Aref Dalila
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Professor Aref Dalila (Arabic: عارف دليلة) is a Syrian economics professor and former Dean of the Faculty of Economics in Damascus University. He was arrested for his political activity during the Damascus Spring period.
[edit] Life
Professor Dalila was born in Latakia. And holds a PhD. in economics from Moscow University. He worked as an economic expert for the Development Fund of Kuwait in the 80s. He returned to Syria to be the dean of the economics faculty in Damascus University until he was banned from the university in 1998 due to his criticism of the regime's economic policies.
He was arrested in Damascus on 9 September 2001 for a lecture in which he reportedly called for democracy and transparency. He has been adopted by Amnesty International as a ‘prisoner of conscience’. He is serving a 10 year prison sentence.
It is believed that the reason behind his detention is his role in the group "Damascus Spring", a political movement which was founded following the death of former president Hafez Assad in June 2000 and the inheritance of the presidency by his son Bashar Assad. At that time, Syrian intellectuals and general opposition started a peaceful movement to demand democracy and freedom in Syria. After a few months, Syrian authorities started a campaign against the civil society activists and arrested ten of them, most of whom have been released in the past few years. Only Dr. Dalila remains in detention.
[edit] Health concerns
Dr. Dalila is reported to be in poor health, suffering from both diabetes and heart disease. This condition has been further exacerbated by the poor living standards within the prison as well as exposure to harsh treatment. He started a hunger strike on 12 July 2005 in protest against his solitary confinement and ill-treatment. He recently underwent a heart surgery and may need another in the near future.
