Justice for Maryam Kallis

To: The Prime Minister Gordon Brown, The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and The Syrian Embassy

WE THE UNDERSIGNED hereby Petition the above Honorable Dignitaries for the immediate action towards the public trial or release without charge of Maryam Kallis from imprisonment in Syria.

RELEVANT FACTS:
British citizen, Maryam Kallis, and her three children had been living with her sister in Damascus Syria where she was studying the Arabic language.

On 15th March 2009, Maryam Kallis was detained by the Syrian authorities and taken into custody.

What is known is that Maryam Kallis was accompanied by her eight-year-old son on her way to meet a friend when she was surrounded by 10 plain clothed security agents in a street in Damascas. They took her to her home where she was aggressively paraded in handcuffs in front of her sister and children while the agents ransacked her home.

Since then she has been held, away from her children without having been given access to any legal representation or even being charged with a crime.

What is unclear is the exact reason for her detention without formal charges it is difficult for anyone to tell.
Masood Kallis went in front of BBC cameras to make an appeal for his wife and to raise awareness about her incarceration. Two days later, she was brought back to her home and shown to her children. The Syrian guards who returned her for the brief visit denied her contact with her children or sister properly. She was taken back to the unknown detention facility.

Maryam Kallis remains in Syrian custody without any charge and is being kept in a secret location.

THE UNDERSIGNED RESPECTFULLY REQUEST:

1.That The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office takes all steps to ensure that either Mrs Kallis is charged or released immediately and brought back to the UK.

2.The Syrian Embassy stops showing injustice by detaining Maryam Kallis without charge. Ensure Ms Kallis is given immediate access to a lawyer of her own choosing, her family and any medical treatment she may require.

3.Gordon Brown shows that he is committed to human rights and will work for all British citizens and residents who are detained abroad in an equal way.