‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Khayyir, 52, a medical doctor, was arrested in Damascus on 1 February 1992, together with three others in connection with the prohibited Hizb al-‘Amal al-Shuyu’i, the Party for Communist Action (PCA). About 13 others were also arrested around the same time on grounds of their suspected links to the PCA. ‘Abd al-‘Aziz al-Khayyir is the only remaining member of the PCA to remain in prison as all those imprisoned with him were released in December 2001 as part of a presidential amnesty. Amnesty International does not know why he was exempted from the amnesty.
