The Syrian court system recently came into the limelight with a detailed report issued by Human Rights Watch focused specifically on the notorious Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), which prompted a re-examination of Syria by a number of European newspapers such as the Guardian. The primary shift inducing this re-examination is the latest “thaw” in relations between Syria and the western world, and the fear that the power of foreigners to alter Syria’s internal conduct remains uncertain but is likely quite limited. Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has received a number of very high-profile visitors, including John Kerry, Nicolas Sarkozy, and various EU foreign ministers, yet he continues to judge that due to realpolitik considerations Syria’s external relations will remain the focus of diplomatic engagement. Thus can Bashar continue to defy calls for domestic liberalization, be it political, economic, or social.
The HRW report maintains that the court, which was founded during the state of emergency declared in 1963 and is the lead instrument in Syria’s persecution efforts, continues to incapacitate the rule of law in Syria. More specifically, the SSSC is utilized as political tool to suppress the opposition and political minorities through the use of unjust trials.Coupled with Syria’s emergency decrees, the SSSC is authorized to take any civilian into its military-style system, where any rights the defendant may theoretically have had quickly disappear. The court is exempt from Syria’s rules of criminal procedure. Furthermore, SSSC decisions cannot be appealed to any higher judicial body – a requirement under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Syria became a signatory in 1969. Due to the fact that the SSSC was created as an exceptional court, it is accountable solely to the Minister of the Interior.
The frightening amount of power delegated to the court has had serious ramifications for the rule of law. Where the SSSC is concerned, respect for the equality before the law simply does not exist. In fact, the SSSC has been utilized almost exclusively to attack and punish political opponents through the exercise of arbitrary justice. First and foremost, the SSSC has been used to target ‘Islamists,’ but recently the state has set its sights on political activists, including journalists and bloggers. In doing so, the state has ardently attacked freedom of expression in the country.
Persecution of political and human rights activist by the state broadly falls into four classifications: Article 278 is evoked when acts and/or speeches (supposedly) expose Syria to aggressive acts; Article 285 is cited when people (supposedly) weaken national sentiment; Article 286 is evoked for (supposedly) spreading false information that in turn weakens national sentiment; and Article 307 is used for inciting strife between various domestic groups.
Of the recent arrests, the highest profile were those of twelve pro-democracy activists detained last year for having taken part in an anti-government coalition. Habib Saleh received three years for ‘weakening national sentiment’ under Article 285 and ‘broadcasting false or exaggerated news which could affect the morale of the country’ – Article 286. The evidence used against him was a number of internet articles on domestic political issues. Mohammed Amin al-Shawa and nine other men were arrested by military intelligence in August, and five months later, still in military custody, al-Shawa died from torture.
Even the scope of arrests has widened. In the last year even mildly insulting the state, president, or government officials in private conversations, with no political involvement from any party, warrants three year jail sentences.
For the Kurds – 9% of the population – the situation is even direr. The Kurds have been frequently attacked through the SSSC and the greater justice system. The state does not even pretend to serve their needs, and the Kurds’ persecution is conducted on various levels. According to the Human Rights Watch report, the SSSC frequently convicts Kurdish citizens on charges of undertaking “acts, speeches, writings or other means to cut-off part of Syrian land to join it to another country.” Several Kurds have received this sentence after protesting in favor of expanding the rights awarded by the Syrian government to the traditionally marginalized and repressed Kurdish population. This conduct is particularly extreme considering that Syria’s Kurds do not partake in the fierce Islamism the state considers its greatest internal security threat. Both of the most recent Kurdish victims in the state’s judicial system, Hassam Hussein and Mustafa Jum’ah, were arrested for exercising their right to freedom of expression and association; neither are bellicose advocates of violent secession – the Syrian state’s primary fear from its Kurdish community. They are merely members of the Kurdish political party: however, as the ruling Ba’ath party is the sole party allowed to operate in Syria, all others are classified as illegal organizations.
Due to the fact that the SSSC exists mainly to carry out these political purges, due process guarantees are foreign concepts within its walls. As the 2007 Countries at the Crossroads Report on Syria explains, legal assistance is often denied to those citizens tried in the security courts. According to the Human Rights Watch report, defendants are often detained for months before being informed of the charges against them. In addition, both during and after their trials, defendants are rarely given the opportunity to consult with their lawyers. The experience of the twelve democracy activists mentioned above serves as evidence of this conduct. According to Amnesty International, the twelve were detained without trial and tortured into signing false confessions, while their lawyers were denied access to the accused and vital information was withheld.
The negative consequences that this dismal situation poses for governance are endless. As long as the SSSC lords over Syria’s judicial system, the rule of law will persist in its weak, debilitated state. Political dissidents, ethnic minorities, and ordinary citizens will continue to be held prisoner to a dangerous, compromised system which is dominated by powerful political puppet-masters. As both the Human Rights Watch and the Countries at the Crossroad reports argue, the only effective and permanent solution to the crisis of justice which has plagued Syria in recent years is the dissolution of the SSSC through the revocation of the state of emergency. While this is certainly a tall order, increased international pressure could go a long way towards getting the ball rolling. This will require patient engagement, but also the willingness to move beyond basic realpolitik concerns and challenge the totality of Syrian misconduct, including inside its own borders.
Photo credit: Flickr user madmonk
