Syria pressured to free detainees ahead of summit

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday urged Arab leaders to pressure Syria over the continued detention of political and human rights activists at this week's Arab summit in Damascus.

The US-based group called on Syria to release activists currently being held, which include prominent writer Michel Kilo, former MP Riad Seif and Aref Dalilah, former dean at the Syrian University.

The detentions violate international human rights laws and the Arab Charter on Human Rights, HRW said.

The group said Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa "should ask Syria to demonstrate its commitment to the Arab charter by releasing the detained activists".

“This is the Arab League’s opportunity to show that it cares about the principles that it has enacted in the charter,” Joe Stork, regional director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

The 20th Arab summit began on Saturday, marked by the absence of half the leaders of the Arab world, notably US allies Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan who blame Syria for the political crisis gripping Lebanon.

The US called last week for Arab countries to reflect before deciding to participate in the summit, also accusing Damascus of paralysing Lebanese politics.

Analysts have predicted a weak turnout and few results by the end of the summit.

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