Syria: Incommunicado detention/torture

Index Number: MDE 24/028/2008
Date Published: 15 September 2008
Categories: Syria

Usra al-Hussein and Bayan Saleh ‘Ali are married to men who are being detained, one by the US and the other by the Syrian authorities, because of suspicions about their involvement in Islamist activities. The two women were arrested by State Security officers on 31 July and 4 August 2008 respectively, at their homes in the village of al-‘Otayba, 20km east of Damascus. They have been held incommunicado since then, which puts them at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.