[BBC News] Lina Sinjab - Today Syria is no longer isolated by the West. But the authorities show no sign of relinquishing the tight control which the Baath Party has exerted since it took power in a 1963 coup and banned all opposition. A campaign of arrests has left an estimated 6,000 people in jail as political prisoners. Meanwhile, about 400-450 people are subject to official travel bans, although the real number could be in the thousands, human rights groups say. "There is a continuous deterioration in the human rights situation in Syria," says lawyer and head of the Syrian Human Rights Organization Mohannad al-Hassani.
2009-07-15 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive