Syrian Canadian's release requested

[struggle4progress]

Treatment of man held in Damascus criticized by Amnesty International

By ALAN FREEMAN
With a report from Colin Freeze
Thursday, October 14, 2004 - Page A17

<snip> Arwad Al-Boushi, a 45-year-old engineer, was arrested in July, 2002, when he travelled to the Syrian capital from his home in Saudi Arabia to visit his father, who was critically ill. Except for a brief period of freedom a few weeks later, when he was allowed to attend his father's funeral, Mr. Al-Boushi has been in jail ever since.

"We continue to be gravely concerned that Mr. Al-Boushi's arrest, detention, treatment in prison and trial may contravene international human-rights standards," Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty's Canadian arm, wrote this week in a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew.

Mr. Al-Boushi, who lived in Ottawa from 1989 to 1996, is the last from a group of four imprisoned Syrian Canadians who were arrested and jailed over the course of a year after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The other three, including computer engineer Maher Arar, whose arrest by U.S. authorities and subsequent deportation to Syria have sparked a judicial inquiry in Canada, have all returned to Canada.

The case of Mr. Al-Boushi, also known as Mr. Al-Buchi, has received scant attention because he was living in Saudi Arabia before his arrest and because family members, including a brother living in Canada, have been reluctant to take his case public for fear of retribution. Mr. Al-Boushi's wife and three children remain in Jeddah, where he was employed by an oil company. <snip>

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