The three men from Idlib in northern Syria were arrested on 14 July 2007 in Damascus, where they had gone after being summoned by the military, and are currently being detained without charge in Sednaya prison, which was witness on 5 July 2008 to serious events in which prisoners were killed by the security services.

Mr. Houriya is a well-known theologian in the region. For this reason he is often courted by students and ordinary citizens in his region. He also held weekly courses at his home and this was known to the local authorities who have closely monitored him.

For fifteen years, in fact, Mr. Houriya was regularly summoned by Idlib’s military intelligence and his home was regularly subjected to searches.

In mid-June 2007, officers once again showed up at his home which they searched without a judicial warrant, and as is their habit, took a part of his library and his personal computer; the following week he was yet again be questioned.

The same day, military intelligence officers also conducted a raid of the homes of Messrs Kerroum and Dehnine and took away their personal documents and books. These last two, who undertake no political or any other activity, were only part of the group of people who occasionally attended lectures given by Mr. Houriya.

On 14 July 2007, all three were summoned by telephone to go to Damascus; they had to comply with this call and travelled to Damascus where they were arrested at the headquarters of military intelligence services.

On 28 August 2008, a large wave of arrests, according to some sources of more than fifty people, took place in the Idlib region and aimed in particular at those close to Mr. Houriya.

Since then, all the families of those arrested remained without news of their relatives until 3 June 2008, when they were allowed to visit them for the first time in Sednaya prison.

Families have learned that they had been held incommunicado and interrogated for several months at the "Palestine" section of military intelligence in Damascus, that they had never been presented before any judicial authority and that the authorities only appeared to blame them for their views, religious beliefs or their clothing. None of them has been authorized to appoint a lawyer or to challenge the lawfulness of their detention.

On 5 July 2008, in the morning, disturbances erupted in Sednaya prison and the security services of the prison used their weapons, causing the death of an unknown number of detainees.

Like the other families of the prisoners, those of Messrs Houriya, Kerroum, and Dahnine do not know if their relatives are among the victims of this tragedy, visits being banned since then, and authorities refusing to give them any information.

It is therefore urgent that the Syrian authorities publish the list of those who died during this event and inform their families.

There is no doubt that the lack of information is, for families of prisoners, particularly inhuman treatment and that the authorities must stop it.

On the other hand, the deprivation of liberty of the three men is arbitrary, as well as that of all other persons arrested under the same conditions and for the same reasons, and contrary to both the legal norms in force in the country, as well as the relevant international standards set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

We recall that Syria ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 21 April 1969 and the Convention against Torture on 19 August 2004.