mr president the commission shares the concerns of the european parliament with regard to the human rights situation in syria
our assessment is that the situation has deteriorated over recent months with more arbitrary detentions harassment of human rights defenders and travel bans
the arrest on twenty-eight august of mr muhannad al hassani a well known lawyer president of the national organisation for human rights in syria and a member of the damascus bar association for fifteen years is the most recent example
mr al hassani is a human rights defender and one might suspect that his arrest is politically motivated
the eu has already expressed its concerns to the syrian authorities
syria must observe its international commitments in particular the universal declaration of human rights and the international covenant on civil and political rights to which syria is a state party
the commission through its delegation in damascus together with member states embassies are discussing how to more effectively and efficiently act in defence of human rights defenders
clearly we have to continue calling for actions to protect human rights defenders and to ensure the observation of trials at the supreme state security court
we must continue to support the civil society through our instruments such as the non-state actors and the european instrument for democracy and human rights budget lines and give moral support to the families
despite being important these actions are nevertheless insufficient
we believe the eu would have a stronger leverage on syria if the association agreement was signed
i am glad that the presidency is contemplating its signature in the coming weeks
with this agreement we will establish a regular dialogue to advise on these issues and achieve better results
