DAMASCUS, Syria, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- A Syrian human rights advocate said Saturday Kurdish prisoners in the country have started a hunger strike demanding to be released.
Lawyer Anwar al-Bunni said dozens of prisoners from the outlawed Kurdish Labor Party started a hunger strike Feb. 8 following "torture and inhumane treatment they faced in prison, starting with a ban on visitors, the bad food and absence of hygiene, to being beaten."
In a statement, he said the prisoners have been detained since May last year following a crackdown on the Kurdish Labor Party after the party declared a truce with Turkey.
The statement condemned the practices and called for the immediate halt to all forms of torture of the Kurds and other prisoners, urging concerned parties to intervene.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Organization in Damascus said Saturday Syrian authorities have released 57 political prisoners, but later re-arrested two of them.
Reportedly among the prisoners were non-Syrian Arabs.
The group welcomed the move, but urged the release of all other political prisoners, as well as halting the continued illegal arrests.
