Syrian Activist Ghayath Mattar Killed In Detention - Show Your Solidarity

Eight ambassadors to Syria took a dramatic step this week in condemning the Syrian crackdown by attending a vigil for a well-known Syrian activist. The activist, Ghayath Mattar, was reportedly killed under torture by security forces last week in Daraya, and his death was honored by hundreds of Syrians and the ambassadors from the US, Great Britain, Japan, and other EU countries.

The coordinated attendance of so many foreign leaders was an unprecedented and powerful statement of solidarity with the Syrian people that follows the deaths of an estimated 2,600 Syrians to date and confirmed reports of at least 95 deaths in detention.

The spiraling total of detainee deaths, together with the Syrian authorities’ failure to conduct any independent investigations, points to a pattern of systematic, government-sanctioned abuse in which every detainee must be considered at serious risk.

Show your solidarity

After more than six months of protests and government repression in Syria, global activism calling for an end to the human rights abuses of the Assad regime has not faded. In fact, activists from around the world have grown increasingly vocal and visible.

We are tracking this activism and are spreading the messages of solidarity through our new website Eyes on Syria. The site uses an interactive map to document individual cases of Syrians who died in detention, as well as activists from Croatia to California who have sent in pictures of their actions of solidarity (big thank you to our friends from Blueraster for their help with implementing this project).

One great example comes from a group of youth activists from Albany high school in California who took the initiative to hold an event to demonstrate their support for Syrians. Their event not only spread the word about the escalating situation in Syria to their community, but they generated almost a hundred pictures of activists with powerful messages of solidarity. You can see more pictures at the activism layer of Eyes on Syria.

You can join these activists by

• taking a picture of yourself with a message of solidarity for Syrian peaceful protestors and sending it to [email protected]. Please include your location and brief description in order to appear on the Eyes on Syria activism map.
• acting on some of the ten Urgent Actions for Syria currently posted on Eyes on Syria to help Syrians at risk. The individuals at risk include friends of activist Ghayath Mattar. Your letters can protect them.