A/HRC/13/52 Power. Syria reaffirms the right of the 20,000 Syrians living in the occupied Golan to communicate with their compatriots and family members in Syria. It notes that the prohibition of communication leads to severe human suffering notably in the event of sickness or death due to the inability for the members of the same family to visit each other. Syria notes that, on 11 December 2007, the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent various messages to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Presidency of the European Union, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the International Committee of the Red Cross on the particular issue of family visits through the crossing of Quneitra and the responsibility of Israel to allow these visits. Syria renews its request for the resumption of family visits which used to be undertaken through the crossing of Quneitra under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and which were stopped by Israel in 1994. 12. The Syrian Arab Republic reminds the international community of its responsibility in pressing the Israeli occupying Power to respect its obligations under international law. Moreover, it appeals to the Human Rights Council to put pressure on Israel to allow the representative of the ICRC to resume family visits in a constant and regular manner through the crossing of Quneitra. Syria reiterates that the basic rules of international humanitarian law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Geneva Convention confirm the legitimacy of these visits. Syria stresses that as an occupying Power and one of the contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilians in Time of War, Israel has to apply the provisions of this Convention which stipulates in articles 25, 26, 30, 142 and article 74 of the Third Protocol that the States have to authorize and facilitate family visits for the population of occupied territories. In the same vein, Syria indicates that Israel continues to prevent a number of students from the occupied Golan,2 who were studying in Syria to return to their home place. 13. Syria indicates that the occupying authorities imposed house arrest on a two-yearold child, Fahd Luay Shaqir, and prevented him from leaving his home in the village of Majdal Shams after Israel refused to register him because he was born in Damascus. 14. Syria points out that 7 detainees3 from the occupied Golan, charged with resistance against occupation, suffer from concerning conditions in Israeli detention centres. Syria denounces a policy of humiliation and oppression against the Syrian detainees, stating that international human rights organizations condemned cruel, physical and psychological cases of torture inflicted on Arab detainees. In addition, Syria deplores the fact that the families of detainees as well as international organizations, such as the ICRC, are facing constant difficulties to visit them in prison. 15. The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent messages to the Secretary-General, the Presidency of the European Union, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the President of the Human Rights Council, the President of the ICRC regarding the specific case of the Syrian 2 3 4 Names of the students: Ayman Ha’el Abu Saleh, from the occupied Majdal Shams village; Rabi’ Hassan Al-Qozmanat, from the occupied Majdal Shams village; Majid Jamil Shams, from the occupied Majdal Shams village; Raniah Farhan Alsafdi, from the occupied Majdal Shams village; Omaya Mohamed Alsafdi, from the occupied Majdal Shams village; Ahsan Fahd Shaqir, from the occupied Majdal Shams village; Rayeq Solayman Sha’lan, from the occupied Ayn Quniya village. Names of the prisoners: Sedky Seleman El-Maqt, born on 17 April 1967, arrested on 23 August 1985, sentenced to 27 years; Weam Mahmoud Amasha, born on 10 June 1981, arrested on 8 November 1999, sentenced to 20 years; Sham Kamal Shams, born in 1984, arrested on 2 April 2003, sentenced to 13 years; Yousef Said Gameel Khmouz, born in 1984, arrested on 1 August 2006, sentenced to 13 years; Ahmad Gameel Yaseer Khmouz, born in 1981, arrested on 1 August 2006, sentenced to 14 years; Ataa Naguib Farahat, born in 1973, arrested on 30 July 2007, sentenced to 3 years; journalist; Yousef Saleh Ismael Shams, born in 1953, arrested on 30 July 2007, sentenced to 4 years. GE.10-12513