In the wake of the announcement that President Clinton will meet next month in Geneva with Syrian President Hafez Assad, the State Department said it is continuing to raise human rights concerns with Damascus.
Speaking on Human Rights Day last Friday, the assistant secretary of state for human rights, John Shattuck, said Secretary of State Warren Christopher discussed human rights with Assad during Christopher’s recent swing through the Middle East.
When asked whether the issue of human rights in Syria could be given short shrift as the United States pushed for progress in the Middle East peace process, Shattuck said, “Secretary Christopher has repeatedly brought up the issue of human rights, even most recently in his discussions with President Assad in Syria.
“So the consistent application of human rights standards to our bilateral discussions in the region is quite clear,” Shattuck said.
The human rights situation in Syria, especially Syria’s treatment of its 1,350-person Jewish community, has long been a concern of the Jewish community here.
After the Clinton-Assad meeting was announced last Thursday, some Jewish leaders said that to gain such a meeting, Assad should be required to live up to his recent promises to allow Syria’s Jewish community to leave the country.
Next month, the State Department is expected to release its annual human rights report, viewed as a barometer of American attitudes toward human rights concerns around the world.
Syria has consistently been lambasted for its human rights record, not only for its detention of Jews but for the slaughters and imprisonments of other Syrians. It has been charged with torture, genocide and illegal imprisonments and is on the State Department’s list of countries which support terrorism.
In the past year, the situation has reportedly improved, although Syria still supports rejectionist Palestinian groups and is reportedly engaged in drug trafficking.
Shattuck of the U.S. State Department also commented on the human rights situation in Israel.
He said he had seen improvements there, as well as some setbacks, since the Sept. 13 signing of the Israeli-Palestinian declaration of principles.
He specifically mentioned improvements in the “release of prisoners from Israeli prisons” and “the beginning of some reunification of families.”
Shattuck said that during his recent trip to Israel and Egypt he had raised human rights issues with leaders of both countries.
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