CAIRO: As the violence in Syria continues, and arrests and deaths take place every day, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) has condemned the international community for not being more vocal against the Syrian regime. The Syrian authorities have detained journalists, activists and filmmakers and referred them to the Public Prosecution after being held for over 50 days of detention at the Political Security, says ANHRI. Among the detained are Rudi Othman, a journalist, Omar Al-Asaad, a journalist, Hanadi Zahlout, a writer and journalist, Shady Abou-Fakher, film producer, and the activists Assem Hemsho and Guevara Said. These detainees are charged with “inciting demonstrations and disobedience of the state in Damascus, contacting the protesters in the neighborhoods of Damascus to stir sectarian strife, organizing demonstrations and protests in the capital, founding an unlicensed organization entitled Committees of Damascus neighborhoods, and creating a page with the same title on the Internet, contacting satellite channels that conceal the truth of what is going on in Syria in a way that determents the reputation of the state and contacting a political organization and suspicious individuals abroad,” according to ANHRI Aside from the official detentions, people such as Mansour al-Atasy have disappeared since their arrest. Al-Atasy is an opposition activist and leader at the National Coordinating Committee for Democratic Change. He was arrested on October 1 and has not been heard from since. Assassination is apparently also a valid tactic used by the Syrian regime, according to ANHRI who made reference to the assassination of history professor Mohamed Al-Omar from the University of Aleppo. “The ongoing repressive practices pursued by Al-Assad's regime against the protesters and activists signal his desperate attempt to crush the revolution of the Syrian people by any means. Thus, he terrorizes his people by detention, prosecution, and assassination against their elites,” said ANHRI. ANHRI has said that the international reaction has not been enough. “What is the international community waiting for to take serious positions supporting the Syrian people in their uprising against a dictator that sheds their blood, assassinates or prosecute their elites, and gag those who call for freedom of opinion and expression?” added ANHRI. Human rights groups within Syria have estimated at least 5,000 innocent civilians have thus far been killed by security forces since the start of the Syrian uprising and many have gone missing altogether. BM
