The “Syrian Observatory” has renewed its condemnation of the Syrian regime’s series of arrests of opposition leaders and figures after the arrest, on Wednesday of opposition activist Rashed Al-Sutouf. He was summoned to the offices of the security offices for a second interrogation and then arrested. [Full Story in Arabic]



This arrest has taken place against a background of the arrests and detentions of dozens of peaceful reformists and oppositionists following the convening of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration for Democratic Change last month.



In a statement transmitted to “Aafaq” the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights stated that "the branch office of State Security in the city of Raqqa in northeast Syria arrested the Syrian oppositionist and activist Rashed Al-Sutouf on Wednesday evening, after summoning him for the second time against the background of the detentions of members of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration. He was transferred to the General Directorate of Intelligence in Damascus."



The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights has condemned “in the strongest terms the arrest of Prof. Rashed Al-Sutouf” and demanded that "the Syrian authorities end the practice of arbitrary detention of opponents of the regime and of human rights activists.”



The Observatory also called upon international rights organizations to “intervene at once with the Syrian government to end this campaign of arbitrary arrests and to effect the release of all prisoners of opinion and conscience in Syrian prisons."



The state security apparatus in Syria launched a campaign of arrests last month, which extended to dozens of members of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration. Most of them have been released, but Dr. Fada’ Al-Hourani, President of the National Council, and Dr. Ahmad Tomeh, its General Secretary, and Akram Bunni, Ali Al-Abdullah, Dr. Walid Bunni, Dr. Yasir Al-Eyti, and Jabr Al-Shawfi, all members or elected officers in the National Council, remain in detention.



Rashed Al-Sutouf was a political prisoner from 1987 to 2001, because of his membership in the opposition Communist Labor Party.