His Excellency Bashar al-Assad
President of Syria
Damascus
Arab Republic of Syria
Vienna, 2 May 2002
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, strongly condemns the ongoing campaign of harassment and violence against the family of Syrian journalist Nizar Nayyouf. Refusing to publicly condemn Nizar’s reports as lies, the family has suffered greatly at the hands of the Syrian authorities. Most recently this includes the issuing of a fatwa permitting Alawate sect members to commit criminal and violent acts against both Nizar and the Nayyouf family. In addition, IPI is deeply concerned by the refusal of the Syrian authorities to renew the Press credentials of the Agence France Presse (AFP) foreign correspondent Maher Chmaytelli.
Since their refusal to condemn Nizar’s critical reports, the Nayyouf family faces daily violence, harassment and possible exile. The family members have been unable to attend university, have lost their jobs and have been brutally attacked on the streets by the authorities. Unable to contact the outside world and out of fear of further attacks, the family lives under de facto house arrest in near perfect isolation. Despite this, the family, in a desperate act to gain international support, conducted a hunger strike in December 2001.
The Nayyouf family’s struggle dates back to Nizar’s 1992 arrest and subsequent ten year prison sentence for being a member of the banned Independent Committee for the Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria and for reporting on human rights violations during the 1991 presidential elections. While in jail, Nayyouf was tortured and beaten so severely that he was partially paralysed from the waist down and nearly blinded. The most recent fatwa against Nizar and his family comes at a time when the journalist is abroad receiving medical treatment necessitated by nine years of torture.
On 20 November, in a show of solidarity and concern for the Nayyouf family, IPI and 17 other human rights organisations signed an appeal urging Your Excellency to bring to an end the grossly unfair treatment of the Nayyouf family. However, the recent fatwa issued against Nizar and the Nayyouf family leads IPI to doubt whether human rights are being taken seriously within Syria at all.
As further evidence of a deterioration of Syrian press freedom, Maher Chmaytelli, a French passport holder of Lebanese origin, was denied re-accreditation by the Syrian authorities. According to the information before IPI, Maher was accredited in October 2000 to work in Syria where he was the only resident foreign media correspondent. Despite having worked in compliance with AFP rules and having never violated Syrian publication law, the authorities advised Maher in March that his accreditation would not be renewed. Media sources report that Maher had been accused of reporting outside the standard government line, and thereby
of working against Syrian interests. A statement issued by the French Foreign Ministry reported, “This measure is a negative signal about respect for the freedom of the press in Syria.”
We urge Your Excellency to do everything in your power to address these violations of press freedom and to halt the campaign of cowardice against Nizar and the Nayyouf family. The recent fatwa issued against them, like the violence of the past, stands in clear opposition to the policies of political reform you established at the beginning of your presidency.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
