Syrians living in exile from Sweden to Chile are being closely monitored and "systematically harassed" by Syrian embassy officials who retaliate against anti-government activism by targeting relatives at home, Amnesty International said in a report released Monday, DPA reported.
The briefing paper, released simultaneously in London and Doha, lists more than 30 cases of activists in eight countries: Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Britain and the United States.
The Syrian expatriates report that they have faced intimidation from embassy officials and others and that their relatives in Syria have, as a result, apparently been exposed to harassment, detention and even torture, according to Amnesty.
"Expatriate Syrians have been trying, through peaceful protest, to highlight abuses that we consider amount to crimes against humanity - and that presents a threat to the Syrian," said Neil Sammonds, Amnesty International's Syria researcher.
"In response the regime appears to have waged a systematic - sometimes violent - campaign to intimidate Syrians overseas into silence."
In many cases, the organization found that protesters outside Syrian embassies were photographed by officials before being subjected to harassment of various kinds, including phone calls, emails and Facebook messages warning them to stop.
Some activists reported that they were directly threatened by embassy officials. Naima Darwish, who set up a Facebook page to call for protests outside the Syrian embassy in Santiago, Chile, was contacted directly by a senior official who asked to meet her in person.
"He told me that I should not to do such things," she told Amnesty International. "He said I would lose the right to return to Syria if I continued."
A number of Syrians found that their families back home were targeted by the security forces, apparently to deter them from their activities overseas.
One of the cases listed is that of Alladin Mouhalhel, who was detained in Syria for four days in July after his brother, Imad, had been photographed during a protest outside the Syrian embassy in Madrid.
After apparently being tortured, Alladin was shown photos and videos of protests outside the Syrian embassy in Spain and told to identify Imad among the participants.
On August 29, Aladdin was rearrested and apparently forced to phone Imad to ask him to stop going to the protests. Imad and his family have not heard from Aladdin since then and fear for his safety in detention, said Amnesty.
Another case is that of Malek Jandali, a 38-year-old pianist and composer, who performed at a pro-reform demonstration in front of the White House in July.
His mother and father, aged 66 and 73 respectively, were attacked at their home in Homs later, Amnesty reported. Malek told Amnesty International his parents were beaten and locked in a bathroom while their flat was looted. According to the report, the agents told his parents: "This is what happens when your son mocks the government."
They have since fled the country, while other families have been forced to publicly disown their relatives overseas, Amnesty said.
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