As many as 43 Syrian rights groups and civil organizations called on the Assad regime to immediately release political prisoners and stop further arrests in order to prevent the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the detention centers.
In a joint statement issued on Monday, the organizations called for urgent, concrete measures to force the Assad regime to give the relevant international authorities access to detention centers. They also called for taking the necessary measures to save the lives of detainees and ensure their release in accordance with the provisions of international human rights law and the relevant international resolutions.
The statement called on the UN Special Envoy and UN agencies to exert pressure the Assad regime to force it to release political prisoners in official and unofficial detention centers.
It also called on authorities responsible for detention centers to take precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the disease among prisoners.
The statement also urged the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization to assume their role in improving the health conditions in detention centers by visiting these centers to ascertain the conditions inside and prevent the spread of the disease. (Source: SOC’s Media Department)
