Syrian political prisoner Muhammad `Ali Dirbak, 72, dies of mistreatment in jail
The Syrian Human Rights Committee reported the following information on March 16, 2007, in Arabic. Below is a rough translation into English regarding the death of political detainee Muhammad `Ali Dirbak.
"The Syrian Human Rights Committee received news about the death of the detainee Muhammad `Ali Dirbak (72 years old) due to mistreatment. Mr. Dirbak had been arrested by Syrian political security services on January 28, 2007.
"Based on the information received (and the accuracy of the information can not be definitively confirmed because of the strict confidentiality of the Syrian security services), Muhammad `Ali Dirbak, of Banyas (Western Syria), suffered a stroke at the place of his detention at the investigation branch of political security in Damascus last week due to ill-treatment. He was transferred to a hospital and it is believed that he died yesterday (Thursday, March 15, 2007), after the deterioration of his health.
"Elements of the Syrian political security services arrested Dirbak because of a poem he wrote that criticized Shia Muslims in one of its lines. He wrote the poem after Al-Jazeera broadcast a story about the attacks by the Mahdi Army in Iraq on Syrian refugees there, and the killing of some of them.
"Because Dirbak copied his poem by using a copy machine at a copy center, the political security services also arrested the owner of the business, Rami Rakhamiyyah. Mr. Rakhamiyyah was not present in the store when copies of the poem were made. In addition, the worker in the business who prepared the copy operation `Ala' Muhiyyi al-Din was also arrested.
"The condition of the two the prisoners is not known, but it should be noted that the first (Mr. Rakhamiyyah) is ill and needs medication for Thyroids. It is not known whether he has received them in prison.
"It should be noted that Sami Dirbak, the son of Muhammad `Ali Dirbak, was sentenced by the Supreme State Security Court with five others on February 27, 2007 for association with the Muslim Brotherhood under Act 49 of 1980 which prescribes the death sentence for membership in the organization. Afterwards, the sentence was reduced to 6 years in prison.
"The Syrian Human Rights Committee contacted an official source in the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and he assured it that the citizens sentenced were not members in the organization, and that the organization does not have any organization or organizational relationship inside Syria as long as Act 49 hangs on the necks of the Syrian people because it does not want to leave a justification for the regime to arrest any Syrian citizen accused of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood.
"The Syrian Human Rights Committee calls on the Syrian authorities to disclose the fate of Muhammad `Ali Dirbak and how he was handled since the deterioration of his health, and to either confirm or deny the news of his death.
"Just as SHRC renews its emphasis on the need for the release of all detainees in the hands of the security services, the SHRC calls for the arbitrary detention of Syrian citizens to stop, as well as their subjection to torture and ill-treatment."
Please spread news about Mr. Dirbak's death at the hands of Syrian security services in order to place pressure on the Syrian regime to stop abusing its citizens. If you are able, please consider creating a profile for Mr. Dirbak, his son, or the arrested workers under the "Syria" section of this website by creating an account and clicking on "Create content."
If you feel that this translation is problematic, please feel free to post your suggestions as a comment.
Update March 25 2007: We are pleased to update that on March 22, 2007, it was reported that Mr. Dirbak was released by Syrian authorities in order to prove that the rumors circulating regarding his death were not true.