SYRIA WANTS NOTHING TO DO WITH HUMAN RIGHTS

It didn't take long for the government of Syria to close down the country's first human rights center. European diplomats, including EU ambassador Frank Hesske, attended the opening of the centre on Feb. 21, part of an effort to train lawyers and activists across the region in the human rights field.

Now the doors of the center are locked tight.

The following is from Arabic News.

Syria: Activists condemn closure of human rights center
Syria, Politics, 3/6/2006

Activists have condemned a government decision to close the country's first human rights center, which opened in mid-February with support from the European Union (EU).

"This is a sign to the EU and other countries that it's hopeless to form civil society here and promote change," said center director and prominent human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni, who confirmed that the center was shut down two days ago.

According to the government, the Damascus-based center, which offered legal advice, counseling and training on human rights issues, was closed because it had not received official permission to operate. No one was available for comment on the issue on Sunday.

Bunni described the center as a "red line" that civil society has not been able to cross. "I remain hopeful that the decision will be reversed and we will continue our struggle," he said. "We hope the EU will continue to support us."

The opening of the center on 23 February had been considered a major breakthrough on the local human rights front. At the time, the head of the EU delegation Frank Hesske to Syria said it was aimed at building "a stronger Syria."

Hesske said the center, a "one-stop shop" instituted to train lawyers, journalists and others on human rights issues was intended "to ensure that internationally adopted human rights laws are adhered to."

The center was part of a two-year project by the Belgium-based Institute for International Assistance and Solidarity, with 93,000 Euros (US $111,000) of funding provided by the EU.

Although many observers say that rights activists are able to work more freely now than in previous years, Damascus continues to come in for heavy criticism by international human rights organizations.

In 2005, Amnesty International reported that hundreds of people had been arrested in Syria for political reasons, with many held incommunicado and allegedly tortured or mistreated. Bunni said that some 1,500 political detainees were still languishing in Syrian jails.

According to Bassam Ishak, a spokesman for the Syrian Human Rights Organization, the closure of the centre represented a "step back for the civil society movement in Syria." "We hope the government and the EU will reach an agreement and we hope the center will reopen," Ishak said.