International News
Assad does not deliver on promises of freedom: HRW
Posted on: Sat July 17, 2010
International Highlights
NEW YORK: During a decade in power, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has not delivered on promises of greater freedoms or rights for his people, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
Assad has not delivered on his promises to increase public freedoms and improve his government s human rights record during a decade in power, HRW said in a report on the eve of the anniversary of his accession.
Whether President al-Assad wanted to be a reformer but was hampered by an entrenched old guard or has been just another Arab ruler unwilling to listen to criticism, the outcome for Syria s people is the same: no freedom, no rights, HRW s Sarah Leah Whitson said in a statement.
The report noted that in his July 17, 2000, inaugural speech, Assad had spoken of the need for creative thinking, transparency and democracy. However, the period of tolerance that followed al-Assad s ascent to power was short-lived, and Syria s prisons quickly filled again with political prisoners, journalists and human rights activists, the report said.
Syria s security agencies, the feared mukhabarat, detain people without arrest warrants and torture with complete impunity, said the report, entitled A Wasted Decade: Human Rights in Syria during Bashar al-Assad s First Ten Years in Power.
Courtesy : The News