameshli escalated. Kurdish activists said on March 19 that authorities had freed 500 to 600 Kurds detained in the wave of unrest, but said there could be up to 2,000 more still in detention. The state, which has accused unspecified foreigners of stirring violence to shake Syriaâs security, has not released its own figures. The Syrian Kurdish parties said two Kurdish men, identified as Hussein Naaso and Ferhad Ali, had died this week as a result of torture in detention, while another man was in a coma. âWe condemn this racist policy against our people and urge authorities to cease the campaign of arbitrary arrests and free all of the detainees,â the statement said. Rights group Amnesty International this week |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Whoa! Fred laying down heavy Easter Eggs. Singh Ho! The Way of The Ham is Weird. Off to be slicing. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-11 1:23:57 PM |