Detainees in Hama prison begin 2nd week of hunger strike

Detainees in Hama prison begin 2nd week of hunger strike

Syrian detainees are now in the second week of a hunger strike that they started on Monday (Nov. 12) at Hama prison in protest at their continued detention, and unlawful death sentences of their fellow detainees.

The detainees called on Monday (Nov. 19) the Assad regime to allow them to meet with the Russian envoy at the Hmeimim military air base.

The detainees’ families cancelled a planned sit-in in Hama city centre, fearing detention by the Assad regime.

A detainee appealed through a footage published on social media on Sunday (Nov. 18) to his fellow Syrians, all international and human rights organizations and the Red Cross to stand by the detainees in Hama Central Prison and to make all efforts to release them.

The detainees include political detainees incarcerated for their opposition to the Assad regime and their participation in protests calling for the downfall of the Assad regime seven years ago.

The Assad regime plans to transfer 11 detainees from Hama Central Prison to Sednaya Military Prison to execute their earlier "arbitrary death sentences."

Amnesty International has described Sednaya prison near Damascus as "a human slaughterhouse".

"The ongoing hunger strike is a stark reminder of the flawed judicial processes in Syria," Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Sunday.

The Free Syrian Lawyers Commission called last week on the international community to act to rescue hundreds of thousands of detainees in Assad prisons, especially Hama Central Prison.

Tens of thousands of Syrian detainees are believed to have died in Assad regime prisons since the start of the revolution more than seven years ago.