Declaration for the public

The Kurdish people are continuing to be oppressed by the Syrian regime. Human rights of the Kurdish people are still being abused and they are a daily occurrence.

The Kurdish people currently count about 3 million people and represent the 2^nd biggest ethnic group in the country. The only reason they are bing mistreated and arrested is that they belong to this ethnic group. Mass arrests and tortures have increased significantly after the events of the 12^th of March 2004.

In response to the events of the 12^th of March and the murders of 7 Kurds by security agents,  the Kurdish people triggered off mass protests. They represented an expression of resistance and condemned the systematic and arbitrary politics of oppression.

The persecution and the oppression of the Kurds in Syria have currently reached another level. Political prisoners are being subjected to brutal torture and mistreatment. At least 5 prisoners were killed through torture. Several prisoners have been released from captivity, having sustained physical disabilities.

Syria has become a stronghold of persecution and oppression. However, despite these protests, the Syrian regime is continuing to be able to pursue its arbitrary politics of persecution. Human rights and basic rights are continuing to be ignored. The Syrian regime is violating internationally agreed norms and treaties with its politics, even though they were signed by themselves. However, the international community are merely spectators in this process. They are not doing anything against this oppression.

This is why I am starting an open hunger strike as a protest against the Syrian regime's politics which are contemptuous of human rights. I am appealing to the global public, the EU- which is about to ratify an agreement of association with Syria -, the human rights organisations and all friends of democracy and human rights in the world, to become active for this cause, so that:

-         human rights abuses will be investigated in a fair and independent manner

-         arrests of the Kurdish people, simply on the grounds of their ethnic background, will end

-         all Kurdish political prisoners, who were arrested in the context of the events of the 12^th of March 2004 or due to their activities for the rights of the Kurdish people, will be released

-         all prisoners, who are in prison, due to having made use of their right to freedom of speech, will be released. This should be done irrespective of their political and ethical background

-         the events of the 12^th of March 2004 and its subsequent mass protests by the Kurdish people will be investigated in a fair and independent manner.

Marwan Othman 

 Hannover, the 18/01/2005

Kurdish writer and poet

Weberstraße 14

Hannah-Arendt scholarship

30449 Hannover

+49511 4500637

+4916098777708