A ninth member of the group who attended the 1 December 2007 meeting of the Declaration for Democratic National Change has now been arrested. Muhammed Haji Darwish was arrested by State Security officials on 8 January 2008. Like the other eight, he is held incommunicado without charge in Damascus. All are at grave risk of torture. They appear to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression and association.
