16 Syrian activists arrested, amongst whom Razan Ghazawi en Mazen Darwish
President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces have raided the offices of human rights and free press organization SCM, arresting 16 persons, including director Mazen Darwish and Razan Ghazawi. Family members of Darwish were arrested in his home.
Razan Ghazawi was previously detained December last year, and released two weeks after her arrest. Mazen Darwish has been detained several times and beaten in custody. The charges against the activists as well as the circumstances under which the arrests took place remain unclear.
Syrian authorities aim to thwart independent journalists. The history of SCM is tainted with detained and disappeared members. Hivos is worried about the fate of Ghazawi, Darwish and their colleagues and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.
Hivos has been supporting SCM since 2010. The centre operates on the crossroads of human rights and free media, under extreme difficult circumstances. The core business of SCM is monitoring the state of press freedom in Syria and human rights violations against journalists, bloggers and activists. Over the years, the organization has published a range of analytical reports.
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