the Long term State of emergency.

The international declaration of Human Rights and the international convention of civil and political rights both endorsed by the government of Syrian Arab Republic on 21^st April 1969 recognise that a state of emergency could be exceptionally declared within circumstances as such stated by article (4) of the convention such as a danger threatening the security of the state, and according to item (3) of article(4) of the convention which states that:

(every state party of the convention using the right to disengage from its commitments has to inform other states parties of the convention through the UN secretary general about the disengaged articles and the reasons of such disengagement. Likewise, this state has to inform other states in the same way of dates when such disengagements come to an end)

All information available with the Syrian Human Rights Committee prove that the Syrian government has never informed the UN secretary general about disengagement from any item of the aforesaid convention.

After 34 years of its declaration, the state of emergency in Syria has become a permanent situation. It was declared by a martial order No. (2) on 8^th March 1963 and is still in force up to date, so that the exception has been rendered into an original situation while both the international declaration of human rights and the international convention of civil and political rights have been violated ever since because article (4) of the Syrian state of emergency law states that:

( the martial ruler or his deputy may issue written orders to empower all restrictions or to take the following measures and to forward all divergents to courts-martial:

1. to restrict the freedom of assembly, residency, moving and passing at certain times, to detain precautioarily doubtful persons or those who pose danger to security and order, to grant authority to check persons and places at any time, and to give permission to any person to undertake any action.
2. to monitor all kinds of letters and calls , and to monitor before issuance newspapers, newsletters, pamphlets, printed matters, drawings, broadcastings and all sorts of mass media and advertisement, to seize and confiscate them, cancel their concessions, and close their printing houses.
3. to define opening and closing times of public places.
4. to withdraw licenses of arms, ammunition, and all sorts of explosive

   materials, to issue orders to hand them over, to seize them and to close arm stores.

5. to evacuate certain areas or isolate them and reschedule or restrict transport between different areas.
6. to confiscate all moveable or immovable properties, to impose temporary custody on companies and establishments and to put off paying all debts and due commitments.
7. to prescribe punishments imposed on divergents to the mentioned orders, so that punishments should not exceed three years imprisonment and/or three thousand Syrian pounds. If a punishment is not specified for such order, divergents are punished no more than six months imprisonment and/or five hundred pounds without prejudicing the most strict punishment stated elsewhere).

Any person born in Syria in 1963 or later, brought up in the environment of the state of emergency, deprived from fundamental rights (i.e. freedom of opinion, expression, creed, etc.) guaranteed by international covenants will be able to witness the contradiction between what he views and listens to in the latest media and the reality he lives at home. This matter will surely influence his psyche badly and make him inclined to fanaticism and terrorism.

The state of emergency in Syria is in force without genuine reasons. The Syrian Human Rights Committee would like to refer to many victims of martial law who have been subjected to indefinite periods of detention and the confiscation of their properties while they can not resort to any other legal courts to seek justice. The Syrian Human Rights Committee has confirmed information about numerous persons subjected to bodily torture and to more than ten year imprisonment just because of their opinions. Numerous persons also were sentenced to short periods of imprisonment by exceptional courts (i.e. state security courts, courts-martial, etc.) but they have not been released, however some of them have spent more than twenty years in jail.

The Syrian Human Rights Committee would like to express deep concern about the tragic situation of state of emergency in Syria and its implications, and to appeal to all human rights organisations and philanthropists to help alleviating the suffering of the Syrian people by abolishing the state of emergency and ensuring the true return to the constitutional life.