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01-21-2007, 08:57 PM
First published: 19 Jan 2007, 16:47
Amnesty blasts Norwegian authorities
Norwegian diplomats were scrambling to investigate claims that a man expelled from Norway was now imprisoned and possibly being tortured in Syria.
Yassin Suleiman, a Syrian Kurd, was sent back to his homeland after the Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) was unconvinced he needed protection in Norway.
Amnesty International has now begun an emergency action aimed at Norwegian authorities, only the second time Norway has been the target of such an effort.
"We believe the Norwegian authorities have a concrete responsibility to protect Suleiman since he was deported from here," said John Peder Egenæs, acting secretary general of Amnesty Norway, who said that an immediate reaction from Norway to the Syrian authorities was necessary to avoid a breach of international refugee law.
Suleiman, his wife and daughter were expelled and sent with police escort back to Syria in November 2006. On Dec. 21 Suleiman was called in by police in Syria. He and his father went in and they have not been seen since, Amnesty said.
The Norwegian embassy in Damascus has been mobilized as a matter of routine when a person is expelled from Norway, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD) press spokesman Bjørn Jahnsen.
"We are aware of this matter. We don't know what has happened with Suleiman but we are working intensely to find out," Jahnsen said. He would not divulge details on how Norwegian diplomats were proceeding due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The UNE would not admit that their decision to deport Suleiman was wrong. In a letter to news agency NTB the UNE said they had no information about what had happened to Suleiman, or whether his situation was due to something that had occurred after he had left Norway.
"We demand that Norwegian authorities make speedy progress in this matter and do whatever they can, at once, to find out what has happened to Yassin Suleiman in Syria. Our impression is that Norwegian authorities have not reacted swiftly enough in this matter," Egenæs said, and emphasized that there is a great danger that Suleiman will be tortured now that he is imprisoned.
"At this moment tens of thousands of Amnesty members around the world are receiving a message urging them to contact the UD, the Ministry of Labor and Social Inclusion, and UNE director Terje Sjeggestad," Egenæs said.
(Aftenposten English Web Desk/NTB)
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1609371.ece
Amnesty International is the pc pro non white invader organization
Amnesty blasts Norwegian authorities
Norwegian diplomats were scrambling to investigate claims that a man expelled from Norway was now imprisoned and possibly being tortured in Syria.
Yassin Suleiman, a Syrian Kurd, was sent back to his homeland after the Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) was unconvinced he needed protection in Norway.
Amnesty International has now begun an emergency action aimed at Norwegian authorities, only the second time Norway has been the target of such an effort.
"We believe the Norwegian authorities have a concrete responsibility to protect Suleiman since he was deported from here," said John Peder Egenæs, acting secretary general of Amnesty Norway, who said that an immediate reaction from Norway to the Syrian authorities was necessary to avoid a breach of international refugee law.
Suleiman, his wife and daughter were expelled and sent with police escort back to Syria in November 2006. On Dec. 21 Suleiman was called in by police in Syria. He and his father went in and they have not been seen since, Amnesty said.
The Norwegian embassy in Damascus has been mobilized as a matter of routine when a person is expelled from Norway, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD) press spokesman Bjørn Jahnsen.
"We are aware of this matter. We don't know what has happened with Suleiman but we are working intensely to find out," Jahnsen said. He would not divulge details on how Norwegian diplomats were proceeding due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The UNE would not admit that their decision to deport Suleiman was wrong. In a letter to news agency NTB the UNE said they had no information about what had happened to Suleiman, or whether his situation was due to something that had occurred after he had left Norway.
"We demand that Norwegian authorities make speedy progress in this matter and do whatever they can, at once, to find out what has happened to Yassin Suleiman in Syria. Our impression is that Norwegian authorities have not reacted swiftly enough in this matter," Egenæs said, and emphasized that there is a great danger that Suleiman will be tortured now that he is imprisoned.
"At this moment tens of thousands of Amnesty members around the world are receiving a message urging them to contact the UD, the Ministry of Labor and Social Inclusion, and UNE director Terje Sjeggestad," Egenæs said.
(Aftenposten English Web Desk/NTB)
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1609371.ece
Amnesty International is the pc pro non white invader organization