WRITTEN QUESTION E-0979/99

by Anna Karamanou (PSE) to the Commission

(15 April 1999)

Subject: Lebanese, Palestinian and Jordanian political prisoners in Syria

According to the latest report from Amnesty International more than 250 political prisoners are currently being held in Syria, mainly Lebanese, Jordanians and Palestinians, and their fate appears to be unknown. Many of them have suffered arbitrary arrest and torture, while others have received long prison sentences after a secret summary trial before a military court. It might be pointed out that hundreds of Lebanese, Palestinians and Jordanians have "disappeared" in Syria since the end of the 1970s.

Given that the Syrian authorities have undertaken, through the Barcelona process, to guarantee peace and stability in the region, in what way will the Commission intervene with a view to ensuring effective protection for human rights in Syria in the context of negotiations on the EU-Syria association agreement?

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-0909/99 and E-0979/99 given by Mr Marín on behalf of the Commission

(6 May 1999)

According to a report of the Syrian human rights organisation Committee for the defence of democratic freedom and human rights in Syria (CDF), some 250 Lebanese citizens are still detained in Syria after the release of 121 Lebanese detainees from Syrian prisons in March 1999. To the Commission's knowledge, the Syrian government has not produced a public list with the names of the remaining Lebanese detainees held in Syrian prisons. According to recent information from Amnesty International (AI), as of December 1998 no substantive response has been forthcoming from the Syrian authorities to queries from AI submitted in March 1997 and October 1998 regarding the Lebanese detainees(1).

Since 1991 the Syrian government has released thousands of long-term political prisoners, including Lebanese citizens, most recently in March, May and June 1998. The Commission welcomes these releases but remains concerned over the remaining prisoners of conscience in Syria, including the Lebanese detainees.

The Syrian authorities are well aware of the importance that the Union attaches to the strict respect of international human rights law. The Union uses every opportunity, afforded by its regular contacts with the Syrian authorities, to express its concern over alleged cases of human rights abuses and the remaining prisoners of conscience in particular. The Union remains informed on the general conditions of human rights in Syria, including the question of Lebanese detainees, mainly through its heads of mission in Damascus.

Additionally, the common commitment to respect human rights and to develop the rule of law and democracy enshrined in the Barcelona Declaration of 1995 will be reflected in the new association agreement between the Community and Syria currently under negotiation. This agreement will provide an enhanced framework to discuss almost all areas of mutual interest, including human rights, between the two partners. Furthermore, individual Member States, parties to the International covenant on civil and political rights, do have a specific mandate to raise human rights issues with Syria which also is a party to that Covenant.

(1) Amnesty International, Syria Caught in a Regional Conflict: Lebanese, Palestinian and Jordanian Political Detainees in Syria, Report - MDE 24/01/99, 27 January 1999.