Assad reacts to international pressure by cracking down on press and opponents
The national organisation for the defence of fundamental human rights accused the regime of "using all manner of illicit means to remain in power"; the national centre for the defence and protection of press and journalists' freedom denounced "continued aggression by the government".
Damascus (AsiaNews) Faced with international pressure, the government of Bachar El Assad has reacted by tightening the reins on press freedom, already practically non-existent, and by campaigns against activists of human rights organisations. Yesterday, Fateh Jamous was arrested, the head of the Communist movement, and charged with collaborating with enemies of the regime, because on a recent visit to France, Great Britain and Scandinavian countries, he had meetings of a political nature with activists who are against the Baath party regime.
Ammar Korba is director of the national organisation for the protection of fundamental human rights. Speaking to AsiaNews, he accused the regime of "using all manner of illicit means to remain in power in the country, which is now experiencing tragic times because of a mistaken policy that is destroying it and its history." According to him, the arrest of Fateh Jamous is part of a campaign aimed at trampling over anyone who was free. But Syrians should continue to believe "in the effectiveness of the noble principles that built and edified the history of Syria." The free world should help the Syrian people to emerge from the state of emergency that has ruled for more than 30 years.
Also yesterday, in a statement issued in Damascus, Anwar El Bannah, head of the national centre for the defence and protection of press and journalists' freedom, expressed his "fear in the face of continued aggression by the Syrian government against the press, which is passing through dark times". He launched an appeal to leaders and to all lovers of freedom on behalf of three Syrian journalists who have been in custody for a long time: Massoud Hamid, Ali Abdallah, Mouhamed Ghanem. The statement renewed the appeal to the Syrian government to stop all physical and moral pressure against freedom of thought, and denounced all threats facing the press. There was also a call to stop controlling internet lines. Freedom of thought, continued Bannah, was the "only sure way to fight corruption, the cause of the country's decline." The statement also urged leaders to read carefully a document published by the Organisation of Islamic Conferences in Saudi Arabia, which denounced all aggression against freedom of thought and the press and "considers countries that do not respect fundamental human rights as enemies of development and social harmony."
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