Set Syria’s Razan free

Razan Zaitouneh

With the Christmas and New Year holiday season just a week away, it is a time for families to be united. Not so, however, for the thousands of prisoners of conscience who have been languishing in Syria’s jails.

The latest are four Syrian activists abducted in the Damascus suburbs for their human rights and humanitarian work.

They must be released immediately and unconditionally, said a statement released last week by no less than 16 human rights organizations. The statement was carried by Reporters Without Borders.

Award-winning Syrian human rights defender and writer Razan Zaitouneh, her husband, Wa’el Hamada, and two colleagues, Nazem Hamadi and Samira Khalil, were abducted by unknown individuals on 9 December 2013.

They were snatched from a joint office for the Violations Documentation Center (VDC) and the Local Development and Small Projects Support (LDSPS) in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

Douma is part of Eastern Ghouta -- an area under the control of a number of armed opposition groups that is being besieged by Syrian government forces.

In a joint statement issued on 10 December 2013, the VDC and the LDSPS attributed Razan Zaitouneh’s abduction to her activities as a founding member of these organizations.

The VDC is an independent non-governmental organization that has been mainly documenting human rights abuses committed by the Syrian government in the context of the conflict.

The LDSPS provides humanitarian assistance, particularly to medical centers in areas like Eastern Ghouta.

Like many other human rights activists perceived by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government to be involved in pro-reform protests, Ms Zaitouneh was forced into hiding in 2011 after receiving threats from the Syrian authorities. In the last few months, she received threats from at least one armed opposition group in the Eastern Ghouta area.

The statement said civil society activists, writers, journalists and lawyers have borne a heavy price during the ongoing war in Syria, falling victim to unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention and torture and other ill-treatment at the hands of government security forces and, more recently, becoming targets for armed opposition groups that disapprove of their endeavors.

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Journalists as a Syria war casualty – 10 December 2013

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All parties to the conflict should adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law, which prohibits the abduction of civilians, hostage taking and torture, it concluded.

The co-signing organizations in alphabetical order are:

1. Alkarama Foundation

2. Amnesty International

3. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

4. Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network

5. Gulf Center for Human Rights

6. Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos)

7. Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR)

8. International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)

9. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) -- in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

10. International Media Support (IMS)

11. Lawyers for Lawyers

12. PEN International

13. Reporters Without Borders

14. SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom

15. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

16. World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) - in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

Human rights defender

Ms Zaitouneh was last November awarded the 2012 Ibn Rushd Award for Freedom of Thought by the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought.

The Ibn Rushd Fund has since 1998 been recognizing people who have sought to stimulate change with their thoughts and who have suffered the consequences of imprisonment and torture. It recognizes those who broke new ground for many others and who are fighting for freedom.

Ms Zaitouneh committed to the struggle for the rights of political prisoners in 2001 and co-founded a society for human rights in Syria. 

She has been reporting on the violation of human rights since 2005 on Syrian Human Rights Information Link, a database for human right violations committed by the Syrian regime.

The 36-year-old activist supports families of political prisoners.

In April 2011, she also co-founded the local coordinating committee of the revolution in Syria. 

Since the outbreak of the war in Syria in March 2011, Ms Zaitouneh was forced to go into hiding.

In May 2011, Air Force Intelligence broke into her house in Damascus. Many of her documents and personal belongings were seized.

Additionally, her brother-in-law, Aburrahman Hamada, who was just visiting, was taken hostage in exchange for the fugitive couple.  Air Force Intelligence then arrested Razan’s husband, Wa’el Hamada. The brothers spent three months in solitary confinement before they were released. 

Since 2004, Ms Zaitouneh has published dozens of articles and reports in the press and on the Internet about the human rights situation and the freedom of speech in Syria.

Ms Zaitouneh was recently the recipient of the 2013 International Women of Courage Award.

She received the European Parliament’s Anna Politkovskaya Prize for the defense of human rights and the 2011 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought -- together with renowned Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat.

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Ali Ferzat: Cartoonist for Freedom – 11 December 2011

Two Syrian roaming roses honored – 11 October 2012

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The Ibn Rushd Fund says Razan’s commitment to human rights and her non-violent opposition make her a true representative of a young generation that is prepared to risk personal freedom, security and even life for social change.

She is also representative of women in the Arab Spring, who -- especially in Syria -- are often at the forefront of the struggle for freedom and democracy but ignored by most Western media.

