Tuhama Mahmoud Ma'rouf (; born 1964) is a

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n dentist who was detained from February 2010 to June 2011 for her involvement in the banned Communist Labour Party in the early 1990s.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

designated her a

prisoner of conscience A prisoner of conscience (POC) is anyone imprisoned because of their race, sexual orientation, religion, or political views. The term also refers to those who have been imprisoned or persecuted for the nonviolent expression of their conscienti ...

, "detained solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and association".

Arrest and imprisonment

Ma'rouf was originally detained in 1993 for her involvement with the PCA, along with eight other female activists. The arrests were part of a general crackdown on the party which effectively destroyed it. She was then found guilty and sentenced ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

'' on 5 November 1995 by the

Supreme State Security Court The judicial system of Syria is a synthesis of Ottoman, French, and Islamic laws. The civil, commercial and criminal codes are primarily based on the French legal practices. Promulgated in 1949, those laws have special provisions sanctioned to lim ...

(SSSC) of violating Article 306 of Syria's Penal Code, "membership in a secret organization which aims to change the economic and social status of the state". However, for unknown reasons, authorities did not arrest her to begin her sentence until 6 February 2010 in

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. Three days later, she appeared before the court and was ordered to be transferred to

Adra prison Adra Prison () was a prison in Syria, on the northeast outskirts of Damascus. Political prisoners are held in the prison, along with a mixture of civil prisoners such as traffic offenders, murderers, and drug dealers. In 2014, the prison held more ...

to serve her sentence of six years' imprisonment. On 18 February 2011, she began a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

to demand a transfer to a woman's prison. Amnesty International protested her imprisonment and called for her immediate release, as did the Committee on Human Rights of the

US National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Natio ...

, the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies, and

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

. Ma'rouf was released on 2 June 2011 as part of a general amnesty for political dissidents following the start of the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

protests.

Personal life

Ma'rouf received a degree in dentistry from

Aleppo University University of Aleppo (, also called Aleppo University) is a public university located in Aleppo, Syria. It is the second largest university in Syria after the University of Damascus. During 2005–06, the university had over 61,000 undergraduate ...

in 1997. Her husband, Bakr Sidqi, is a writer and former political prisoner; they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ma'rouf, Tuhama Mahmoud 1964 births Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Syria Living people Syrian activists Syrian women activists Syrian communists Syrian dissidents Syrian prisoners and detainees University of Aleppo alumni