As part of the “Detainees First” campaign which began today in the French capital Paris, photos of 1,000 detainees out of hundreds of thousands of detainees currently in Assad’s prisons will be raised by Syrian and French activists at the Place de la Bastille in Paris. The campaign aims to draw attention to the plight of detainees.
A number of Syrians who survived death in the prisons of the Assad regime will take part in the activity.
The Syrian Coalition highly praised the efforts of the organizers of the campaign. In a press release issued on Friday, the Syrian Coalition emphasized that it supports any activity seeking to achieve the release of detainees Assad’s prisons.
Reports by rights groups earlier this year confirmed that the number of detainees in Syria exceeded 215,000, around 99% of whom are incarcerated by the Assad regime.
The Coalition called on the international community, especially the United States, international human rights organizations, civil society organizations, and those “with a sense of humanitarian responsibility” to stand united in the face of the perpetrators of crimes against humanity in Syria.
The Coalition highly commended “efforts made by Syrians youth to support the Syrian revolution and to organize campaigns to raise awareness about the issue of detainees.” The Coalition reiterated that “the file of detainees will always remain a top priority as nothing on the face of earth can make up for even one minute spent by a detainee in the prisons of the Assad regime.” (Source: Syrian Coalition)