On 4 February 2003, Amir Abbas Fakhravar, a journalist and medical student serving an eight-year prison sentence for criticising Iran's supreme leadership in his book This Place is Not a Ditch, wrote, with fellow prisoner Ahmed Batebi, an open letter to the authorities. The letter stated: "We want to enjoy life with the rest of humanity and share their sorrows. We express our dedication to the Universal Declaration of Human [...]

On 20 June, the prominent Syrian writer, sociologist and human rights activist Nizar Nayouf was abducted by security agents outside a clinic where he was due for treatment. He was released on 22 June, in the wake of international outrage. Nayouf has already served a lengthy prison sentence. The founder of the now banned Defence of Democratic Freedoms and Human Rights Committee, he was jailed in 1992 for "disseminating false [...]