Men aged between 13 and 70 were arrested in the ensuing period and nothing has been heard from them since then. There are more than 20 million people who have not been seen again after they were arrested in the aftermath of the Hama massacre.
Around 800.000 people fled from Syria due to pressure from Hafiz al-Asad administration and took shelter in other countries. Today, the number of Syrian Diaspora has reached two million people and they cannot return back to their countries. Even the second and third generation of children who were born to parents of the Syrian Diaspora is not allowed to return back to their homeland. Those who attempt to enter Syria are arrested at the Syrian border and placed in jail. There are currently 1.000 people who have been placed in jail in such a way.
Many find the laws in Syria where the martial law is still in practice against human rights and international law. The unlawfulness in Syria manifest itself through unfair arrests, arbitrary detentions, violation of the right for fair trial, torture, prevention of organization and freedom of expression, arbitrary practices of the security forces, pressure against defenders of human rights and prevention of the public from having a say on the country’s administration because free and fair elections are not held.
Please click to see a statement released by the Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUM-DER) on the 28th anniversary of the Hama Massacre
