A number of Syrians have staged a rally in condemnation of the continued imprisonment of Syrians in Israeli jails and the recent court rulings against them.

During a demonstration held in front of the headquarters of UN forces in Golan on Wednesday, protestors voiced disapproval against the sentences Israel handed down to Syrian captives.

They also issued a statement for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, calling upon the international body to pressure Tel Aviv to quickly release the prisoners.

The chairman of the Committee for Supporting Captives and Detainees in Israeli Prisons, Ali al-Younis, explained that recently passed sentences run contradictory to the Geneva Conventions that put restrictions on actions taken against the natives of occupied lands.

The Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols are acknowledged as part of international humanitarian law -- a whole system of legal safeguards that cover the way wars must be fought.

They specifically protect people who do not take part in the fighting namely civilians, medics, chaplains, aid workers and those who can no longer fight because of sickness, shipwrecked troops and prisoners of war.

The Conventions and their Protocols call for measures to be taken to prevent or put an end to what are known as 'grave breaches' and punish those responsible for breaches. 194 states are signatory to the Geneva Conventions.

There are about 17,000 Syrian citizen still living in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, and more than 480,000 evacuees living in camps around the major cities in Syria since 1967.

The Israeli Knesset in December 1981 approved a government decision to annex the occupied Golan Heights to Israel and imposed Israeli laws on Golan. The international community describes the Israeli move as 'illegitimate'.

The Syrians who remained in their villages in the Golan Heights have been experiencing harsh and repressive policies that include detention without trial, restrictions on their freedom to travel and communicate with others.

Surprisingly, the current policies have led to the issuance of Israeli identification cards for some Syrian citizens in a move seen as an effort to erase their identity.

There are a considerable number of Syrian prisoners in Israeli jails as a result of their resistance to the occupation and the annexation decision. Most of them have been held in captivity for many years and some even suffer from severe health conditions.

MP/AA