Published : 12-05-2022
Palestinian refugee families expressed fear that their relatives would not be released in the recent amnesty issued by Syria’s President Bashar AlAssad, saying they have suspicions as to how sincere the Syrian regime could be.
Earlier this month, Syrian president Bashar AlAssad issued a decree giving a general amnesty to people convicted on terrorism charges before 30 April 2022. The amnesty excludes acts that have led to killings or kidnappings, and those against whom there are civil personal claims.
Thousands of Palestinians and Syrians have been jailed on terror charges for peaceful opposition to Assad’s government since the 2011 Arab Spring protests and subsequent war.
Thousands were discovered killed under torture when a defector leaked nearly 50,000 photographs in 2014, showing the bodies of some 7,000 detainees mutilated by torture.
Recently, the families of hundreds of Palestinian refugees secretly held in Syria’s state-run prisons have reported being blackmailed over their appeals for information about the condition and whereabouts of their missing relatives.
Over 1,700 Palestinian refugees are believed to be languishing in Syria’s prisons, many of them have spent nearly a decade in prison while scores of others died under torture behind prison bars.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights data, at least 132,000 civilians are currently imprisoned by the regime; the opposition says that the number reaches hundreds of thousands.
Palestinian refugee families expressed fear that their relatives would not be released in the recent amnesty issued by Syria’s President Bashar AlAssad, saying they have suspicions as to how sincere the Syrian regime could be.
Earlier this month, Syrian president Bashar AlAssad issued a decree giving a general amnesty to people convicted on terrorism charges before 30 April 2022. The amnesty excludes acts that have led to killings or kidnappings, and those against whom there are civil personal claims.
Thousands of Palestinians and Syrians have been jailed on terror charges for peaceful opposition to Assad’s government since the 2011 Arab Spring protests and subsequent war.
Thousands were discovered killed under torture when a defector leaked nearly 50,000 photographs in 2014, showing the bodies of some 7,000 detainees mutilated by torture.
Recently, the families of hundreds of Palestinian refugees secretly held in Syria’s state-run prisons have reported being blackmailed over their appeals for information about the condition and whereabouts of their missing relatives.
Over 1,700 Palestinian refugees are believed to be languishing in Syria’s prisons, many of them have spent nearly a decade in prison while scores of others died under torture behind prison bars.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights data, at least 132,000 civilians are currently imprisoned by the regime; the opposition says that the number reaches hundreds of thousands.
