Kamal al-Labwani

Kamal al-Labwani
Dr. Kamal al-Labwani
Born	(1957-10-10) October 10, 1957 (age 59)
Nationality	Syrian
Occupation	Doctor, Activist
Known for	Democracy Campaigner, Prisoner of Conscience

Dr. Kamal al-Labwani (born October 10, 1957 in Zabadani, Syria) is a Syrian doctor and artist, considered one of the most prominent members of the Syrian opposition movement. He was released from Adra Prison, near Damascus on November 15, 2011, according to state media. Before his release, Amnesty International called him a prisoner of conscience.

Dr. Al-Labwani comes from the small town of Zabadani in the Rif Dimashq province, close to the Lebanese border.

In 1982, while serving as a military doctor, he observed the Hama massacre, in which the government crushed the uprising by the Muslim Brotherhood. This induced him to oppose the ruling Ba'ath party.

He founded the Syrian Liberal Democratic Union and joined the "Damascus Spring" movement, which briefly flourished after Bashar al-Assad became President of Syria in June 2001 after the death of his father.

Kamal al-Labwani was arrested in September 2001 after attending a political seminar in the house of fellow activist and politician Riad Seif. Al-Labwani was taken to ‘Adra prison and held initially in incommunicado detention and then in solitary confinement. Subsequently he gained access to his lawyer and he was allowed family visits. On 28 August 2002 the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) sentenced him to three years in prison on charges including "inciting armed revolt". After serving his sentence he was released in September 2004.

During his first imprisonment al-Labwani was not allowed writing or reading materials but obtained painting supplies in his cell after holding a hunger strike, during which he lost 20 kg. He wrote two books and several poems "in his head", but most of his paintings were confiscated. In 2005, he managed to bring about 40 of his paintings to England, which were then shown at an exhibition in Basildon. With the sale of some of his paintings, he financed his trips to the U.S. and through Europe, attempting to raise support for the opposition in Syria, on a platform of democracy and human rights. During these trips he attended the Liberal Democrats’ Conference and visited the UK Houses of Parliament, the European Parliament, and the White House. He was the first human rights defender and dissident from inside Syria to be invited to discuss the case for Syrian Democracy at the White House.