Will Ms Zaitouneh, her husband and colleagues be reunited with their families for the holiday season? My thoughts and prayers are with them and their families and the thousands of others who are still behind bars.

Two Syrian roaming roses honored

Clockwise: Razan Zaitouneh, Ibn Rushd, Samar Yazbek and her book

The international community has lately honored two Syrian women, one in hiding and the other in self-exile. Both prizewinners are shunned and persecuted by the regime in their native land.

Syrian lawyer and human rights activist Razan Zaitouneh was awarded the 2012 Ibn Rushd Award for Freedom of Thought by the Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought.

Syrian author Samar Yazbek is to share this year's Pen Pinter literary prize with Britain’s Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy.

The Ibn Rushd Award for Freedom of Thought will be presented to Razan at the Museum for Islamic Art in Germany on November 30.

The Ibn Rushd Fund has since 1998 been recognizing people who have sought to stimulate change with their thoughts and who have suffered the consequences of imprisonment and torture. It recognizes those who broke new ground for many others and who are fighting for freedom.

For the Fund this year, “it was essential to call explicitly for a young activist of the Arab Spring, who fights peacefully for a democratic state.”

Razan committed to the struggle for the rights of political prisoners in 2001 and co-founded a society for human rights in Syria. 

She has been reporting on the violation of human rights since 2005 on Syrian Human Rights Information Link, a database for human right violations committed by the Syrian regime. The 35-year-old activist supports families of political prisoners. In April 2011, she also co-founded the local coordinating committee of the revolution in Syria. 

According to the Ibn Rush Fund, “Syrians have been suffering under totalitarian rule, the negation of freedom and the smothering of even the smallest attempts to build a civil society for decades now. It is difficult to take a stand in the name of freedom if the absolute deprivation of freedom is merely the least grave of the personal consequences that may follow. And yet, young Syrian women and men have begun calling for reform publicly, and have been doing so for 18 months now.”

Razan Zaitouneh, forced to go into hiding

Since the outbreak of the revolution in Syria in March 2011, Razan was forced to go into hiding.

In May 2011, Air Force Intelligence broke into her house in Damascus. Many of her documents and personal belongings were seized. Additionally, her brother-in-law, Aburrahman Hammada, who was just visiting, was taken hostage in exchange for the fugitive couple.  Air Force Intelligence then arrested Razan’s husband, Wa’el Hammada. The brothers spent three months in solitary confinement before they were released. 

Since 2004, Razan has published dozens of articles and reports in the press and on the Internet about the human rights situation and the freedom of speech in Syria.

She received the European Parliament’s Anna Politkovskaya Prize for the defense of human rights and the 2011 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought -- together with renowned Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat.

Ali Ferzat: Cartoonist for Freedom – December 11, 2011

The Ibn Rushd Fund says Razan’s commitment to human rights and her non-violent opposition make her a true representative of a young generation that is prepared to risk personal freedom, security and even life for social change. She is also representative of women in the Arab Spring, who -- especially in Syria -- are often at the forefront of the struggle for freedom and democracy but ignored by most Western media.

An independent jury chose Razan from a sizable number of Arab nominees. The jurors included Taoufik Ben Brikof Tunisia. Aref Hijjawi of Palestine, Gisele Khoury of Lebanon, Miral al-Tahawy of Egypt/USA, and Samar Yazbek of Syria/France.

The Ibn Rushd Fund for Freedom of Thought was set up on December 10, 1998, in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of Ibn Rushd's (Averroes, 1126-1198) death, and on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Universal Human Rights. It is an independent organization registered in Germany. Its founding members are mainly of Arab origin living in Germany.

The annual prize is a citizens' award, which is exclusively financed by membership fees and donations. Its focus varies from year to year. It has so far covered literature and film, women's rights, the reform of Islam, Arab enlightenment, economics, blogger/Internet platforms and journalism.

Pen Pinter Prize winner Samar Yazbek

Juror Samar Yazbek is a prominent, self-exiled Syrian novelist and activist. And has been a vocal critic of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime

She is to share the Pen Pinter Prize with poet Carol Ann Duffy.

Samar is being recognized for her book, A Woman In The Crossfire. The book is based on diaries she kept during the early stages of the Syrian revolution. It details how her outspoken views against Assad's regime led to persecution and her decision to flee Syria with her young daughter.

