IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1398 

Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continued gross 

violations of political, civil, and human rights of the Syrian people by 

the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, calling on the Government 

of Syria to immediately and unconditionally release prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 31, 2008 

Mr. ACKERMAN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the grave concern of Congress regarding the continued gross violations of political, civil, and human 

rights of the Syrian people by the Government of the 

Syrian Arab Republic, calling on the Government of 

Syria to immediately and unconditionally release prisoners of conscience and other political prisoners, and 

for other purposes. 

Whereas the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic systematically violates the most basic political, civil, and 

human rights of its citizens and persons within its jurisdiction; 

Whereas the Department of State’s Country Reports on 

Human Rights Practices for 2007 states that the Syrian 


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‘‘government’s respect for human rights worsened, and it 

continued to commit serious abuses. There were significant limitations on citizens’ right to change their government. In a climate of impunity, there were instances of 

arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life, and members of 

the security forces tortured and physically abused prisoners and detainees. Security forces arbitrarily arrested 

and detained individuals, while lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention remained serious problems’’; 

Whereas the Department of State’s Country Reports on 

Human Rights Practices for 2007 further states that, 

‘‘Beginning in 2005 and continuing throughout the year, 

the government increasingly violated citizens’ privacy 

rights and increased already significant restrictions on 

freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association, 

amidst an atmosphere of government corruption and lack 

of transparency. Security services disrupted meetings of 

human rights organizations and detained an increasing 

number of activists, organizers, and other regime critics’’; 

Whereas the Department of State’s Country Reports on 

Human Rights Practices for 2007 also states with regard 

to Syria that ‘‘throughout the year, the government sentenced to prison several high-profile members of the 

human rights community. Violence and societal discrimination against women continued. The government discriminated against minorities, particularly the Kurds, 

and severely restricted workers’ rights’’; 

Whereas in 2007, the Government of Syria held in custody 

between 1,500 and 3,000 political prisoners and refused 

to release information regarding numbers or names of 

people in detention on political or security-related 

charges; 


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Whereas on April 28, 2007, Syrian political prisoners Anwar 

al-Bunni, Aref Dalila, Mahmoud Issa, Michael Kilo, 

Kamal al-Labwani, and Faik al-Mir coauthored a letter 

from Damascus Central Prison calling on the international community to exert ‘‘continued effort and perseverance to compel the Syrian authorities to respect 

human rights and the international laws and treaties 

which it has ratified’’ and to release all political prisoners; 

Whereas on May 13, 2007, prominent political reformers 

Michel Kilo and Mahmoud Issa were charged with ‘‘weakening the national morale’’ and each was sentenced to 3 

years imprisonment for signing a petition calling for 

Syria to recognize Lebanon’s sovereignty and for the extension of human rights within Syria; 

Whereas on May 10, 2007, human rights activist Kamal alLabwani was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on politically motivated charges of damaging Syrian security 

for a trip he took abroad in 2005, sponsored by the Department of State’s International Visitor Program, during which he met with European and American officials, 

including staff of the House of Representatives; 

Whereas on April 24, 2007, the Damascus Criminal Court 

charged Anwar al-Bunni, widely regarded as Syria’s leading human rights lawyer, with ‘‘spreading false news that 

weakened the Nation’’ and sentenced him to 5 years imprisonment for his long-running civil rights advocacy and 

for signing the same petition as Michel Kilo and 

Mahmoud Issa; 

Whereas the Syrian authorities continue to restrict access to 

the Internet and punish bloggers, including Karim 


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Arbaji, who was arrested on June 7, 2007, and Tarek 

Bayasi, who was tried on February 18, 2008; 

Whereas on June 17, 2007, the Syrian Supreme State Security Court sentenced Husam Ali Mulhim, Omar Ali 

Abdullah, Ayham Saqr, Alam Fakhour, and Diab 

Sirieyeh to 5 years in prison, and Tarek Ghorani and 

Maher Ibrahim to 7 years in prison, because of their involvement with a prodemocracy student group; 

Whereas economics professor Aref Dalila was arrested as 

part of the Government of Syria’s crackdown on civil society in 2001 for his critiques of official corruption, and 

he continues to serve out a 10-year jail sentence in solitary confinement despite suffering from diabetes and 

heart disease; 

