Amnesty International has repeatedly documented a consistent pattern of systematic torture. Despite the fact that torture in Syria is a crime punishable by imprisonment under the Penal Code it remains widespread. Political detainees are commonly tortured or ill-treated during the initial period following arrest while held incommunicado.
Torture is used to extract information or confessions and as a form of punishment.
The imposition of the death penalty after an unfair trial is a recurrent feature of human rights violations in Syria, where the death penalty is maintained for a wide range of offenses. It appears that the death penalty has been imposed after secret and unfair trials in which defendants were not given the opportunity to exercise their right to have a public hearing, an adequate defense, or to appeal. However, prisoners convicted of crimes such as murder, rape, smuggling, and arson, are known to have been executed. In April 1993, the Syrian People's Council approved a new law which extends the use of the death penalty to first time drug offenders. Amnesty International is very concerned that the new law, combined with the apparent increase in the number of executions in 1993, and the lack of a fair trial, is a step backward.