Duffy, who became the first female Poet Laureate in 2009, was named the winner of the main prize in July.

The annual award -- in memory of the playwright Harold Pinter -- is given to a British writer of outstanding literary merit. The winner then chooses a recipient for the Writer Of Courage Award, which recognizes an international writer who has been persecuted for being outspoken in her or his beliefs.

Duffy was given a shortlist by the English Pen Writers At Risk Committee, and made her announcement at the British Library on October 8.

Samar said in response, "I am grateful to English Pen, and to Carol Ann Duffy, for selecting this book, and through it, for supporting our cause."

Lady Antonia Fraser, Harold Pinter's widow, added: "Carol Ann Duffy's recognition of Samar Yazbek's courage in writing about Syria's revolution from the inside could not come at a more appropriate time".

Born in 1970, Samar comes from the same Alawite denomination as the Syrian president

Prior to the uprising, she wrote extensively on women's issues in newspapers and journals, while challenging taboos in her novels.

Her second novel Salsal (Clay) cast a critical eye over the power of the military, while Cinnamon -- which is due to be published in the UK in November -- looks at the social divide in Syria through the prism of a servant who enters into a lesbian relationship with her employer.

When protests against the Syrian regime began in mid-March last year, Samar voiced her support online.

She received hate mail, her family disowned her and, eventually, she was arrested and shown the cells she would be kept in, if she continued to support the rebels.

After further intimidation, she fled to Paris in July 2011. A BBC article quotes an interview where she has said: "I return all the time, but in secrecy. Undercover."

Woman In The Crossfire tells the story of the first few months of the uprising, via her own story and testimony from ordinary Syrians. Filled with snapshots of exhilarating hope and horrifying atrocities, Samar’s book offers a wholly unique perspective on the Syrian uprising. Hers is a modest yet powerful testament to the strength and commitment of countless unnamed Syrians who have united to fight for their freedom.

In an interview with David Ignatius for the Washington Post last month, Samar revealed, “The constant talk of sectarian war ‘is only a game that the regime plays,’ to make the Alawites feel they will all be slaughtered unless they hang together around the regime and its thugs.”

Samar says the pro-regime thugs known as the shabiha are the enforcers of the sectarian mindset. Many of these young men are from Assad’s own tribe, she says. They have perpetrated some of the worst massacres in Sunnite villages, but they also intimidate Alawites who think of defecting from the regime.

Ignatius writes: “What moved me most about Yazbek was when she voiced her fear that secular revolutionaries like her -- who refuse to play the sectarian game -- are being swept aside in the darkening tempest that is Syria. She said the opposition must fight on three fronts -- against Assad, against the Salafist Sunnite extremists who want to capture the revolution and against the germ of sectarianism that is infecting Syria as the violence continues.

“When I go to Syria, I talk to the fighters about pardon and forgiveness,” she says, but she wonders how long this message can prevail. “There is a sentiment of hatred that the regime has succeeded in spreading through the country.” She understands that the United States fears the rise of the jihadists. But she says the longer America lets this fire burn, the more likely it is that the haters and killers will own the future.”

Ali Ferzat: Cartooning for freedom

Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat (photo by AFP)

The world tipped its hat twice this month in honor of Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat.

The first time was on December 8 at the Le Monde auditorium in Paris. The second was on December 14 at the European Union Parliament in Strasbourg.

In Paris, Reporters Without Borders and Le Monde, with the support of TV5MONDE, awarded Ferzat the 2011 Press Freedom Prize, naming him the 2011 Journalist of the year. The 2011 Media of the Year prize went to the Burmese publication, Weekly Eleven News.

The second was on December 14, when at a formal sitting in Strasbourg the European Union Parliament conferred the 2011 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Ferzat and four other Arab Spring activists – two men and two women.

The two men are Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia, whose death in January helped spark the Arab Spring, and Libyan dissident Ahmed al-Zubair Ahmed al-Senussi who spent 31 years in prison for opposing the Gaddafi regime.

The two women are Egypt's Asma Mahfouz, a founder of the April 6 Youth Movement, and Razan Zeitouneh, a lawyer, writer and human rights activist who documented human rights abuses on her website “Syrian Human Rights Information Link.”

