6 - 12 December 2001
Issue No.563
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 6 - 12 December 2001 Issue No.563 |
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The shackles of leadership
The recent release of nine political prisoners won't be enough to defuse dissent in Syria, Ranwa Yehia reports
In mid-November, President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria released nine political prisoners, some of whom had been in jail for as long as 14 years. But analysts say the move is one of desperation: Al-Assad is facing some of the most raucous dissent since he came to office and his recent squeezing of political life has alienated many who welcomed his rise to power over a year ago.
The pledges of political reform that Al-Assad made then have been long abandoned. Instead Syria has witnessed the arrest of political and human-rights activists, including two members of parliament. The clampdown has been a graphic reminder that for all Al-Assad's good intentions, the "old guard" that he rules through remains inflexibly opposed to any easing of Syrian politics.
The throttling of dissent by Syrian security forces began in earnest at the start of September. On the first of the month, Riad Al-Turk, a 71- year-old former communist leader and prominent dissident, was reportedly arrested at a doctor's clinic in the coastal city of Tartous. In August, Al-Turk had publicly called for a "transition from despotism to democracy," and had railed against the "hereditary" succession that allowed Bashar to assume the presidency. He continued by describing Al-Assad's presidency as "illegitimate." Al-Turk's time at liberty was brief: just two years before he had at last completed a 17-year prison term imposed by former President Hafez Al-Assad.
More arrests followed. On 6 September, independent Damascus MP Riad Seif was taken into custody. Three days later, five political activists were detained for attending a political forum Seif had held before his arrest. Then, on 12 September, Syrian authorities rounded up two opposition activists, Habib Issa, a lawyer, and Fawwaz Tello, an engineer, and threw them in jail. Both are founding members of the Human Rights Society in Syria. Aref Dalila, an economist and leader of the civil society movement, publicly denounced the arrests and was himself seized by security forces for his outburst. Shortly after, Habib Saleh, a businessman, and Hassan Saadoun, a school teacher, were jailed. No charges were specified by the authorities.
Along with another independent MP, Ma'moun Homsi, detained on 9 August for staging a hunger strike against corruption and state security measures, Seif was referred to a civil court, while the other dissidents were referred to the State Security Court. Established in 1964 under the emergency laws in force since 1963, the State Security Court is not governed by civil law and its decisions cannot be appealed.
In a statement, a group of 216 academics, journalists, film-makers and writers condemned the arrest of Al-Turk as "arbitrary" and "illegal." The statement demanded Al-Turk's immediate release and called for the prosecution of those responsible for his arrest.
In reply, the state-run media shot back. In a front-page editorial, government daily Al- Thawra accused Al-Turk of having "made a decision to denigrate, defame and unjustly accuse all those who opposed his attempt to stop the process of modernisation and development."
Another government daily, Tishrin, while not referring to Al-Turk by name, attacked those who "want to create a negative climate by breaking the law, trying to sow division and distorting the image of the great changes" in Syria.
Activists, of course, saw the arrests differently. Haitham Maleh, head of the Human Rights Society in Syria, believes the arrests were made after security forces realised that support for the activists' actions could grow quickly and escape government control. Maleh, also the lawyer for Seif, Homsi and Al-Turk, fears for Seif's life. "I told Riad Seif shortly before his arrest that he was on a list to be killed, not arrested," Maleh told Al-Ahram Weekly in an interview at his office in downtown Damascus. He added, "We are controlled by Mafia groups in Syria, not a government." "The problem in Syria," Maleh continued, "is that the law is on paper only." An activist all his life, Maleh has himself seen the insides of plenty of jails; he was detained by Hafez Al-Assad and was also taken into custody during the September crackdown. According to Maleh, "Riad Al-Turk was a big threat because he opened channels with the Islamists." He explained, "If there is contact between opposition parties and Islamists, together they could grow stronger than the present regime."
Until Bashar Al-Assad became president, opposition parties were divided, argues Maleh. But the promise of wide political, economic and administrative reform helped loosen the state's grip on civil society. When Al-Assad mooted the formation of new political parties, civil associations began organising political forums. But as discussions in those forums grew more critical of the regime, the state's misgivings rose until it finally cracked down. "The opposition groups were showing signs of more coordination and unity and this was an unacceptable threat," Maleh said.
Dissent in Syria may have been growing livelier, but the international reaction to the arrests has been conspicuously muted. The only démarche came on 28 September, when the European Union tardily issued a statement calling for the immediate release of the detainees. The EU urged Syria to "respect human rights, freedom of speech and dialogue." But it then qualified its call, emphasising that its complaint was not an attempt to interfere in Syrian affairs but was merely "advice" to facilitate Syria's economic partnership with the EU. Replying, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said the arrests were a "purely domestic affair."
Al-Assad's gradualist approach to reform, which seems so measured and careful to outside eyes, has been too fast for the bureaucracy, the security services and the old guard in the Ba'ath Party. Their influence has led to a growing state crackdown on unmonitored political activity. By acquiescing in that crackdown, Al-Assad has revealed his reliance on old-guard elements in Syrian political life. He realises that his hold on power depends on his ability to accommodate the army generals and intelligence chiefs who prop up the regime.
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