Syrian Citizenship Disappeared affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives; (b) To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors; (c) To have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country. Article 25 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Cement of a democratic society, the right to vote and to be elected is provided for by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. By denying their citizenship to a fringe of the Syrian population, the government has deprived them of this essential faculty. For Syrians for Truth and Justice, Dlo Mohammed explained: “According to Syrian law, we’re not Syrians, therefore do not have the right to run for elections nor to vote in any stage of the political process in Syria.” Commenting on the previous testimony, Mahmoud Ali added: “We were deprived of the right to vote and to run for elections. Sometimes, we were allowed to vote for the presidential elections but never for the People’s Council’s elections.” Rasheed Hasan explained how the political events arising from the conflict gave him an opportunity to exercise his right to vote and be elected in the realm of the Autonomous Administration: “We never have the right to vote or to run for elections in any political stage in Syria because we did not obtain any documents proving our identity. These last four years, we have been granted the right to vote and to run for elections by the Autonomous Ad- ministration, which is not recognised by the Syrian government. The Syrian law sees us as strangers and outlandish.” 15.8 Other Forms of Deprivation of Rights In addition to the deprivation of all civil, political, economic, and social rights, the Syrian Kurds stateless encountered other forms of persecution because of their legal status, such as the prohibition to access to treatment in public hospitals or sleeping in hotels. Additionally, the inability to obtain official documents has always exposed them to racist harassment as described by some. Shivan Hussein Amin recalled some incidents he encountered because of his legal status as maktum. He was always rejected whenever he showed his identification certificate to anyone, particularly in government departments, as the majority of the employees had no idea about the issue of the stateless: “When I tried to get the driving license, one of the employees asked if I was Syrian and I replied that the name of the Syrian Arab Republic is registered on the identification certificate. There was a small group who had not got the Syrian nationality in Raqqa province but they were entitled special privileges in terms of access to health, education and living, whereas we were ostracised in the community. One day, I wanted to visit my brother who was imprisoned in Adra Central Prison and I submitted my papers to the judge in a court located in Damascus countryside. The judge asked literally “what paper is this? Is it for gypsies? Where did you get it from?” I replied that the name of the Syrian Arab Republic was registered on it but he mocked: “you are ready to sell your family and your honor for the sake of the citizenship.” 45