Saana, Oct 4 (ANI): The Syrian government has been accused of torturing the relatives of Syrians protesting overseas to put an end to international criticism about President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The charges are made in a report from Amnesty International, The Long Reach of the Mukhabaraat (the name of the Syrian secret police), which details over 30 cases of direct and indirect intimidation of activists in Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the UK and US, The Guardian reports.
A dissident living in Germany has told Amnesty that his brother was arrested, held for a month and tortured by Syrian military intelligence because of his sibling's anti-regime stance. In Sweden, another pro-reform activist said her activities on the internet and the streets of Stockholm had attracted the attention of the Syrian authorities.
She said that at the end of May, she received a letter in Arabic using her maiden name, which warned her: "Keep quiet or neither you, nor your family in Syria is safe." She said that after being arrested, her brother's hands were broken and was forced to promise that the family would disown his sister.
Anti-regime activists in several countries have reported being harassed, intimidated and even assaulted.
In Illinois, an expatriate Syrian activist reported receiving a menacing email after one of her Facebook friends in Syria was arrested for protesting at his university and being forced to open his account on the social network.
It read: "These words are directed at you, you agent, you traitor. Your messages have come to us ... We are waiting for you to come to the airport so we can show you what is good for you and for what you are doing. We will make an example out of you." (ANI)
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