كتاب سوريا وشرعنة الجريمة باللغة الإنكليزية
Syria… Legalizing Crime / Law vs. Justice
Haytham Al Maleh

This book presents three subjects which may seem to the reader unconnected, despite the fact that they are closely linked. All kinds of legal contraventions may emanate from the state of emergency which was declared in 1963, and from mechanisms that can be classified as crimes. Torture which continues to be practised in every official and unofficial – cellars of the intelligence services detention centres lead in most cases to death. The arrests made by the Interior ministry and by security services’ bodies in the name of the martial law deputy governor are justified by the state of emergency and on the grounds of the martial law. Civil prisons in every governorate are crowded with detainees as a result of the state of emergency. Such cases do not spare even individuals who have nothing to do with the political situation in the country.
This introduction is of considerable importance because I have drafted it in the Damascus Central Prison where I am serving a sentence passed by the military criminal tribunal on the grounds of the state of emergency.
On 8 March 1963, a group of military officers led by Ziyad alHariri seized power through a coup d’etat and declared a state of emergency which continues to be in force in contravention of the martial law itself.
I have included in this book the text of the state of the martial law and then I presented the state of emergency which was declared on the grounds of the martial law. This will make it clear to the reader that the state of emergency is illegal and contrary to all international charters and conventions.