Assyrian Men held in Syrian jail for 20 years....(sign petition)

Enki

Enki

Active member
As many of you may have heard already, an Assyrian man (Jacob Hanna) has been held in a Syrian jail for 20 years now. Only now are we finding this information out. Nobody had mentioned anything about it.

The Assyrian Democratic Organization is working feverishly to free this man from jail. He left Syria and worked in Beirut. He would send as much money as he could afford to his family back in Syria. Because of this, he missed manditory military service (which is a criminal offence). However, after a few years, Haffiz Al-Assad (then President, and same ass clown that jailed my father and a few other members of ADO) released a statement saying he would pardon all those that fled Syria to avoid military service as long as they came back and joined the army. This man with a pure heart decided to come back home and would join the army upon his return.

Only a few days after his arrival back into Syria, the Mukhabarat (Secret Police) came and arrested him and his brother. His family, not knowing what had happened to them, looked for them but eventually gave up the search and assumed they were dead.

A few days ago, the brother of Jacob Hanna was released and returned home. His parents did not even recognize their son. My dad can attest to this. He was in jail for 15 days and said he did not recognize himself when he looked in a mirror. They beat you down mentally and physically.

The parents went to the jail and saw their son, again they didn't recognize him either. They went to the Assyrian Democratic Organization to try and help free him. Which is where we stand today.

The ADO all over the world is feverishly working to free this man by all political means necessary. They are also seeking compinsation for his family for the loss of their sons for over 20 years. Its a bizzar story, but one that must have a happy ending too. These two men will NEVER be the same. With personal experiances, my father has never been the same and he was only in jail for 15 days.

In any case, please please PLEASE! Sign the petition below. I'm sorry, but the petition is in Arabic and I dont speak it or read it so I can't translate for you. Help your Assyrians through out the world. This incident is also being reported to the Assyrian Human Rights Watch lead by the Council of Assyrian Research and Development which is based in Canada. I also would not doubt it if ADO brought this matter up to the Kurdish Syrian conference in Washington, DC on March 13th as a human rights violation which Syria has committed.

Thanks for your support!

ADO Website:
http://www.ado-world.org

Petition:
http://www.rezgar.com/camp/i.asp?id=53
 
Please sticky this. I think its a very important topic. Its been ignored by a lot of people in the Politics/History section because all they seem concerned about is which Bishop is right.

Thanks MojaMoja for signing the petition! I urge you all, once again, to support this man and to sign the petition! Its been up for 3 days and we're over 100 signitures! Keep it up guys lets free this man and make thigs right!

If you remember the story of Father Akbulot in Turkey who was arrested because he refused to deny the Holocaust of the Armenians and then stated, "Not only did the Turks and Kurds kill the Armenans, but you also slaughtered the Assyrians and Greeks!"

He was obviously arrested and was going to be tried. But with the major support from ADO and the Assyrians around the world, the political pressure placed on the Turks and the Turkish court was unbelievable. Even Madeline Albright had sent a letter to the Turkish Minister to release the man.

Remember, this is a small village and a small court where he was tried. But there were so many European and American journalists and media coverage, that they eventually dismissed the charges after 3 court sessions. Keep in mind however, each session was postponed and each time, the media grew and grew.

Why did I give that example? To show how powerful we can be when we're organized and united. We can shake the world! We still have that ability. We just need to realize it and utilize it!
 
Thats awesome! Thanks dude! Please spread the word to your family and friends not affiliated with AssyrianVoice.net
 
Driv3r said:
i will do! most cant speak or read arabic but im sending a email out to all my assyrian mates!
Click to expand...

My dad was going to give me a rough translation of the arabic text which I'd then edit and post online for everyone. Just waiting for his email.
 
Very rough translation of the Arabic text on the petition page

-----------------------------------------------------------

Many Syrians through many years, have been arrested and jailed in Syria without bringing them to court. These people have been tortured and appear to have disappeared.  Often times, nobody knows or hears anything about them and their situation. Even their relatives often do not know where their loved ones have disappeared. This is especially true when this person comes from a second or third class family whose relatives, out of fear of the regime, don?t want to talk abut them or mention their name.

Mr. Yaaqoub Hanna Shamaoun is an Assyrian Christian who was in his youth when they arrested and jailed him twenty years ago. He was jailed in the SYDNAYA prison in Syria along with his brother Fawaz.

Mr Yaaqoub Hanna Shamaoun was born in Qamishly, Syria in 1963.
His brother Fawaz Hanna Shamaoun was born in Qamishly, Syria 1966.

They both went to Lebanon in 1972 with their family looking for a job. When Mr. Haffez Al-Assad, the president of Syria at the time, made a statement at the beginning of 1985 urging all Syrians abroad who had not completed their military service to come back to Syria and he would drop all the charges against them. As soon as they arrived in Syria, both men went directly to the military service office in Qamishly to apply to join the Syrian military.

But on the night of July 1st 1985 the secret police in Qamishly came to their home and arrested both of them. They were tortured brutally and continuingly in the Qamishly prison. Their family did not hear anything about them or see them for over one month and had presumed the worse.

In 1996, the police released Fawaz Hanna Shamaoun without a court hearing. However, his brother Mr. Yaaqoub Hanna Shamaoun was left behind in prison with out any information about him or his location. This was until 2001 when the secret police informed his family about his location in SYDNAYA Prison to make a visit to him.

We are asking all human rights organizations and all foreign governments of the world to pressure the Syrian regime into letting Mr. Yaaqoub Hanna Shamaoun have a lawyer and a fair trial and to release him immediately. We also are asking the Syrian regime to pay him and his family for the more then twenty years in prison with out any charges.
 
Petition signed and thread stickyed.

Thanks for posting this and letting us know about Jacob's plight.

 
Riza, here's an update courtesy of AINA:  http://www.aina.org/news/20060428120107.htm

"Besides the Iraqi issue also the worrying situation within Syria was on the agenda of this two-day meeting. Of particular interest was the issue of Mr Yacoub Hanna Shamoun, an Assyrian detainee in Syria for more than 20 years without trial (in violation of all international human rights conventions signed by Syria). On this case in the near future an official request by the European Parliament will be sent to the Syrian government. Ms Gamri discussed the situation of the Assyrian people in Syria in general."

Attiya Gamri is amazing!  A great Assyrian we can all be proud of.
 
I was too late to see this  :blush2:

Sorry i hope they got alot of votes  :)

Good Luck.

I hope there will be a petition for the men held in Iran Jails  :cry:
My uncle has been held there for over 20 years, we have no idea what have happened to him, if he is alive or not  :cry:

May God Be with all of them and keeping them under his care
pray.gif
 
Thats sad to hear Valentina but it is something that has plauged our people all over the Middle East.

In Turkey, a priest in a tiny Assyrian villiage was arrested while conducting mass. Charged because he refused to deny and stop talking about the holocaust the Assyrians suffered at the hands of the Turks and Kurds. Qasha Aqbilut I think was his name.

In any event, ADO made a huge deal of this and with the help of their contacts in Europe, ADO was able to draw huge puplic attention to the matter. The court house was full of international press and after delaying the trial a few days, they finally called it off and dismissed the charges.

Unfortunatly, I dont know what the situation is with this man. I know the head of ADO was asked to meet with congress in Syria. The outcome I think was posted on the ADO website (http://www.ado-world.org). The website is predominantly in Arabic.

Hope it helps. I'll keep you posted on new information if and when I get them.
 
TRANSLATED!!!!    :wavetowel: :clap: :razz:

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ado-world.org&langpair=ar%7Cen&hl=en&safe=off&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools
 
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