| Comes as a surprise, huh? |
 The past year has been the worst for human rights in Syria since Bashar Al Assad became president, despite international pressure on Damascus to stop abuses, a leading Syrian rights activist said yesterday. Lawyer Anwar Al Bunni said that while there were some cosmetic improvements, such as the release of some political prisoners and less vocal criticism of political opposition, the fact laws remained unchanged made real progress impossible. "If you really look at the attacks that happened on human rights issues in 2004 you can see that this year has been the worst in five years," Bunni said in an interview.
| "It doesn't compare to a couple decades ago when whole cities were leveled, but still it's serious," he reflected. |
Hundreds of minority Kurds were arrested after ethnic riots this year. Rights groups and Kurdish parties say scores are still in detention and many have been tortured. Around 100 others were detained in protests calling for the end of emergency laws, but were later released. "The only positive thing is that the issue is now in the public domain, because of the pressure Syria is under from European countries and more significantly, the United States over its human rights record. "(But) there is no real change in the laws that govern the country. The security apparatus still has the power to charge people with things like harming the (ruling Baath party's) revolutionary goals or harming the state's reputation. "State emergency laws are still active and the extraordinary laws as well." |