http://www.kurdmedia.com/article.aspx?id=15139Campaign for the international recognition of human rights of half a million Kurds “Buried Alive” in Syria
10/13/08
The Kurdish People are the second largest ethnic entity in Syria, consisting of more than three million of the total population. The Kurds have been living on their ancient historical homeland and have actively contributed to liberating and building up the modern republic of Syria. Successive Syrian governments after independence in 1946 have denied the legitimate national rights of the Kurdish people and their contributions to achieving independence. Since the Baath Party seized power after the coup of March 1963 and declared itself the autocrat of the country, it has been systematically applying all political, military and psychological means to eradicate the Kurdish existence and forcibly assimilate the Kurdish national identity and annihilate their culture. These racist discriminatory policies have deprived the Kurds of the constitutional recognition of their cultural and national existence. The following atrocities are an ongoing part of these policies of the Syrian totalitarian regime for nearly half a century:
Exceptional Census:
The suppressive Syrian regime, in flagrant breach of human rights and international law, developed the racist, discriminatory Census Article 93, issued on 23/08/1962 and implemented on 05/10/1962, limited to Al Hasakah and Kurdish regions, which initially resulted in more than 150,000 and now increased to more than half a million, Kurds, who had been living in their own homeland, being stripped of their Syrian nationality certificate, thereby depriving them of the basic human right of surviving and prospering in their own country. Those whose nationality was withdrawn, and henceforth considered as foreigners in their own land, have no right to work in formal government departments, nor to own property, nor can they have access to education and health facilities. They cannot register their marriages and neither are they allowed to register their children in the state civil records. They cannot travel abroad as they cannot obtain a passport. They have no rights to practice some freelance professions such as medicine, law and teaching, which require a nationality certificate. In conclusion, they have no birthright to live in their own homeland. This racial and cultural genocide still continues today, after more than four decades, despite many promises to resolve this human rights issue which is so disastrous for the Kurds.
The Arab Belt and Arabisation Policy:
Since the racist Baath Party seized power in the 1960s, the Kurds have been cruelly subjected to a ethnic cleansing, racial and cultural genocide, aiming to eradicate the whole Kurdish national and cultural existence by isolating and separating the northern and southern parts of Kurdistan.
On 24/6/1974 the Chauvinist Government issued the racist Article 521, known as “The Arab Belt” which resulted in the seizure of the Kurdish agricultural lands (350km long and 15 km wide), and thousands of Kurdish land owners and farmers were forcibly driven from their own property, which was confiscated and given to Arab settlers and farmers coming from Arab regions. This widespread annexation of Kurdish agricultural lands and the settlement of immigrant Arabs resulted in splitting families and the destruction of social relationships, and in Arabising the names of villages and towns, which has altered the character of the whole region. This inhuman deprivation of natural ownership rights and livelihood has terrorized the Kurdish population who were deported from their cultural homelands and property and forced to live in isolation and destitution in big metropolitan cities.
The Political Repression of the Kurds in Syria
The Baath regime launched a campaign to eradicate all Kurdish national identity including Kurdish cultural and social activities. Kurdish political leaders, academics and intellectuals were brutally executed, imprisoned or exiled.
In 1949 the Kurdish President of the Syrian Republic, Mr. Husni Zaeem and his Kurdish Chief of Council of Misisters Mr. Muhsin Berazi, were overthrown and executed.
On 15th July 1951, two national Kurdish leaders, Prince Jaladat Bederxan and Dr. Noraddin Zaza, were assassinated and the Kurdish leader Apo Osman Sabri was exiled by the Arab nationalists.
On 31st November 1960 the Syrian authorities committed a horrific racial genocide in the Amuda Cinema where 380 Kurdish children were deliberately burnt to death while on a school excursion, watching a film on the Algerian revolution.
On 21st March 1986 the Syrian military forces attacked the Kurdish people and killed a man and injured many others in Damascus at a peaceful Newroz demonstration.
In 1993, 72 Kurdish prisoners were burnt to death and 100 were injured in the Central Prison in Hasakah City. To date, hundreds of Kurdish activists and academics are still dying under the brutal torture of this barbaric regime.
On 12th March 2004 the Syrian secret police and the Baathist Arabs incited and attacked Kurdish civilians in Quamishly and other Kurdish cities and areas. More than 30 Kurds were murdered and hundreds injured during these incursions. Hundreds more were arrested.
On 2st August 2004 the Syrian military secret forces arrested and tortured to death the Kurdish activist Mr. Ahmed Hussain Hussain a member of leadership council of PYD (Democratic Union Party). In July 2004 a member of PYD Miss Naziliye Kechel was arrested and to date her fate is unknown.
On 1st June 2005 the Syrian secret police abducted and tortured the Kurdish clerical leader, Dr. Sheikh Mashouq Al Khaznawi resulting in his death.
On 2st November 2007 during a peaceful demonstration organized by PYD in Qamishly and Kobani three people were killed, many injured, a hundred imprisoned, and the Kurdish activist and organizers Mr. Isa Hiso, Abas Khilo and Isa Mella Hasan were arrested and tortured. Later, on 27/11/2007 the Kurdish activist Mr.Osman Suleyman who had been a member of the Syrian parliament, was abducted and tortured to death.
On 20th March 2008, the Syrian secret police opened fire against Kurdish people who were peacefully celebrating Newroz, resulting in the deaths of three young Kurdish young men.
The Aim:
The aim of this campaign is to promote and publicise awareness of these human rights violations, and develop support for the international recognition for the basic human rights of more than half a million Kurds in Syria who have suffered deprivation and the misery of destitution as a result of these crimes against humanity committed by the Syrian authorities.
Objectives:
• to investigate and collect evidence and valid documents related to the discriminatory policies and the criminal deprivation of basic human rights implemented against the Kurds
• to present statistical documentation of the evidence of the human rights violations and deprivation of nationality, ownership and access to health, education and employment provision
• to prepare and present a legal prosecution against the perpetrators of all crimes committed against Kurdish people and to seek justice in court and to pursue appropriate compensation for their loss of livelihood and use of property suffered by the victims, and the provision of advice and support for them
• to liaise with the regional and international community, UN, EU, Unicef, AI and other human rights organisations concerning basic human rights issues and to gain official recognition of the deprivation and destitution suffered by the Kurds
• to guarantee constitutionally the provision of nationality, the restoration of citizenship and ownership rights, and the return of all confiscated property. In the absence of recognition of these provisions by Syria, an application for UN Refugee Status will be sought
The Campaigners:
The campaign is an initiative by The Democratic Union Party (PYD) in Syria, and supported by the Kurdish Federation in the UK (Fed-bir). The campaign is a voluntary group working to promote the culture of democracy and tolerance.
The Supporters:
The campaign aims to lobby and win the support of MPs, MEPs, Members of the House of Lords, human Rights activists, lawyers, political and intellectual academics, NGOs, charities, international experts and others.
Contact and E-mail: Dr Amed Semo
[email protected], Tel: 07811346272
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