VZCZCXRO9986
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHBS #0185 0361716
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051716Z FEB 08
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 000185 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
ALLISON MONZ, NEA/ELA; OWEN KIRBY, NEA/PI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KMPI XF SY EUN
SUBJECT: CONDEMNING ARREST AND ARRAIGNMENT OF SYRIAN 
DEMOCRACY ACTIVISTS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 11025 
 
 ¶1.  The following statement was issued by the EU Presidency 
on February 4, the same day as reftel. 
 
¶2.  Begin text: 
 
Recalling the Presidency Statement of 27 September 2007 and 
the Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European 
Union of 31 December 2007, the European Union condemns the 
arrest on 28 January 2008 of Mr Riyad Seif, the prominent 
member of the democratic opposition and former Member of the 
Syrian Parliament. 
 
The European Union's serious concern relates also to the 
detention of eleven other signatories of the quoted 
Declaration, namely Mr Ahmed Tomeh, Mr Jaber El Choufi, Mr 
Akram El Bounni, Mr Walid El Bounni, Mr Mohammed Yasser El 
Aiti, Mrs Fida Hourani, Mr Ali Abdallah, Mr Fayez Sara, Mr 
Mohammed Hajji Darwish, Mr Marwan El Eich, Mr Talal Abu Dan, 
as well as all other prisoners of conscience and political 
prisoners. 
 
The European Union calls for the immediate release of Mr 
Riyad Seif and the other eleven prisoners, who peacefully 
expressed their opinions and called for democratic reforms in 
Syria. Fearing for their safety and physical integrity, 
especially because of the serious health condition of Mr 
Riyad Seif and some other detainees, the European Union urges 
the Syrian authorities to respect international laws and 
standards and to assure to all detainees the appropriate 
conditions of detention and suitable medical treatment. 
 
The European Union calls on the Syrian Government to 
reconsider all cases of political prisoners and prisoners of 
conscience in accordance with its national Constitution and 
international commitments, specifically the Universal 
Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on 
Civil and Political Rights, which Syria has signed and 
ratified in 1969 and that clearly states the right to freedom 
of expression, the right to freedom of assembly and 
the right to be treated with humanity and respect when 
deprived of liberty. In this sense the European Union invites 
Syrian authorities to re-establish dialogue with Syrian civil 
society. 
 
The Candidate Countries, Croatia and the former Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia, the Countries of the Stabilisation and 
Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries, 
Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic 
Area, as well as Ukraine,the Republic of Moldova and Georgia 
align themselves with this declaration.  End Text. 
 
MURRAY 
.