Activists Launch a Campaign to Release Faten Rajab

A number of human rights activists have launched a campaign demanding the release of human rights activist Dr. Faten Rajab from Assad’s jails. The organizers of the campaign appealed to the international community and human rights organizations “to act immediately and vigorously for the release of Faten Rajab, whose imprisonment represents a flagrant violation of all human rights laws.” Faten Rajab, who holds a Masters degree in physics and atomics, has been detained in Assad’s jails since November 2011 at the Air Force Intelligence branch. The organizers of the campaign also call upon all human rights organizations and activists to demonstrate solidarity with Faten Rajab and also call for the abolition of court-martials and special courts. We emphasize the illegality of all exceptional courts, especially the field court-martials as they do not abide by any international or domestic legal procedures, nor do those who are referred to them have any rights to defend themselves or even hire a lawyer to defend them. Furthermore, the provisions of these courts may reach up to the death penalty and are not subject to any sorts of appeal. “The charges filed against Rajab by the Assad regime are still unclear,” her lawyer said to Amnesty International. “The detention of Rajab is tantamount to enforced disappearance, and she has been subjected to torture and ill-treatment,” he added. The Syrian Coalition has earlier held the Assad regime full responsibility for the fate Rajab and has called on all international human rights organizations to immediately intervene to uncover her fate and ensure her safety. The Syrian Coalition also calls on the international community to assume its responsibilities and to do everything possible to stop the Assad regime’s violations against Syrian women in its custody and in the besieged areas. It is worth noting that the UN Security Council Resolution No.2139, which was adopted on February 22, 2014, strongly condemned the arbitrary detention and torture of civilians in Syria, as well as kidnappings and enforced disappearances, and called for an immediate halt to these practices and the release of all persons detained arbitrarily. (Source: Syrian Coalition + All4Syria + Smart News)