Whereas Faik al-Mir was detained and charged with treason 

for exercising his right to freedom of expression by visiting and offering his condolences to the family of a 

prominent Lebanese individual who was assassinated 

after calling for an end to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon in 2005; 

Whereas the key members of Syria’s largest opposition coalition, the Damascus Declaration for Democratic Change, 

remain in jail, having been arrested following successful 

internal elections on December 1, 2007, in defiance of 

strict security measures imposed on the members, including former Member of Parliament Riad Seif, Dr. Fidaa 

Al-Horani, Ahmad Tomei, Akram al-Bounni, Ali alAbdallah, Yasser al-Eiti, Jabr al-Shoofi, Walid al-Bounni, 

Muhammad Hajji Darweesh, Marwan al-Ish, Fayiz 

Sarah, and Talal Abu Dan; 


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Whereas former Member of Parliament Riad Seif, the elected 

Secretary General of the Damascus Declaration National 

Council, is known to suffer from prostate cancer and has 

been denied access to adequate medical treatment; 

Whereas Dr. Fidaa al-Horani, one of the leading female physicians in Syria and the elected Chairwoman of the Damascus Declaration National Council, is known to suffer 

from a heart condition and has been denied access to 

adequate medical treatment; 

Whereas political prisoners in Syria, which include these individuals and many others, are often subject to physical 

abuse, torture, or inhumane holding conditions; 

Whereas Government of Syria routinely arrests and detains 

political activists and holds them, without charge, at undisclosed locations, without any public report as to their 

whereabouts and health; 

Whereas the Government of Syria has inadequately complied 

with requests for access and fact-finding inquiries from 

United Nations special rapporteurs seeking to monitor 

the conditions of prisoners and human rights defenders 

in Syria; 

Whereas these high-profile political prisoners are indicative of 

a broad trend whereby independent political, civil, and 

human rights activists are systematically arrested or intimidated into self-censorship due to the harsh tactics of 

the Government of Syria; 

Whereas the Government of Syria has forced scores of political, civil, and human rights activists to flee the country 

for fear for their lives and freedom, and continues to harass and threaten the family members and friends of activists, dissidents, and exiles; 


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Whereas Syrian authorities frequently prevent independent 

political, civil, and human rights activists from leaving 

the country or subject them to onerous travel restrictions 

so as to prevent them from carrying out their activities 

abroad; 

Whereas the 1963 Emergency Law remains in effect, authorizing the Government of Syria to conduct preventive arrests and overriding constitutional and penal code provisions against arbitrary arrest and detention, including 

the need to obtain warrants; 

Whereas Syrian authorities continue to hold in its jails nationals from other countries, including individuals from 

Lebanon and Jordan, without charging them with a 

crime, access to legal counsel, or even acknowledging 

their existence; 

Whereas Syrian authorities have continued to harass regionally-based journalists who reported information critical of 

the state, including banning or hindering journalists from 

reentering the country and failing to respond to requests 

for accreditation; 

Whereas the Government of Syria has prohibited all Kurdishlanguage publications, has arrested journalists who have 

written in favor of greater Kurdish rights, and has prohibited the publication of books and other materials in 

Kurdish; 

Whereas on March 21, 2008, Syrian authorities opened fire 

on unarmed Kurdish civilians in the city of Qamishly who 

were celebrating the Kurdish holiday of Nowruz, killing 

3 young men and wounding 8 others; 

Whereas the Government of Syria continues to deny the right 

of citizenship to over 300,000 Kurds, which keeps them 


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from holding national ID cards, pursuing postsecondary 

education, seeking government jobs and contracts, and 

owning, inheriting, and bequeathing property; and 

Whereas the Baathist Syrian regime has consistently denied 

the people of Syria their most basic political, civil, and 

human rights, including freedom of thought and expression, freedom of association and assembly, freedom of 

movement, and the protection of their persons and property under the rule of law: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns and deplores— 

3 (A) the consistent pattern of gross viola4 tions of the most basic political, civil, and 

5 human rights of the Syrian people by the Gov6 ernment of the Syrian Arab Republic, including 

