(AINA) -- From one repressive regime to another, the current situation of ethnoreligious minoritiesin Syria depicts a faint picture of the appalling and austere treatment of Syrian detainees. Mr. Yacoub Hanna Shamoun, an Assyrian Christian from Syria has been detained without due process for over twenty years in Syria's horrendous AlSaydnaia prison. Hehas repeatedly been denied access to a legal representative and has been kept in isolation from his family, the legal system and human rights institutions.

The tragic story of Mr. Shamoun began in 1985 upon his return to his ancestral homeland from seeking employment in Lebabnon since 1972 with his family. Their return was sparked by a fallacious amnesty issued by Syria's late President Hafez AlAsad to all citizens who had failed to serve the required military term in late 1985, as was Mr. Yacoub's case. Mr. Yacoub and his brother Fawaz returned to Syria and surrendered themselves to the Conscription Department in Qamishly (a town located in the Syrian Jazeera, south of Nisibis, southeast Turkey) to serve the required military term as their national duty. To their surprise, the State Security Forces of the treacherous Baath government detained the two men on the night of July 1st 1985 and remanded them to the custody of the local prison where they had been tortured and beaten for a month.

The daunting story of the two long lost brothers did not end there. The two brothers were taken to a remote prison where they would remain for many years without any contact with the outside world or their terrified family in Qamishly. The family had presumed the two brothers dead, until 1996 when Fawaz, the younger brother born in 1966 in the Assyrian town of Qamishly, was released from prison and returned home. The anxious family was in disbelief, presuming their sons had been lost forever. However, a dark cloud loomed over the family regarding the unknown whereabouts of their eldest son, Yacoub born in Qamishly in 1963. It was not until 2001 when the Security Department informed the family of Yacoub's whereabouts, in the town of Saydnaya where he continues to be illicitly detained for over twenty years without due process or a release date in the near future.

The Syrian Arab Republic was amongst the first nations to ratify the United Nation's Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on April 21 st 1969 which affirms the following under Article 9:

1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention. No one shall be deprived of his liberty except on such grounds and in accordance with such procedure as are established by law;
2. Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him;
3. Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release. It shall not be the general rule that persons awaiting trial shall be detained in custody, but release may be subject to guarantees to appear for trial, at any other stage of the judicial proceedings, and, should occasion arise, for execution of the judgment;
4. Anyone who is deprived of his liberty by arrest or detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court, in order that court may decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention and order his release if the detention is not lawful;
5. Anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation¹.

Astoundingly, Syria also became a signatory to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment on August 19 th 2004 which states the following under Article 4:

1. Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture;
2. Each State Party shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature².

Accordingly, the treatment of the Shamoun brothers illustrates the grotesque reality of the dictatorial nature of the Baath regime and its treatment of ethnoreligious minorities such as Mr. Yacoub Shamoun and Fawaz Shamoun. The treatment Mr. Yacoub negates the rhetoric regarding the Syrian government's transparency, fairness, legitimacy and respect for both national and international legal instruments. The flagrant violations of Mr. Yacoub's indispensable human rights and dignity as outlined in a selection of international legal instruments that the Syrian government has ratified, only serves to confirm the repressive and inept nature of the government in implementing efficient, just and respectable standards of human rights for its citizens.

As such, the Council for Assyrian Research and Development (herein CARD) urges the Syrian authorities to take immediate action in the release of Mr. Yacoub Hanna Shamoun and to ensure his safety and security in the Syrian Arab Republic as an ethnoreligious and indigenous minority. This must be necessitated in accordance with various international legal instruments that serve to uphold the rule of law for the appropriate and impartial treatment of detainees. CARD also urges the government to take proactive measures in ensuring the implementation and application of appropriate and necessary legal mechanisms that would emulate a reasonable and efficient due process and judicial system to protect its citizens from the oppressive nature of the state. Being under increasing international scrutiny for its poor human rights trackrecord, the Syrian government can show its commitment to fairness and human rights by releasing Mr. Shamoun and giving him the right to a fair trial.

Council for Assyrian Research and Development

¹ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966. http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/a_ccpr.htm

² Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 1984. http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/h_cat39.htm