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Q&A: 'The Abolitionist Cause Should Be Separate from Politics'
Abderrahim El Ouali interviews AMMAR QURABI of the Syrian National Human Rights Organisation
CASABLANCA, Dec 2, 2008 (IPS) - The abolitionist movement in Syria faces more difficulties from religious institutions and scholars than from the state, says Ammar Qurabi.
Qurabi, president of the National Human Rights Organisation of Syria, says activists are making progress and have succeeded in winning reprieves for those sentenced to death.
They also have a step-by-step plan on how the country should move towards total abolition.
IPS: Do you face any difficulties campaigning for abolition in Syria?
AQ: Syria has been under an emergency law for 45 years now. This places a big restriction on civic freedoms. The security services have great powers. The judiciary is circumscribed. Activists are being imprisoned. It's only in the last few years that human rights organisations and political parties decided to work openly and speak about democracy. Our organisation is still denied official authorisation and we are not allowed to hold public activities.
Certainly, there's less pressure from the authorities regarding abolition than other political issues, such as putting an end to the continual state of emergency and authorising political parties and human rights organisations.
The reason for this is that abolition is a human rights issue, not a political one. Abolition does not just concern political detainees but all members of the society. So, the Syrian state does not consider the abolitionist movement to be one of its enemies. There's a wide margin for action. This does not mean, however, that our task is easy; there are difficulties and obstacles that are preventing progress toward abolition.
IPS: What kind of activities are you engaged in?
AQ: In the past, our battle was to obtain a moratorium on executions for political opponents. For ten years now, civil society organisations have succeeded in gaining leniency for these. Their death sentences have been reduced to 12 years' imprisonment. But up to now we have not managed to get the death penalty struck out of decrees and laws. Syrian courts still pass down death sentences. So, the death penalty is still being used against political opponents, in theory, that is, though it hasn't been carried out for years now.
In the beginning, too, we signed all international and regional manifestos against the death penalty. We couldn't do more because of restrictions on the abolitionist movement. But as the movement has been gaining strength around the world, the Arab world has also been influenced. There have been discussions on TV channels and on the web. Abolition as an issue has entered a great majority of households here.
We published our first report on the death penalty in 2005 with specific recommendations for abolition. Our position was not welcomed by many social institutions. However, last year we proposed a progressive plan for abolition, aiming first at a ban on the execution of women and old people.
On October 10 of this year, we commemorated the World Day against the Death Penalty by reminding the Syrian authorities that the death penalty is a violation of the basic and sacred right to life. We also called on the Syrian intellectual elite to hold conferences and lectures so as to develop an awareness for abolition in society.
IPS: Are you facing resistance from Muslim scholars?
AQ: Muslim scholars are at the front line of resistance to any change that might affect the death penalty. They are in fact more extremist than the authorities regarding abolition. But we have to mention at the same time that there are some Muslim scholars who believe in dialogue as a way to find a common background with abolitionists. We are especially optimistic now that Cheikh Ahmed Hassun has been officially named as Mufti of Syria. He is a reformist scholar and has shown great flexibility regarding another cause, women's rights.
IPS: Can, then, Islam accommodate global human rights?
AQ: I do absolutely believe there are no real hindrances in our civilisation standing in the way of abolition. What people say about the use of the death penalty in monotheistic religions is due to a misunderstanding of the holy texts and the possibilities for a more humanistic interpretation. A modern, humanist interpretation, as distinct from a traditional one, would result in a different view of legislation on human rights and the right to life.
Of course, developments should be progressive. We should not be deterred from working for abolition by the difficulties we meet with extremist groups who kill people and terrorise intellectuals on behalf of religion. Abolition is a historical necessity for mankind, like the abolition of slavery and criminalisation of torture.
Currently there are 124 abolitionist countries in the world. The Syrian authorities should follow this global trend and eliminate the sanction of death from all Syrian laws. The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with the commitment not to use the death penalty and the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court should be ratified. All Syrian laws should be brought in line with international norms and founded on the principle of human rights. Penal policies should be aimed at reinstating prisoners back into society.
IPS: Is there more than one organisation in Syria campaigning for abolition?
AQ: Unfortunately, there are few human rights organisations campaigning effectively for abolition. We are currently working in cooperation with our allies to found a Syrian Alliance against the Death Penalty. This would gather together human rights organisations, political parties, intellectuals, artists and writers. We will also hold a campaign and present an abolition proposal to parliament.
IPS: Will you achieve your aims within the process of democratisation in Syria or separately from this?
AQ: There's no doubt that abolition is related to all other conditions of democracy in the country. Of course, there are some countries which are not democratic and yet are abolitionist. But I believe that democracy will normally lead to abolition.
IPS: Isn't, then, campaigning for human rights, and especially abolition, necessarily a political matter?
AQ: It is difficult to separate the political and human rights battles in the Arab world. But it would be more profitable for the abolitionist cause in Syria to keep a wide separation between politics and the death penalty, especially since the death penalty is not actually used against political opponents. Our orientation should be humanistic. (END)
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