Pen and paper have been Ali Ferzat’s armory since his teens. A political satirist and head of the Arab Cartoonists' Association, his works have been published in countless Syrian, Arab and international publications. His more than 15,000 comic strips have been reviling injustice, repression, despotism, violence, and corruption for decades. Arab governments, including in his native country, repeatedly banned his creations, which are typically without captions. But Ferzat never stopped censuring the abuse of power or championing freedom and democracy in Arab countries and at home. So when the Arab Spring reached Syria last March, he quickly put his shoulder to its wheel.

Ferzat after his August 25 beating

Five months into the Arab Spring in Syria, masked men seized Ferzat in Umayyad Square in Old Damascus while he was heading home in the early hours of August 25. The “spooks” beat him up badly, breaking two of his left fingers and maiming his right arm and one of his eyes. They then bundled him out of their van by the side of the airport road and drove off with his attaché case.

The attack came days after Ferzat published a cartoon depicting Bashar Assad thumbing a ride with Moammar Gaddafi, who is shown driving a getaway car.

When working as a journalist alongside two renowned Arab cartoonists -- the late Imad Shehadeh and the late Mahmoud Kahil – I realized that, much as a picture, a cartoon is worth a thousand words.

To me, breaking a cartoonist’s fingers or hand is like smashing a runner’s legs or impairing a surgeon’s vision.

The 60-year-old Syrian cartoonist rose to prominence in the 1980s with his satirical yet nondescript images of bureaucrats, bullies and Big Brother. His first professional drawings appeared, when he was 14, on the front pages of al-Ayyam newspaper, shortly before the ruling Baath Party banned it. In 1969, he started drawing comic strips for the state-run daily al-Thawra. In the mid-1970s he moved to another government-controlled newspaper, Tishreen.

International recognition followed in 1980, when Ferzat won the first prize at the Intergraphic International Festival in Berlin and his caricatures started featuring in France’s prestigious Le Monde. His 1989 exhibition at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris set off a death threat from Saddam Hussein.

Ferzat launched his own satirical newspaper – al-Domari or the Lamplighter – in 2000. Styled like the French weekly Le Canard Enchaîné, it was the first independent publication in Syria since the Baath Party takeover in 1963. The 50,000 copies of the first print run of its first edition in February 2001 sold out in less than four hours. By 2003, however, frequent government restrictions, censorship and lack of funds forced Ferzat to close down al-Domari.

Presenting the 2011 Journalist of the Year award in absentia to Ferzat at the Le Monde auditorium in Paris on December 8, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said:

“This year we are honoring a courageous journalist who has been the victim of brutal repression by an obsolete government. Ali Ferzat fully deserves this award. His cartoons target the abuses of a desperate regime with its back to the wall and encourage Syrians to demand their rights and to express themselves freely.”

“I would have liked to have been with you this evening to take part in this beautiful event,” Ferzat said in a letter read out by the French cartoonist Plantu. “I dedicate this award to the martyrs, to those who have been injured and to those who struggle for freedom. May thanks be given to all those who have turned the Arab Spring into a victory over darkness and repression… I salute all those who take to the streets, everywhere in the world, searching for freedom, democracy and dignity.”

The European Parliament in turn honored the five Arab Spring recipients of its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought at an award ceremony held in Strasburg six days later, on December 14.

The Sakharov Prize is named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. The European Parliament established it in December 1988 to honor individuals or organizations committed to the defense of human rights and freedom of thought. Past winners include South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, and former UN chief Kofi Annan.

Speaker Jerzy Buzek told lawmakers, “2011 will go down in history as the year of the Arab Spring. The European Parliament recognizes the efforts of all those who struggle for dignity, basic freedoms and political change in the Arab world.”

Ferzat thanked the EU parliamentarians for his Sakharov Prize through a video message, saying he felt “extremely bitter and very sad” about the mounting death toll in Syria. “People are demonstrating in the streets at the moment. They don’t fear death... They are telling us liberty is beyond price.”

Syrian lawyer and blogger Razan Zeitouneh was also honored, but could not attend the award ceremony because she had gone into hiding after being accused by the regime of being a foreign agent.

“It is not possible to stop the march of this people to freedom and dignity,” Zeitouneh wrote in a letter to the EU lawmakers, dedicating the prize to “Little Ghiyath,” the newborn son of an activist who was killed by Syrian security forces in September.

You can view the jam-packed archive of Ferzat’s cartoons on his website.