Syria Unmasked: The Suppression of Human Rightes
Middle East Watch
Yale University
Since he seized power in Syria two decades ago, President Hafez Asad has subjected his people to continuous repression. Violence reached a peak in the early 1980s, when Asad’s Ba’thist regime crushed its opposition, killing at least ten thousand citizens and jailing thousands more. And today, despite gestures of liberalization, the practices of Asad’s government remain repugnant. Security forces routinely arrest citizens without charge, torture them during interrogation, and imprison them without trial for political reasons. At least 7,500 political prisoners are currently held under appalling conditions. Persecution of the country’s minorities— notably Jews, Palestinians, and Kurds— is rampant. Syria is also a serious rights offender in Lebanon, where, since 1976, its army has controlled more than half the country and has imprisoned, tortured, and massacred hundreds of innocent civilians.
This new book by Middle East Watch describes the various forms of oppression in Syria and gives details about the three institutions that help Asad maintain his control—the Ba‘th party, the military, and the security forces. The book provides information not only on the violent acts perpetrated by the government but also on such topics as the censorship of mass media, the banning of opposition political parties and professional associations, and the country’s foreign relations. Based in large part on confidential interviews with Syrian émigrés and sources encountered during an unauthorized visit to Syria-all of whom risked harassment from their country’s security forces for providing information to Middle East Watch—this book presents Syria’s dismal human rights record more powerfully and thoroughly than has ever been done before.
Middle East Watch was established in 1989 to monitor and promote observance of internationally recognized human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. It is a division of Human Rights Watch, which also includes Africa Watch, Americas Watch, Asia Watch, Helsinki Watch, and the Fund for Free Expression. | 
