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Cablegate: Asad Grants Amnesty for 540 Political Prisoners

O 011500Z DEC 92
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4513
INFO AMEMBASSY AMMAN
AMEMBASSY BEIRUT
AMEMBASSY CAIRO
AMEMBASSY RIYADH
AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV
AMEMBASSY TUNIS
AMEMBASSY LONDON
AMEMBASSY PARIS
USMISSION GENEVA
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW

UNCLAS DAMASCUS 08730

LIMITED OFFICIAL USE

STATE FOR HA, NEA/ARN
LONDON FOR JOHNSON
PARIS FOR ROSENBLATT

MOSCOW FOR NEA A/S DJEREJIAN

E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINS SY
SUBJECT: ASAD GRANTS AMNESTY FOR 540 POLITICAL PRISONERS

1. SYRIAN PRESIDENT ASAD HAS ISSUED A DECREE GRANTING
AN AMNESTY TO 540 PRISONERS HELD ON "SECURITY" GROUNDS,
ACCORDING TO THE MAIN NEWS BULLETIN ON GOVERNMENT-
CONTROLLED DAMASCUS RADIO AT 1415 LOCAL TIME, DECEMBER
1. THE BRIEF BULLETIN DID NOT ELABORATE ON THE
IDENTITIES OF THE PRISONERS, THE NATURE OF THEIR
OFFENSES, OR THE OCCASION FOR THE PRESIDENT'S DECISION.

2. IN A RELATED MATTER, WE NOTE FROM THE NOVEMBER 27
EDITION OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE LEBANESE NEWSPAPER
"L'ORIENT-LE JOUR" THAT SYRIAN EX-PRESIDENT NUR AL-DIN
AL-ATASI (WHO WAS PRESIDENT WHEN ASAD SEIZED POWER IN
1970) REPORTEDLY ARRIVED IN PARIS BY PRIVATE PLANE FROM
DAMASCUS A FEW DAYS EARLIER TO BEGIN TREATMENT AT THE
AMERICAN HOSPITAL IN NEUILLY OF CANCER OF THE
ESOPHAGUS. AL-ATASI WAS FREED ON MEDICAL GROUNDS IN
LATE AUGUST. UNTIL RECENTLY A SYRIAN HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
BASED IN PARIS ALLEGED THAT THE SYRIAN GOVERNMENT WAS
HINDERING AL-ATASI'S FAMILY'S EFFORTS TO TRANSPORT HIM
TO PARIS (A CHARGE DENIED AT THE TIME BY AN MFA
OFFICIAL).

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3. COMMENT: AMONG THE POSSIBLE REASONS FOR THIS LATEST
RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS IS THE 22ND ANNIVERSARY
OF THE "CORRECTIONIST MOVEMENT" COUP THAT BROUGHT ASAD
TO POWER. ALTHOUGH THAT ANNIVERSARY ACTUALLY FELL ON
NOVEMBER 16, A LAG OF TWO WEEKS WOULD FOLLOW THE PATTERN
OF PREVIOUS RELEASES (THE LATE MARCH RELEASE WAS
ANNOUNCED TWO WEEKS AFTER ASAD'S SWEARING-IN TO A FOURTH
TERM IN OFFICE, WHILE LAST DECEMBER'S AMNESTY WAS
PUBLICIZED TWO WEEKS AFTER THE PRESIDENTIAL
REFERENDUM). IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT THESE RELEASES
ARE RELATED TO SESSIONS OF THE STATE SECURITY COURT THAT
HAVE BEEN UNDERWAY FOR SOME TIME TO DETERMINE THE
SENTENCES FOR POLITICAL DETAINEES WHO HAD NOT PREVIOUSLY
BEEN BROUGHT TO TRIAL.

4. COMMENT CONTINUED: THIS LATEST AMNESTY FOLLOWS THE
APPEARANCE IN THE NOVEMBER 29 EDITION OF THE OFFICIAL
NEWSPAPER "AL-BA'TH" OF AN EDITORIAL WRITTEN BY VICE
PRESIDENT MASHARQA CHIDING WESTERN GOVERNMENTS FOR THEIR
CRITICISMS OF SYRIA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD. MASHARQA
ACCUSED THESE GOVERNMENTS OF APPLYING DOUBLE STANDARDS
IN JUDGING THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATIONS IN OTHER
COUNTRIES WHILE IGNORING PROBLEMS (LIKE RACIAL
DISCRIMINATION) IN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES OR IN "RACIST
COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY ISRAEL AND SOUTH AFRICA." AS FOR
HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS, MASHARQA COMPLAINED THAT
THESE GROUPS FAIL TO PAY ATTENTION TO "ISRAELI CRIMES."
HE CONCLUDED THAT "THE MOTIVE BEHIND THE STANDS OF MOST
WESTERN STATES AND THEIR ORGANIZATIONS ON THE ISSUE OF
HUMAN RIGHTS IS TO PUT PRESSURE ON COUNTRIES WHOSE
POLICIES ARE GOVERNED BY NATIONAL OR PAN-ARAB INTERESTS
WHICH ARE NOT HARMONIOUS WITH THEIR PURPOSES AND
INTERESTS." WHILE THE DECISION TO LET AL-ATASI GO TO
PARIS APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN MADE QUIETLY TO SATISFY
EXTERNAL CRITICS, ASAD IS TRYING NOT TO LOOK LIKE HE
YIELDED TO INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE WITH RESPECT TO THE
AMNESTY. MASHARQA'S TOUGH PUBLIC STANCE ON HUMAN RIGHTS
BEFORE THESE RELEASES ECHOES THE ONE ASAD USED IN HIS
MARCH 14 INAUGURATION SPEECH, WHICH CAME TWO WEEKS
BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A SIMILAR AMNESTY.

ROSS

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