Maastricht inhabitant arrested in Syria

The 60-year old Dutch national who was arrested on 11 May in the Syrian capital Damascus is an active member of Human Rights organisation Amnesty International. Abdullah Al Mansouri also works for Vluchtelingenwerk Nederland (Dutch Council for Refugees) and was a candidate for the Green Party (GroenLinks) at the local council elections in March, said Amnesty International.

According to Amnesty International, the reasons for Al Mansouri’s arrest are unclear. Al Mansouri is the chairman of the Ahwaz Liberation Organisation, a group supporting the rights of Ahwazi Arabs in Iran. According to Amnesty, Ahwazi Arabs living in the Iranian Ahwaz region are being oppressed by Iranian authorities. Al Mansouri had travelled to Damascus to visit friends and acquaintances who had fled Iran like him. Fifteen other people were also arrested.

Amnesty international said that the Dutch national is an inhabitant of Maastricht with Arab origins. He has been living in the Netherlands since 1989. He has a wife and four children. According to Amnesty, Al Mansouri has been unjustly arrested and is being held in an unknown location. “Al Mansouri was legally sojourning in Syria and is not a violent man”, said a spokesperson. “We are afraid that he is being tortured and that he might be handed over to Iran, where he risks prosecution”. Together with his family, the Maastricht branch of Amnesty International is trying to get in touch with Al Mansouri.

Amnesty said that Al Mansouri has good contacts with the Mayor and councillors of Maastricht. Al Mansouri is active in the municipal commission for integration. The Maastricht branch of Amnesty International has set up an action group for the release of Abdullah Al Mansouri.

Source: Novum, Elsevier (in Dutch), 19 May 2006

More information: Amnesty International Maastricht