After Syria Amnesty, Contradictory Numbers on Releases
A week after Syria announced a wide-ranging amnesty, state media, a newspaper close to the government, and activists have offered wildly contradictory figures on the number of prisoners freed.
Activists said they could confirm the release of only several dozen prisoners and were skeptical of other numbers being bandied about.
Activist groups that monitor the situation of political prisoners in Syria do not yet have full lists of names of the released, sparking concern about the transparency of the process.
There are also contradictions between the figures published by state news agency SANA, which put the number at 1,200 freed, and al-Watan, a newspaper close to the government, which said Monday that some 10,000 detainees had been released.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, also gave a different number, saying 2,700 prisoners had been released across Syria.
Al-Watan said among the 10,000 freed were 4,500 accused under the country's controversial "terrorism" law, which has seen tens of thousands of peaceful and armed opponents jailed.
The newspaper quoted the chief prosecutor at the country's terrorism court as saying "the process of releasing detainees will continue throughout the month".
And the daily predicted that the number of those freed could rise to 30,000 prisoners, noting that some 150,000 people are currently in jails in Syria.
According to the Observatory, 100,000 people have been arrested by the government since the beginning of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime.
Among those are 18,000 people whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
Human rights activists have described dire conditions in jails and security facilities used to hold prisoners in Syria, with mistreatment common.
The amnesty announced last week is the first that has extended to those facing charges under the country's anti-terrorism legislation, which has been used against peaceful activists among others.
Though the amnesty should apply to tens of thousands of people, activists said that only a few hundred had been freed so far and prominent figures including journalist Mazen Darwish remained in jail.
Last week, Raneem Maatuq, the daughter of a prominent rights lawyer who has also been jailed, was freed, though there was no word on the release of her father.
Also freed was Jalal Nawfal, a doctor and leftist opposed to Assad's regime who had been jailed since early 2014 for his dissident activities.
Source: Agence France Presse
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