DAMASCUS, Syria, May 29 (UPI) -- The Syrian Network for Human Rights said political and human rights activists rounded up two weeks ago were suffering health problems.
A statement by the group released Monday said "we express our deep concern over information that we received about the deterioration of health conditions of certain political prisoners."
It said among the ill activists, lawyer Anwar Bunni who runs the risk of a total health collapse due to a hunger strike he has been observing to protest his unjust detention, activist Aref Dalilah who suffers from heath problems and activists Mahmoud Sarem and Mohammed Ghanem who are stricken by sadness and depression.
Sarem was detained four months ago for his human rights and political activities, while Ghanem has been held for two months for the same reasons.
The Syrian authorities also rounded up 13 political and rights activists and released three in the past two weeks for signing a document dubbed the Beirut-Damascus Declaration which called for rectifying Lebanese-Syrian relations. The document was signed by 500 Lebanese and Syrian intellectuals.
Dalilah was arrested at the end of 2001 when the Syrian authorities sought to muzzle activists who enjoyed relative freedom of expression during the so-called Damascus Spring that followed President Bashar Assad's accession to power succeeding his late father, Hafez Assad.
Dalilah, a university professor and economist, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and excluded from a presidential amnesty under which most the detainees of the Damascus Spring have been freed.
The latest bunch of detained activists were held at the civilian Adra prison with homicide convicts and referred to trial by a civilian court.
The network's statement called on the authorities to "intervene quickly and free the activists to enable them to receive proper health care."
