Kamal al-Labwani is a Syrian doctor and artist, known for being imprisoned for several years by Bashar al-Assad's regime.
12 Facts About Kamal al-Labwani
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Kamal al-Labwani was released from Adra Prison, near Damascus on November 15,2011.
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Kamal al-Labwani 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.
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Kamal al-Labwani was arrested in September 2001 after attending a political seminar in the house of fellow activist and politician Riad Seif.
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Kamal al-Labwani wrote two books and several poems "in his head", but most of his paintings were confiscated.
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Kamal al-Labwani 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.
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On his return to Syria on 8 November 2005, Kamal al-Labwani was arrested at Damascus International Airport, and was imprisoned in Adra prison in Damascus.
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Kamal al-Labwani's cell, intended to house 32 but containing more than 60, was in Wing 5, normally reserved for violent prisoners.
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In May 2008, the European Union Presidency issued a Declaration condemning the additional sentence handed down to Dr Kamal al-Labwani, and called for his immediate release and for him to be treated humanely whilst imprisoned.
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In March 2009, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a UN body responsible for the investigation of complaints of arbitrary detention, released its opinion that Kamal al-Labwani's imprisonment constituted arbitrary detention.
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Kamal al-Labwani joined the Syrian National Council and became a member of its general secretariat.
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Kamal al-Labwani said the local population there would defend itself from Islamist groups, the regime, and Hezbollah if given the weapons and assistance to do so.