The names of six Jews, arbitrarily arrested and held incommunicado in Syria, were read out loud here Wednesday to the U.N. Human Rights Commission by Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Pinhas Eliav.
The envoy named the prisoners and asked for international help to get them released in the course of a detailed report on the conditions endured by Syria’s 4,000 Jews.
Eliav was speaking at a session on “protection of minorities,” part of the commission’s annual conference on human rights.
It was one of the few presentations by Israel, which has maintained a low profile at this year’s conference even though it has been mercilessly pilloried by the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Arab states.
“This small group is still subject to harassment and discrimination and in dire need of protection as a minority,” Eliav said with respect to Syrian Jews.
He said they are under constant surveillance and intimidation by the Syrian intelligence service, “Mukhabarat.”
Their agents are present at all meetings between Jews and foreigners, Eliav said.
“Jews are not allowed to leave the country and, if they are permitted to leave for medical treatment, they must deposit financial guarantees and leave their families behind as hostages,” according to the Israeli envoy.
There is also the question of separation of families — parents from children, including very small children, brothers from sisters and husbands from wives.
“The extent of the suffering caused by this inhumane state of affairs is self-evident,” Eliav said.
Another problem he mentioned was the dearth of Jewish males of marriageable age.
Hundreds of Jewish women cannot find Jewish husbands in Syria, and, with very few exceptions, are not permitted to leave the country to find a matrimonial partner, he said.
Eliav asked the Human Rights Commission to intervene on behalf of the Jewish prisoners in Syria who have not been allowed family visits.
They are Zaki Mamrout, 36, Salim Soued, 50, and Eli Soued, 31, arrested in November 1987; Alber Lahan, 43, and his son, Yeheya Lahan, 19, arrested in December 1987; and Jack Lalo, 50, arrested in July 1988.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
