Case Information: Walid al-Bunni

NAME:	AL-BUNNI, Walid
DATE OF BIRTH:	1963
PROFESSION:	Physician
DATE OF ARREST:	September 9, 2001
STATUS:	Released
CASE TYPE:	Resolved, Private
Summary and Current Status In early September 2001, physician Walid al-Bunni was arrested, just a few days after attending a discussion forum aimed to promote democratic freedoms in Syria. Nine others who had recently participated in such forums were arrested as well. On July 31, 2002, the Syrian state security court convicted Dr. al-Bunni on charges of attempting to change the constitution by illegal means, inciting armed rebellion, and spreading false information. He was sentenced to five years in prison, which included time already spent in detention. Syria’s state security court's procedures reportedly do not meet international fair-trial standards, including that its judgments cannot be appealed. After serving all but seven months of his sentence, Dr. al-Bunni was unexpectedly released from prison on January 18, 2006. Background Dr. al-Bunni is an ear, nose, and throat specialist. He helped launch in 2001 the independent Syrian Human Rights Association. Dr. al-Bunni was one of ten advocates of reform arbitrarily arrested by military intelligence in August and September 2001. Those arrested were participants in democracy discussion forums that had emerged during the previous year as Syrians exercised limited freedoms that had been denied them during the thirty-year rule of former President Hafez al-Assad. Following the death in June 2000 of President Hafez al-Assad, his son, Bashar—who became the new president of Syria—initially embarked on a policy of economic reform aimed at attracting investment, reforming government bureaucracy, and combating corruption. There was a more relaxed political atmosphere, and freedom of speech was marginally permitted. The state-controlled press began publishing comparatively open discussions of democracy and political reform, and the country saw the launch of its first independent newspapers in four decades. As was reported at the time by the Lebanese daily as-Safir, Dr. al-Bunni joined more than 1,000 other public figures—academics, artists, and professionals—in signing a statement urging President Assad to introduce political reforms, including democratic elections, an independent judiciary, and equal standing for women in Syrian society. During the remainder of 2000 and into 2001, the forums, where political issues were freely debated, quickly grew in number across the country. They were typically held in individual homes, often with overflowing attendance. Then, beginning in February 2001, in an abrupt about-face, the government imposed new restrictions on their activities, stating that the groups had violated government guidelines. One of the restrictions was the newly imposed requirement that the groups obtain official permission from the authorities before holding any meetings. It is our understanding that most of the applications by these groups to hold meetings were turned down. Several of the groups reportedly decided to hold meetings anyway. In August 2001 two opposition figures who had taken part in some of the forums were arrested. One of the groups, the National Dialogue Forum led by member of Parliament Riad Seif—that had tried for seven months without success to obtain official permission to hold a meeting—decided to convene a meeting on September 5, 2001. During the next three days, eight individuals who had attended the meeting were arrested. According to Amnesty International, after his arrest, Dr. al-Bunni was taken to Adra prison and initially held incommunicado and in solitary confinement, before gaining access to his lawyers and being allowed family visits. In March 2002, a number of prisoners, including Dr. al-Bunni, went on hunger strike. A statement by prisoners' wives said that the prisoners were protesting their unjustified detention and limited access to legal counsel, and that they were demanding better health care. By the end of the month, three of the prisoners were hospitalized. In late June 2002, Amnesty International reported they were no longer on strike. On May 9, 2002, eight months after his arrest, Dr. al-Bunni was brought before the State Supreme Security Court (SSSC) for the beginning of his trial. It was only then that he was informed that he had been charged with attempting to change the constitution by illegal means, inciting armed rebellion, and disseminating false information about the government. Although the prosecution reportedly failed to produce any credible evidence to support the charges, Dr. al-Bunni was convicted by the SSSC on July 31, 2002, and sentenced to five years in prison. According to Amnesty International, the SSSC lacks both independence and impartiality, and “trials before the SSSC breach international fair trial standards and fail to meet the requirements of Syria’s own laws or conform with practices in Syria’s ordinary courts.” Defendants’ lawyers reportedly are not free to meet their clients in detention without written permission from the president of the SSSC, which is often withheld. According to Human Rights Watch, lawyers of defendants tried by the SSSC are not guaranteed access to clients prior to trial, trial proceedings begin before lawyers have had an opportunity to see the case files, and the court often denies lawyers the opportunity to engage in oral arguments on behalf of their clients. Furthermore, defendants sentenced by the SSSC have no right to appeal their verdicts to a higher authority. Dr. al-Bunni was considered to be a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International, which, along with other international human rights groups, had called for his unconditional release.			Related Articles Two Syrian Scientific Colleagues Freed (2/1/06)