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Photo: IRIN

DAMASCUS, 15 March 2006 (IRIN) - Security forces detained human rights activists and a former opposition MP following demonstrations on 14 March marking the anniversary of deadly clashes between Kurds and Syrian security officials in 2004, according to protest participants. On the same day, Human Rights Watch demanded the immediate release of Ammar Qurabi, a spokesman for the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in Syria. Qurabi was detained by security forces two days earlier as he returned from a trip to Washington and Paris, where he attended conferences on democratic reform and human rights. Security forces also detained former MP and opposition activist Riad Seif, along with at least five members of the Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party. The arrests came after Kurdish and Arab demonstrators held a sit-in outside Damascus' Cabinet office to commemorate the 2004 clashes in the northern city of Qamishli that left 30 dead. "Three of the activists wanted to send a message to the Prime Minister on Kurdish demands, such as compensations for the damage following the 2004 clash,” said human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, adding that several demonstrators had been injured in the melee. “Riot police arrested Seif and five other Kurdish activists." While Seif was later released, the five Kurdish activists remain in detention, according to local human rights lawyers. On the same day, security forces also quelled a demonstration by over 500 Kurdish students outside Damascus University. Demonstrators carried red roses and posters of those killed two years ago in the three-day riot, which had followed a football match between rival Arab and Kurdish teams. In Qamishli, the site of the clash and home to a large number of Syria's 1.5 million Kurds, some 15,000 people gathered at the graveyard of the slain. Attendees included representatives of the Kurdish Yakiti and Azadi parties, both of which have been outlawed by Damascus. "The security forces patrolled around the graveyard, but didn’t interfere with or hinder the rally,” said Kurdish Future Party Secretary-General Misha'al Timo, speaking from Qamishli. “The Kurdish people took the decision to hold the rally whatever the consequences." The arrests in Damascus came as a number of opposition figures were prevented from travelling to the US to attend a 13 March conference organised by the Kurdish Front for Promoting Democracy & Freedom in Syria. The Washington-based group seeks to improve the legal status and human-rights conditions of Syrian Kurds. "A number of people we invited weren’t allowed to come,” said conference president Sherkoh Abbas. “Some had their passports taken away and some were even imprisoned." According to Abbas, "seven or eight” Syrian Kurdish parties accepted the invitation to attend the conference. After a 1962 census stripped many Kurdish families of their Syrian nationality, an estimated 300,000 now remain without citizenship. As a result, many Syrian Kurds have limited access to education, property ownership, political participation and even legal marriage. "Syria is denying its Kurdish population numerous fundamental human rights by refusing to address these issues of nationality," US-based Refugees International noted in a recent statement. "Although President Bashar al-Assad has said he wants to resolve the problem, few actions have been taken to reinstate nationality for the Kurdish people." In a 10 November speech, al-Assad announced that the government would soon address the issue in "an expression of the importance of Syrian national unity". Nevertheless, until now, there has been no change to the Kurds’ stateless status. Although there are over a dozen Kurdish opposition parties operating in Syria, they have largely failed to unite effectively. "People have to understand that Kurds aren’t a separatist group, but are very willing to work with other Syrian organisations to bring democracy," said Abbas. "Our goal is also to create a committee to speak with one, united voice on Kurdish issues in Syria."