AL-MARSAD
AL-MARSAD - The Arab Center for Human Rights in the Golan Heights is an independent non-profit legal human rights organization, located in Majdal Shams, in the Occupied Syrian Golan Heights.  The center was founded in October 2003 by a group of lawyers and professionals in the fields of health, education, journalism and engineering - mostly town-planners - as well as human rights defenders and other interested community members.
Our initiative has drawn thus far on local and individual resources and we commenced work on voluntary basis.  We are currently engaged in establishing close ties with a number of local human rights organizations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and with international human rights organizations.  We believe these relationships are indispensable to our work, especially given the rich experience these organizations have in many fields of expertise, as well as their established international connections.
General Objectives
The Israeli military and subsequent civilian rule has committed many human rights abuses and violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.  These violations, while taking new forms, persist to the present.  The lack of international intervention and the absence of recognized local civil society forums helped to hide the harsh realities of occupation.  It also helped to create a free space for abuse and misadministration in most arenas of social life (including education, health, economic policy, and regional and municipal planning).
AL-MARSAD`s main goals are to monitor and document Israeli violations of human rights against the Syrian Arabs in the Golan Heights, both past and present; monitor and Document Israeli grave breaches to International Humanitarian Law.

In order to achieve these goals, AL-MARSAD:
• Preparing reports and studies on the basis of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law.
• Appeal to international institutions and forums in order to promote the rights of the Arab population of the occupied Golan in particular, and human rights in general.
• Providing legal services pro bono for the Syrian Arab inhabitants of the Golan Heights.
• Increasing awareness within the community about human rights issues by means of lectures, workshops and training courses.
• Organizing campaigns in order to education the local and international communities about the human rights situation in the Occupied Golan Heights.

AL-MARSAD - The Arab Center for Human Rights in the Golan Heights
P.O. Box 9
Majdal Shams 12438
Golan Heights, Via Israel

972-4-687-0644 (phone)
972-4-687-0645 (fax)
marsad@golan-marsad.org
http://www.golan-marsad.org