Name Yahya Shurbaji | ||
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freedom for yahya shurbaji
Yahya Shurbaji (Arabic: يحيى شربجي Yaḥyā Šurbaǧī; born 21 December 1979) is a Syrian political activist and part of the Daraya Youth, a group of activists known for non-violence convictions and change through civic actions.
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Life
Shurbaji was born in Darayya, a suburb of Damascus. He studied at the Faculty of Science of Damascus University but did not finish his degree. His brother Ma'an Shurbaji is also involved in political and social activism.
Activism
He participated in a number of civil action between 1998 and 2003 when he was arrested for 2 years. Later he took part in demonstrations against the US-led invasion of Iraq. He also participated in many demonstrations during the Syrian uprising, while insisting on non-violence of the action on the ground which included not insulting or provoking regime soldiers and security forces, giving flowers to army soldiers who were sent to crush the protests, and giving water bottles to soldiers.
Arrest and Disappearance
He was arrested with his brother Maan and friend Ghiath Matar by the Air Force Security Branch on September 6, 2011, and has not been released since. His cousin Mazen Shurbaji had been taken into custody three days earlier. The body of Matar was sent back to his parents with clear signs of torture and mutilation four days later. Nabil Shurbaji, a close relative of the Shurbaji brothers, who went into hiding since the start of mass arrests carried out by regime forces in September 2011, was captured by intelligence officers near Darayya on February 26, 2012. Both Maan and Yahya Shurbaji's fate and whereabouts remain unclear to this day.
The UN has since then called for the immediate release of Shurbaji and all other political detainees in Syria.