As the Syrian popular uprising continues despite the brutal response by the regime that has killed more than 3,500 people during the last eight months, Razan Zaitouneh recounts, from hiding, her daily confrontations with the arrest, torture and disappearance of family members, friends and fellow activists. Through the cracks of regime repression, though, shimmers the widespread sense of connection and solidarity among the activists as well as their undaunted dream of freedom.
This article was first published in Kalamon Issue 3, 2011.
About the Author
Razan Zaitouneh is a Syrian human rights activist, lawyer, and journalist who has gone into hiding after being accused by the government of being a foreign agent. She graduated from law school in 1999 and in 2001 started her work as lawyer. In the same year, Razan was one of the founders of the Human Rights Association in Syria (HRAS).
Since then, she has been a member of the team of lawyers for defense of political prisoners. In 2005, she established SHRIL (the Syrian Human Rights Information Link), through which she continues to report about human rights violations in Syria. Since 2005, Razan Zaitouneh has also been an active member of the Committee to Support Families of Political Prisoners in Syria. In 2011 she received the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought.