WASHINGTON - Human Rights Watch called Friday on Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to halt “blatant intimidation” of human rights workers after Damascus authorities arrested four activists in the past week. The New York-based group said that, in an escalating crackdown, Syrian security forces arrested human rights activist Ali Al Abdullah and one of his sons Thursday, after arresting another of his sons the week earlier.On Wednesday, Muhammad Najati Tayyara, the former vice president of the Human Rights Association in Syria, was detained and held 14 hours before being released. “President Bashar Al Assad should immediately free Ali Al Abdullah and his sons and order his security forces to halt this blatant intimidation of human rights activists,” Joe Stork, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
HRW said the most recent arrests were part of a pattern of ”increased harassment of human rights activists” in Syria.
| So occasionally HRW is useful. |