It has been reported that political security forces arrested a large group of Kurdish citizens in al-Raqqa, during in the period between 14th to 17th April after raiding their homes at night and in the early hours of the morning. Some of those who were arrested have been identified as:
• Osman Ahmed
• Farhad Shaheen Kamal
• Masum Shaheen Kamal
• Zakaria Shaheen Kamal
• Mazloum Shaheen Kamal
• Mustafa Hussain Ahmed
• Ali Hussein Ahmed
• Luqman Mustafa Musa
• Ez al-Din Mustafa Hamzo
• Hassan Abdi
• Riad Ibrahim.
It is common knowledge that the security authorities in the city launched a massive campaign of arrests affecting dozens of Kurds following the shooting of revellers during Newroz – the Kurdish New Year – which resulted in the death of a young man and injuries to dozens of others. Some of these people remain in detention, and it has not been possible to collect the names of all detainees. Barely a day goes by at the moment without people being arrested.We have called on security services to stop this series of arrests and the intimidation of citizens, and to release those detained Kurds from al-Raqqa, and all political prisoners in the country. We call for those who fired at the revellers to be punished, and for compensation to be given to those affected. We want the state of emergency in the country to be lifted and martial law abolished.Syrian Committee for Human Rights – MAD
18 April 2010