7 freedom of thought and expression, freedom of 

8 association and assembly, freedom of move9 ment, and the protection of persons and prop10 erty under the rule of law; and 

11 (B) the arbitrary arrest and unjust convic12 tion and imprisonment of prisoners of con13 science (among whom are Anwar al-Bunni, Aref 

14 Dalila, Mahmoud Issa, Michael Kilo, Kamal al15 Labwani, Faik al-Mir, Riad Seif, Dr. Fidaa al16 Horani, Ahmad Tomei, Akram al-Bounni, Ali 

17 al-Abdallah, Yasser al-Eiti, Jabr al-Shoofi, 

18 Walid al-Bounni, Muhammad Hajji Darweesh, 


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1 Marwan al-Ish, Fayiz Sarah, and Talal Abu 

2 Danand), calls for the immediate and uncondi3 tional release of all political prisoners, and calls 

4 for the dropping of all politically-motivated 

5 charges; 

6 (2) calls urgently for the Government of 

7 Syria— 

8 (A) to ensure that all torture and mistreat9 ment of prisoners cease immediately; 

10 (B) to allow political prisoners prompt and 

11 regular access to their lawyers, doctors, and 

12 families; 

13 (C) to allow impartial international mon14 itors unfettered access to these prisoners; 

15 (D) to lift the state of emergency that has 

16 been imposed for over 44 years; 

17 (E) to cease obstructing and denying 

18 human rights organizations, civil society asso19 ciations, and political parties the ability to orga20 nize and operate freely; 

21 (F) to allow individuals to exercise their 

22 fundamental political, civil, and human rights, 

23 and to engage in the full range of peaceful po24 litical and civil activities; and 


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1 (G) to cease from harassing the family 

2 members and friends of political, civil, and 

3 human rights activists and dissidents, and to 

4 allow for the safe return of exiled opposition 

5 members; 

6 (3) reminds the Government of Syria that on 

7 August 23, 1976, it acceded to the International 

8 Covenant of Civil and Political Rights and is obli9 gated to guarantee the civil and political rights of 

10 persons in its territory; 

11 (4) expresses its support for the people of Syria 

12 in their struggle for freedom, respect for their polit13 ical, civil and human rights, democratic self-govern14 ance, and the establishment of the rule of law; and 

15 (5) calls on the President and the Secretary of 

16 State to— 

17 (A) consider pursuing further actions at 

18 the United Nations to draw attention to the 

19 Government of Syria’s deplorable record on 

20 human rights and the plight of Syrian political 

21 prisoners and prisoners of conscience including, 

22 but not limited to, publicizing Syria’s non23 compliance with United Nations special 

24 rapporteurs, pursuing a resolution condemning 

25 Syria before the Social, Humanitarian, and CulVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:05 Aug 02, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1398.IH HR1398

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1 tural Committee of the United Nations General 

2 Assembly, or pursuing a resolution to establish 

3 a country-specific United Nations special 

4 rapporteur charged with monitoring the human 

5 rights situation in Syria; 

6 (B) make the legal status and humani7 tarian needs of Anwar al-Bunni, Aref Dalila, 

8 Mahmoud Issa, Michael Kilo, Kamal al9 Labwani, Faik al-Mir, Riad Seif, Dr. Fidaa al10 Horani, Ahmad Tomei, Akram al-Bounni, Ali 

11 al-Abdallah, Yasser al-Eiti, Jabr al-Shoofi, 

12 Walid al-Bounni, Muhammad Hajji Darweesh, 

13 Marwan al-Ish, Fayiz Sarah, Talal Abu 

14 Danand, and other political prisoners an ongo15 ing item of concern in bilateral relations with 

16 Syria, and call for their immediate release; 

17 (C) support, encourage, and reach out to 

18 dissidents, activists, and nonviolent democratic 

19 opposition in Syria and assist them in their ef20 forts to create a democratic Syria; and 

21 (D) make political, civil, and human rights, 

22 particularly the freedom of thought and expres23 sion, the freedom of assembly and association, 

24 the freedom of movement, and the protection of 


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1 persons and property under the rule of law a 

2 priority in bilateral relations with Syria. 

Æ 


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