Photo courtesy of Iyas Maleh.
Syrian lawyer and human rights activist Haitham Maleh received the Dutch Geuzenpenning medal for his commitment to human rights in 2006.
WASHINGTON – Seven months: that’s how long 78-year-old Syrian lawyer and human rights activist Haitham Maleh has been in prison in Damascus. And that’s how long his son, Iyas, has been traveling Europe to campaign on his father’s behalf.
Haitham Maleh is known as the father of human rights in his homeland of Syria, a country with strict restrictions on freedoms of speech and association, academic education and the right to assemble. He’s a lawyer who defends human rights activists, speaks out against the Syrian government’s oppression of its citizens and calls attention to government corruption.
Arrested Oct. 14 on charges related to a TV interview in which he talked about government corruption and human rights violations, Maleh is being held in Adra Central Prison. His trial began Feb. 25 in a military court, although he is a civilian with no ties to the military. If convicted, he will serve three to 15 years.
Prior to his arrest, Maleh was defending fellow lawyer and activist Mohannad al-Hassani.
Maleh’s son Iyas was in Washington Monday, and spoke about his father’s arrest, trial and life’s work.
Photo courtesy of Iyas Maleh.
Haitham Maleh at 26.
Why was your father arrested?
My father was defending Mohannad al-Hassani after [al-Hassani] was arrested and wrote an article on the case.
He gave a TV interview two days prior to his arrest, and spoke about corruption in the government, human rights abuses and corruption in the judicial system.
In 1963 when the Baath party came into power in Syria, they issued emergency laws that have been in place since 1963 without interruption.
In 1966, they fired 24 judges – one of them was my father. They stated they were “enemies of the revolution” and were replaced by judges who do what the government tells them to do.
In 1980, they dissolved the Syrian bar association and arrested about 50 lawyers from different cities in Syria. One of them was my father. He was imprisoned for seven years.
Mohannad al-Hassani [was] disbarred from practicing law in Syria forever because he was monitoring courts and reporting on the different trials.
The official reason my father was arrested is the TV interview and the few articles that he wrote. I feel that there is a symbolic reason why my father was arrested that is bigger. My father has been writing these types of articles for a long time. He has been doing TV interviews. Why now?
A few days after his arrest, the European Union-Syria agreement was supposed to be signed. My father was instrumental in campaigning for that agreement to include a human rights clause. I feel that they arrested my father to give a signal to the EU: this is an internal matter and you will not get involved in internal affairs. That’s my own analysis – I could be wrong, but that’s how I feel.
Have you had any contact with your father since he was arrested?
No. I hear from other sources, from lawyers who have visited him. But I cannot communicate with him directly and he cannot communicate with me directly.
The White House released a statement about your father after his arrest.
Statement about the detention of Haitham Maleh
White House, Office of the Press Secretary, Oct. 24:
“We join the United Kingdom, France and other concerned international parties in expressing our deep concern regarding the detention of human rights lawyer Haitham Maleh by Syrian security services since Wednesday, October 14. The arrest of 78-year-old Maleh comes as the latest Syrian action in a two-year crackdown on lawyers and civil society activists. We call on the Syrian government to meet its responsibilities under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and to end its practice of arbitrary arrests. Syria should demonstrate its commitment to international legal norms by releasing Maleh and other Syrian citizens who have been imprisoned solely for seeking to exercise their internationally recognized political freedoms.”
Yes. There were statements from France, England, Canada, the Netherlands and the U.S.
The reason I focused my campaign on behalf of my father in Europe is because I didn’t think the U.S. had any leverage with Syria. In 2003, there was a similar case in Egypt. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a human rights activist, was arrested and charged with the exact same charge that my father is facing – “spreading false news that could weaken the national morale.”
[Ibrahim] was tried and sentenced for 15 years. This is what my father is facing right now – anywhere from three to 15 years is the sentence for this crime.
The wife of Saad Eddin Ibrahim is a U.S. citizen, and she campaigned for her husband. The U.S. got involved, Egypt retried him and he was found innocent.
In the case of Syria, unfortunately, there’s not really much the U.S. can do. Recently a new [U.S.] ambassador was named to be sent to Syria. I thought, maybe now is the time to come and campaign here in the U.S., too.
Tell me about your campaign and your father’s trial so far.
It hasn’t been fruitful, obviously – my father is still in prison.
The next hearing is June 20, when they will hear from the defense team. The last hearing was May 22 – that’s when they heard from the prosecutor’s office on what charges they want to press. The following hearing will be the judge’s decision on the case.
He takes medication on a regular basis since he was released from prison in 1987, for diabetes and an overactive thyroid gland that causes severe weight loss in a short period of time if it’s not treated. He has not been able to access his medication since Feb. 11.
Who is your father’s defense team? Is it a government team or is it independent?
Independent. But unfortunately, as you see, [my father] was defending a lawyer and is now in prison: Anybody who dares to defend my father is likely to be facing prison in his future. There is a fear so I don’t think it will be a fair trial. It will be limited to what they cannot say and cannot do.
The main thing to keep in mind is that in Mohannad al-Hassani’s case, international observers are able to attend his trial. In my father’s case they are not because it’s military court.
Another thing to keep in mind is that he was kidnapped on the street – this is against international law. Three men showed up while he was unlocking his car door. They did not introduce themselves. They were in civilian clothes. They forced him into their car and drove away.
What do you think is going to happen?
Originally I was not optimistic at all. But at the last hearing, they dropped all other charges and they kept one: spreading false news. The lawyer I spoke with who was at the hearing told me this might be a sign they are trying to minimize the sentence.