Help Amnesty stop the torture of journalists

PLEASE DONATE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS FROM TORTURE:Journalists Abuzar al-Amin from Sudan and Salemeh Kaileh from Syria tortured while in detention 

Help us prevent the torture of journalists and other human rights defenders at risk

Abuzar al-Amin, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of  a pro-opposition newspaper in SudanArrested and tortured for his work as a journalist

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Dear human rights supporter,

Torture.

It makes one shiver and re-coil even to think about it. To actually suffer it is an unimaginable cruelty.

That's why Amnesty International campaigns so vigorously against every instance of torture, and why we worked for decades for its complete ban under international law.

We know that journalist Abuzar al-Amin endured torture while detained by Sudanese security officials.

But now in Syria we're hearing that torture is taking place not just in jails - but in hospitals: a Palestinian journalist Salemeh Kaileh was subjected to frequent and severe beatings this past April in a Syrian hospital while blindfolded and tied to a bed.

“Unfortunately, the hospital was much worse than what I was subjected to in prison. It was not a hospital, but a slaughterhouse.”
Salameh Kaileh is a 57-year-old Jordanian national of Palestinian descent, who had lived and worked in the Syrian capital Damascus since 1981. But on on April 24, plain clothes officials from Syria’s Air Force Intelligence arrested him during a raid on his flat in Barzah, a Damascus suburb.

Help us stop torture

Journalist Salameh Kaileh suffered torture while in custody in a Syrian prison and military hospital. © Private

Salemeh sustained injuries from severe beatings overseen by Syrian security forces and doctors @ private

Abuzar shows bruises sustained as a result of torture by Sudan's security agents Photo @ Sudanese Tribune

Following his arrest, Kaileh was held at Syria's Air Force Intelligence branch, where he was insulted and beaten for days. Officers used the falaqa torture method on him, whipping the soles of his feet with a thin bamboo stick. On 3 May, Kaileh was transferred to another Air Force Intelligence branch, where medical professionals referred him to a military hospital in al-Mezzeh after confirming he bore signs of having been tortured.
While at the military hospital, he faced even more torture than before. Kaileh and the other patients were crammed in - two or three to a bed - their hands and feet bound and their faces covered with blankets. Salameh's dreadful ordeal shows the extent to which the Syrian authorities will go to attempt to crush dissenting voices.
His horrendous account mirrors the reports we’ve received about thousands of detainees being tortured and ill-treated in detention – often in extremely poor prison conditions – amid the Syrian government’s crackdown over the past 15 months.

Since the beginning of widespread, largely peaceful pro-reform protests in Syria in February 2011, a crackdown on dissent has led to thousands of suspected opponents being arrested. During that time, many, if not most, detainees have been tortured and at least 350 people have died in custody.
Torture in all its forms is illegal, and the most basic violation of human rights and dignity. Whether it's journalists, human rights defenders, protesters, no one should be tortured. Not in a jail cell, not in a hospital. 

Please help us end the horrific practice of torture wherever it occurs by making a commitment to support Amnesty International.
Yours Sincerely,

Alex Neve
Secretary General
Amnesty International Canada

P.S. Thank you for joining more than 4,000 Canadians who spoke out to protect Sudanese journalist Abuzar al-Amin, who like Salameh, was tortured during his time of detention. Please help us protect journalists and other human rights defenders from torture by saying "yes I want to make a commitment to be a regular supporter of Amnesty International".