•HRES 1398 IH 
‘‘government’s respect for human rights worsened, and it 
continued to commit serious abuses. There were signifi-
cant limitations on citizens’ right to change their govern-
ment. 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 pris-
oners and detainees. Security forces arbitrarily arrested 
and detained individuals, while lengthy pretrial and in-
communicado 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 sen-
tenced to prison several high-profile members of the 
human rights community. Violence and societal discrimi-
nation against women continued. The government dis-
criminated 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; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:05 Aug 02, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1398.IH
HR1398
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
•HRES 1398 IH 
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 inter-
national community to exert ‘‘continued effort and perse-
verance to compel the Syrian authorities to respect 
human rights and the international laws and treaties 
which it has ratified’’ and to release all political pris-
oners; 
Whereas on May 13, 2007, prominent political reformers 
Michel Kilo and Mahmoud Issa were charged with ‘‘weak-
ening 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 ex-
tension of human rights within Syria; 
Whereas on May 10, 2007, human rights activist Kamal al- 
Labwani was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on po-
litically motivated charges of damaging Syrian security 
for a trip he took abroad in 2005, sponsored by the De-
partment of State’s International Visitor Program, dur-
ing 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 lead-
ing human rights lawyer, with ‘‘spreading false news that 
weakened the Nation’’ and sentenced him to 5 years im-
prisonment 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 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:05 Aug 02, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1398.IH
HR1398
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
•HRES 1398 IH 
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 Secu-
rity 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 in-
volvement with a prodemocracy student group; 
Whereas economics professor Aref Dalila was arrested as 
part of the Government of Syria’s crackdown on civil so-
ciety in 2001 for his critiques of official corruption, and 
he continues to serve out a 10-year jail sentence in soli-
tary 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 vis-
iting 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 Leb-
anon in 2005; 
Whereas the key members of Syria’s largest opposition coali-
tion, 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, includ-
ing former Member of Parliament Riad Seif, Dr. Fidaa 
Al-Horani, Ahmad Tomei, Akram al-Bounni, Ali al- 
Abdallah, Yasser al-Eiti, Jabr al-Shoofi, Walid al-Bounni, 
Muhammad Hajji Darweesh, Marwan al-Ish, Fayiz 
Sarah, and Talal Abu Dan; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:05 Aug 02, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1398.IH
HR1398
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
•HRES 1398 IH 
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 phy-
sicians in Syria and the elected Chairwoman of the Da-
mascus 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 indi-
viduals 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 un-
disclosed 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 in-
timidated into self-censorship due to the harsh tactics of 
the Government of Syria; 
Whereas the Government of Syria has forced scores of polit-
ical, civil, and human rights activists to flee the country 
for fear for their lives and freedom, and continues to har-
ass and threaten the family members and friends of ac-
tivists, dissidents, and exiles; 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:05 Aug 02, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1398.IH
HR1398
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS
•HRES 1398 IH 
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, author-
izing the Government of Syria to conduct preventive ar-
rests and overriding constitutional and penal code provi-
sions against arbitrary arrest and detention, including 
the need to obtain warrants; 
Whereas Syrian authorities continue to hold in its jails na-
tionals 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 region-
ally-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 Kurdish- 
language publications, has arrested journalists who have 
written in favor of greater Kurdish rights, and has pro-
hibited 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 
VerDate Aug 31 2005 
02:05 Aug 02, 2008
Jkt 069200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6300
E:\BILLS\HR1398.IH
HR1398
erowe on PROD1PC71 with BILLS