Anwar al-Bunni is a Syrian human rights defender who has fought for the right to freedom of speech and for democratic reform in Syria. He has defended individuals including Riad al-Turk, Kurdish protestors, and various media outlets shut down by the Syrian regime. Anwar’s interest in defending the human rights of Syrians against its oppressive government came after he was beaten and tortured by the Syrian forces during the Hama military sweep of 1981. After his escape from Syria in 2012, he has been continuously fighting the Syrian regime from Berlin. He has been awarded a number of awards throughout his career and was featured on Time Magazine’s ‘The 100 Most Influential People of 2022’.
CJLPA: Good afternoon, Mr al-Bunni. It is an honour to have the opportunity to interview you for The Cambridge Journal of Law, Politics, and Art. You’re an inspiring figure in much of your work defending the human rights of all Syrians around the world for the last few decades. Much of your work in Syria was done through pro bono cases, having to sell your car to pay your bills. Having said that, we would like to begin by asking you what motivated you to start a career as a human rights lawyer given the oppressive nature of the government you were residing under?
Anwar al-Bunni: It’s the situation I was in in Syria. When I was just in high school, my brothers and my sister were arrested for three years the first time, without any trial and without the possibility of contacting them. In the detention place, you couldn’t visit them once every two months, or every month—it was as the security allowed.
This was not only the case for three of my brothers, and one of my sisters, but also for some of my friends. It started in 1977, so from that time, I decided to be a lawyer to defend political prisoners or prisoners who expressed their opinion. After studying civil engineering in the first place, I decided to go to law university and study law to become a lawyer.