Arab human rights organizations convey to you their heartfelt condolences on the passing of president Hafez Assad, secretary-general of the Arab Baath Socialist Party (ABSP). The signatories of this letter look forward with hope to the new leadership soon to be elected that democratic reform and the upholding of human rights would top its list of priorities.

When your party adopted for itself the role of "leading party in State and society," according to Article 8 of the Syrian Constitution, it also took on historical responsibilities.

We were encouraged to write you this letter after we saw the manner in which preliminary elections were held in preparation for your next congress, as well as the calls made to fight corruption and to carry Syria into a new era. We are hopeful that your upcoming party congress would be imbibed with the will for change Syria needs at this momentous juncture in its history.

While laying down the future policies of your country and reviewing the lessons of the past, you undoubtedly realize how grave a responsibility you carry at this point in time. Your party is holding its Ninth National Congress after a long interruption during which the world has seen momentous changes which have invariably affected Syria. Also during this period, a new generation of leaders has evolved -- leaders who have already started bearing their share of the responsibility of decision making even before president Assad passed away.

The Arab human rights organizations signing this letter wish to call your attention to a number of issues related to basic freedoms and human rights in Syria. While choosing to address you in this open and frank manner, we are certain that you -- as individuals -- with your open minds and your will for change will take our recommendations into consideration.

You undoubtedly recognize that democracy and the respect of human rights have become the yardsticks by which societies and governments are judged at the start of the new millennium. Unfortunately, and despite being a signatory to a number of international conventions on human rights, Syria has failed to implement most of the provisions of these conventions. This is a source of deep concern for independent and fair-minded Arab and international human rights watchdogs.

The application of emergency legislation and martial law not only oppresses the people and makes a normal political life untenable, it also makes a mockery of the Syrian Constitution which contains many articles upholding human dignity and basic liberties.

One of the consequences of the application of martial law in Syria has been a profusion in the number of political prisoners, many of whom have been detained for long periods without trial, or were sentenced to long periods in prison by the Supreme State Security Court -- a court that was described by former constitutional court chief judge Nasrat Mulla Haidar as lacking in judicial authority. This court is a result of martial law, and it is your responsibility to abolish it.

We call upon you to make the brave and historical decision of doing away with political detentions once and for all, releasing all political prisoners, and restoring to them their full civil rights as guaranteed by the Syrian Constitution.

Failing to find a solution to the issue of political prisoners will perpetuate an open wound in Syrian society. It is an affront to liberty and to the rights of many Syrian political movements and individuals whose only crime was to differ from the official line on how to serve their country best.

Our organizations welcomed the steps taken by the Syrian government in recent years to release prisoners of conscience. But we believe that such steps remain deficient so long as the principle of political detention is still applied and so long as the grisly detention centers -- those symbols of human degradation -- still operate. In addition, hundreds of released political prisoners are still deprived of their civil rights by order of the Supreme State Security Court. They are prevented from traveling, their movements are restricted, and many have lost their jobs.

We call on you to find a speedy solution to these people's problems whose civil rights have been violated not once but twice: first when they were held for extended periods without a legal basis; and second when they were deprived of their constitutionally- and internationally-guaranteed rights of travel, movement, and work.

Another issue we wish to raise at this point is that of voluntary and forced Syrian exiles, the cream of the country's professionals and intellectuals who are scattered all around the world. It is essential that a solution be found to the problem of the brain drain in Syria. These exiles must be allowed to return home with their dignity intact to participate in the country's development. A blanket pardon should be issued that does not take security issues into account as a condition for the exiles' return.

A transparent, democratic society in which civil organizations are allowed to flourish is more capable of facing up to external threats than one devoid of political plurality and stifled by fear. A society in which security services hold sway and in which fighters for democracy and against the Zionist project are jailed is an inherently weak one. It is for this reason that we call upon you to pay due attention to this issue -- and consider changes to the 1953 Associations Act which is no longer relevant to the requirements for change and progress in Syria.

Our colleagues working in the field of human rights in Syria have been persecuted since 1991. Some of them are still under arrest. We demand that you allow them to pursue their activities publicly and legitimately. We call upon you to provide them with protection, as stipulated by the World Declaration for the Protection of Defenders of Human Rights issued by the UN General Assembly December 9, 1998.

A vibrant civil society with active civil organizations is an historical necessity in this day and age. We therefore call upon you to permit our colleagues, members of the Committees for the Defense of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights in Syria, to engage freely, publicly, and legitimately in their activities.

We finally wish your congress every success. We hope that it will fulfil the aspirations of the Syrian people, and prove to be a starting point for putting the country in a better position on the world map.