Published : 18-04-2020
AGPS has documented the secret detention of 1,794 Palestinian refugees, including women and minors, in Syrian government lock-ups.
AGPS estimates the real number to be far higher due to the gag orders slapped by the Syrian government on the detainees’ names and fates, along with the families’ reluctance to report such cases over retaliation concerns.
AGPS also documented the death of 620 Palestinian refugees, including 37 women, under torture in Syrian government prisons since the outburst of the bloody warfare. 77 victims were identified through pictures leaked from Syrian state prisons.
Affidavits by ex-detainees provided evidence on the involvement of Syrian government officers in harsh torture tactics, including electric shocks, heavy beating using whips and iron sticks, and sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees, in a flagrant violation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, commonly known as the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT).
AGPS is also deeply concerned over an unabated outbreak of coronavirus in Syrian prisons, at a time when the deadly virus continues to claim the lives of thousands of people across the globe.
Though the Syrian government reported only dozens of coronavirus infections throughout the war-ravaged country, there are growing fears that a large outbreak in prisons could be particularly catastrophic.
AGPS fears coronavirus could spread quickly in jails and in overcrowded displacement camps, where neither hygiene kit nor medical equipment are accessible.
AGPS continues to urge the Syrian government to disclose the fate of scores of Palestinians held in its lock-ups, release the bodies of those tortured to death, to seriously work on halting harsh torture tactics, launch fact-finding probes into crimes of torture, and to bring those involved in such crimes before courts.
AGPS calls on the Syrian government to immediately release Palestinian detainees and provide those who tested positive for COVID-19 with the necessary medical treatment.
The Syrian authorities and all concerned parties should also take precautionary measures and enhance captivity conditions to rein in a tragic propagation of the virus in jail.
AGPS has documented the secret detention of 1,794 Palestinian refugees, including women and minors, in Syrian government lock-ups.
AGPS estimates the real number to be far higher due to the gag orders slapped by the Syrian government on the detainees’ names and fates, along with the families’ reluctance to report such cases over retaliation concerns.
AGPS also documented the death of 620 Palestinian refugees, including 37 women, under torture in Syrian government prisons since the outburst of the bloody warfare. 77 victims were identified through pictures leaked from Syrian state prisons.
Affidavits by ex-detainees provided evidence on the involvement of Syrian government officers in harsh torture tactics, including electric shocks, heavy beating using whips and iron sticks, and sexual abuse against Palestinian detainees, in a flagrant violation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, commonly known as the United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT).
AGPS is also deeply concerned over an unabated outbreak of coronavirus in Syrian prisons, at a time when the deadly virus continues to claim the lives of thousands of people across the globe.
Though the Syrian government reported only dozens of coronavirus infections throughout the war-ravaged country, there are growing fears that a large outbreak in prisons could be particularly catastrophic.
AGPS fears coronavirus could spread quickly in jails and in overcrowded displacement camps, where neither hygiene kit nor medical equipment are accessible.
AGPS continues to urge the Syrian government to disclose the fate of scores of Palestinians held in its lock-ups, release the bodies of those tortured to death, to seriously work on halting harsh torture tactics, launch fact-finding probes into crimes of torture, and to bring those involved in such crimes before courts.
AGPS calls on the Syrian government to immediately release Palestinian detainees and provide those who tested positive for COVID-19 with the necessary medical treatment.
The Syrian authorities and all concerned parties should also take precautionary measures and enhance captivity conditions to rein in a tragic propagation of the virus in jail.
