Syria: Syria: “Their freedom is their right” campaign announces Razan Zaitouneh as the prisoner of the month in February
“Their freedom is their right” (“#حريتهم_حقهم”) is a campaign for defending the rights of prisoners of conscience launched by Maharat Foundation and the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) initiated on 04 May 2014. The campaign was also joined by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), in addition to the members of the Arab Group in the IFEX network, who nominated Syrian human rights defender Razan Zaitouneh to be the campaign’s prisoner of the month during February 2016. See: http://bit.ly/1NZAv74
Razan Zaitouneh was born in 1977. She has been one of the most prominent lawyers and human rights activists defending political prisoners in Syria since 2001. She has played a key role in efforts to defend human rights for all people and protect independent groups and Syrian activists. Along with a number of other activists, Zaitouneh established the Violations Documentation Center (VDC) in Syria, and co-founded in April 2011 the Local Coordination Committees (LCCs), which co-ordinate the work of local committees in various cities and towns across Syria. She also established the Local Development and Small Projects Support Office, which assists non-governmental organizations in Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus.
At the beginning of the Syrian uprising, Zaitouneh was forced into hiding owing to her media activism, so as to convey the truth about what was happening on the ground to the various media outlets, especially the violations (detention, torture, killing, and harassment) committed against citizens.
Zaitouneh’s home in Damascus was raided in May 2011 by the Air Force Intelligence, which searched the house and confiscated many of her papers and personal belongings. The Air Force Intelligence then detained Razan’s brother-in-law together with her husband, activist Wa’el Hamada, who both had been held incommunicado for three months before being released.
She has published dozens of articles and reports in various websites and newspapers about the rights and freedom of opinion and expression in Syria since 2004. She won the Anna Politkovskaya Award for human rights defenders, and also received the Sakharov Prize awarded by the European Parliament, together with the prominent Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat.
A few months before her abduction, Zaitouneh wrote about the threats she had been receiving and reported to human rights activists outside Syria that the threats are from the local armed groups in Duma.
On the morning of 09 December 2013, a group of armed men (presumed to be connected to the Army of Islam (Jaysh al-Islam) headed by Zahran Alloush) broke into the VDC office in Douma city, kidnapped Zaitouneh alongside her team of activists Samira Khalil, Nazem Hamadi and her husband Wa’el Hamada, and took them to an unknown destination. See: https://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/1140
What you can do:
- Write to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders to the United Nations : urgent-action@ohchr.org
- Publish a picture of the activist Razan Zaitouneh and information about her on your Facebook and/or Twitter account using the hashtag: #حريتهم_حقهم.
- Send to your local newspapers in your country and your city information about Razan Zaitouneh demanding disclosure of its destiny, and call for her abductors to release her.
- Saudi Arabia is one of the supporters for Armed Groups in Douma city. Therefore, tag the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, through his account on social media channels such as Twitter "@KingSalman" demanding him to release of Razan Zaitouneh.
About "Their freedom is their right" campaign:
The "Their freedom is their right" campaign was launched on 04 May 2015 to mark World Press Freedom Day (3 May). (See gohod.net) It is designed to highlight the cases of Arab prisoners of conscience and those behind bars for expressing their freedom of opinion in a peaceful way, through writing articles, commenting on Facebook, publishing photos, participating in a peaceful demonstration, lifting a banner, tweeting on Twitter, contributing though a work of art or speaking in a meeting.
The campaign highlights an Arab prisoner of conscience on a monthly basis, in order to support his or her right to freedom as a fundamental requirement for all prisoners of conscience. The campaign also demands the protection of prisoners of conscience from torture, supports the right to a fair trial, calls for improved prison conditions and protection from abuse, and asks those responsible to ensure prisoners receive the needed treatment. The right of every Arab citizen to freedom of expression is a right and not a gift, whether we agree or not. The words don’t go to court. The opinion is not punishable by law. So, the affiliated organizations to this campaign see that the duty of everyone is to participate in defending these rights.
The Egyptian student Mahmoud Mohammed Ahmed, the Saudi rights activist Waleed Abu Al-Khair, Kuwaiti journalist Ayad Al-Harbi, Qatari poet Mohammed Al-Ajami, Omani poet and blogger Muawiya Rawahi, Mauritanian lawyer Biram Dah Abeid, Bahraini human rights activist Abduljalil Al-Singace, Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayyad, and Bahraini human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja are the prisoners of the campaign for the past nine months.
Members of the "Their freedom is their right" campaign:
- Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI)
- Maharat Foundation
- Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
- Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
- Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR)
- MARCH
- Social Media Exchange (SMEX)
- Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB)
- Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State
- I'lam Arab Center for Media Freedom Development and Research
- Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)
Syrian human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh is the prisoner of the month in February
Name: Razan Zaitouneh
Occupation: Human Rights Defender
Country: Syria
The current situation: Abducted with her team since December 2013
Razan Zaitouneh was born in 1977. She has been one of the most prominent lawyers and human rights activists defending political prisoners in Syria since 2001. She has played a key role in efforts to defend human rights for all people and protect independent groups and Syrian activists. Along with a number of other activists, Zaitouneh established the Violations Documentation Center (VDC) in Syria, and co-founded in April 2011 the Local Coordination Committees (LCCs), which co-ordinate the work of local committees in various cities and towns across Syria. She also established the Local Development and Small Projects Support Office, which assists non-governmental organizations in Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus.
At the beginning of the Syrian uprising, Zaitouneh was forced into hiding owing to her media activism, so as to convey the truth about what was happening on the ground to the various media outlets, especially the violations (detention, torture, killing, and harassment) committed against citizens.
Zaitouneh’s home in Damascus was raided in May 2011 by the Air Force Intelligence, which searched the house and confiscated many of her papers and personal belongings. The Air Force Intelligence then detained Razan’s brother-in-law together with her husband, activist Wa’el Hamada, who both had been held incommunicado for three months before being released.
She has published dozens of articles and reports in various websites and newspapers about the rights and freedom of opinion and expression in Syria since 2004. She won the Anna Politkovskaya Award for human rights defenders, and also received the Sakharov Prize awarded by the European Parliament, together with the prominent Syrian cartoonist Ali Farzat.
A few months before her abduction, Zaitouneh wrote about the threats she had been receiving and reported to human rights activists outside Syria that the threats are from the local armed groups in Duma.
On the morning of 09 December 2013, a group of armed men (presumed to be connected to the Army of Islam (Jaysh al-Islam) headed by Zahran Alloush) broke into the VDC office in Douma city, kidnapped Zaitouneh alongside her team of activists Samira Khalil, Nazem Hamadi and her husband Wa’el Hamada, and took them to an unknown destination.
What you can do:
- Write to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders to the United Nations : urgent-action@ohchr.org
- Publish a picture of the activist Razan Zaitouneh and information about her on your Facebook and/or Twitter account using the hashtag: #حريتهم_حقهم.
- Send to your local newspapers in your country and your city information about Razan Zaitouneh demanding disclosure of its destiny, and call for her abductors to release her.
- Saudi Arabia is one of the supporters for Armed Groups in Douma city. Therefore, tag the King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, through his account on social media channels such as Twitter "@KingSalman" demanding him to release of Razan Zaitouneh.