Violence and Democratic Perspectives in Syria

Dr Haytham Manna is head of the Syrian National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in exile. An academic and human rights activist, Manna co-founded the Arab Commission for Human Rights in 1998. He acted as the commission's spokesperson until September 2011.

Born in 1951 to a family known for its political activism, Manna attended Damascus University as a medical student. He left Syria following ongoing harassment by the security agencies and continued his education at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. He also earned a PhD in anthropology from the International Institute of Sociology, Paris. He founded the Su’al and Muqarabat intellectual magazines in 1980 and 1998, respectively.