Syria Watch

Syria Deeply: The many battles against ISIS: Lebanese-Syrian border, Deir Ezzor and Raqqa

August 27, 2017

Aug. 25th, 2017

Welcome to our weekly summary of Syria Deeply’s top coverage of crisis in Syria.

Lebanon-Syria border: The Syrian army and Lebanese Hezbollah launched a joint operation against the so-called Islamic State on the Syrian-Lebanese frontier this week with the aim of expelling the militant group from its last border stronghold.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech on Thursday that the Syrian army and its Lebanese allies had captured more than 270 square kilometers [100 square miles] from ISIS on the Syrian side of the border since launching the operation on Saturday. He added that 40 square kilometers remained under militant control.

The Lebanese army launched a simultaneous but separate operation against ISIS on the Lebanese side of the border, and has captured more than two-thirds of the militants’ local territory. The extremist group now holds only a patch of territory on the outskirts of Ras Baalbek, an area gradually falling under the army’s control.

ISIS is reportedly seeking an evacuation agreement that would grant fighters safe passage from the Lebanese border to militant-held areas in eastern Syria but the Lebanese army has ruled that out.

Deir Ezzor: Russian warplanes have carried out an intensified aerial campaign on Islamic State positions in eastern Syria this month with the aim of helping the Syrian government drive the jihadi group from one of its other last strongholds.

Colonel General Sergei Rudskoi said this week that Russian fighter jets had flown more than 900 missions, killed 800 ISIS militants and destroyed 40 armored vehicles this month alone, the Associated Press reported.

He added that Russian jets were now making 60 to 70 flights a day targeting ISIS militants coming from other areas to join the upcoming battle in Deir Ezzor.

Last week, a Russian airstrike targeted an ISIS convoy in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor, killing at least 70 militants and destroying several armored vehicles, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Meanwhile, Syrian troops and allied fighters are pushing toward the militant bastion from two directions. Pro-government forces advancing south from Raqqa city joined up with their counterparts advancing from the east on Thursday, effectively surrounding ISIS in a large enclave in the Homs desert, according to Reuters.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are also gearing up for the battle against ISIS in Deir Ezzor. The head of the Deir Ezzor military council, which fights under the SDF, told Reuters on Friday that his forces would launch an attack on ISIS in eastern Syria within several weeks in conjunction with the battle for Raqqa city.

Raqqa: ISIS regained control this week of territory previously lost to pro-government fighters in the eastern countryside of Raqqa province.

In a counter-attack on Thursday, ISIS retook areas along the southern banks of the Euphrates river and positions near Raqqa’s provincial border with Deir Ezzor, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. At least 34 Syrian troops and allied fighters were killed in the offensive.

Meanwhile, U.S. coalition warplanes continued to carry out intense air strikes on the city. At least 42 civilians, including 12 women and 19 children, were killed in an attack on Monday, according to the AP.

Amnesty International said on Wednesday that airstrikes and artillery attacks launched by the U.S.-led coalition on the city of Raqqa had killed hundreds of civilians over the past three months.

It also accused the Syrian government and Russia of carrying out “indiscriminate air bombardments against towns, villages and displaced people’s shelters full of civilians” south of Raqqa, on the southern bank of the Euphrates River.

“Civilians are thus trapped in the city, under fire from all sides, as the fighting intensifies,” the report said.

The following day, the United Nations called for a humanitarian pause in airstrikes to allow an estimated 20,000 trapped civilians a chance to escape the embattled city.

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Syria Justice and Accountability Centre: Assad’s Son, Math Competitions, and Solving the Syrian Nepotism Equation

August 22, 2017

SJAC Update | August 22, 2017

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One of many tweets by journalists and commentators about Hafez Al-Assad’s ranking at the Math Olympiad in Brazil. | Credit: @AASchapiro

Assad’s Son, Math Competitions, and Solving the Syrian Nepotism Equation

On July 17, Hafez Al-Assad, the son of Bashar Al-Assad, participated in the International Math Olympiad competition in Brazil as a member of the Syrian national team. Hafez scored last on the team and received one of the lowest rankings in the entire Olympiad competition. Syrian commentators were quick to ridicule his scores, but their commentary overlooked how Hafez gained admission on the team in the first place. There are no available details about the qualifying process, but one simple answer is that, as the son of the President, Hafez had priority to enter the prestigious competition – a practice of nepotism so common in Syria that many overlooked it. Syria has a long history of nepotism within its government and economic institutions. As a form of institutionalized corruption, nepotism must be addressed during Syria’s transition to ensure that government is ethical, impartial, and representative of all Syrians.

Nepotism is the use of power to provide jobs or other opportunities to unqualified or undeserving family or friends – a form of corruption because officials use public office for private gain. While there is no international standard for combatting nepotism, there are some international instruments that provide guidelines and principles. For example, Article 25(c) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) states that citizens have “the right and the opportunity” to access public service roles “on general terms of equality.” Moreover, Articles 7 through 9 of the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) encourages countries to create systems to prevent conflicts of interest, institute codes of conduct for public officials, and establish objective criteria for issuing government contracts.

Countries have adopted these principles into their national frameworks in various ways. Some countries include anti-nepotism and conflict of interest provisions in their constitutions. Such is the case in Article 26 of Colombia’s constitution. Other countries maintain ethical standards or codes of conduct to establish clear guidelines for public officials. While codes are important to set standards, the difficulty is often in upholding those standards in practice. For example, Jordan adopted a code of conduct for public sector employees that was a positive step towards implementing UNCAC, but the Jordanian government has struggled to fully operationalize it among all bureaucratic agencies.

The Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) is a Syrian-led and multilaterally supported nonprofit that envisions a Syria where people live in a state defined by justice, respect for human rights, and rule of law. SJAC collects, analyzes, and preserves human rights law violations by all parties in the conflict — creating a central repository to strengthen accountability and support transitional justice and peace-building efforts. SJAC also conducts research to better understand Syrian opinions and perspectives, provides expertise and resources, conducts awareness-raising activities, and contributes to the development of locally appropriate transitional justice and accountability mechanisms. Contact us at info@syriaaccountability.org.

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Syrian Network For Human Rights: The Syrian Regime Has Used Chemical Weapons Five Times after Khan Sheikhoun Incident

August 15, 2017

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On June 29, 2017, the OPCW released its report on Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack which confirms that Sarin gas was used on April 4, 2017. However, the OPCW didn’t assign responsibility, as investigations regarding the identity of the perpetrator became part of the mandate of the Joint Investigative Mechanism which was established in accordance with Security Council Resolution 2235 that was adopted on August 7, 2015.

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Syria Deeply: Latest developments on the ground in Eastern Ghouta, the southern province of Sweida and Raqqa

August 11, 2017

Aug. 11th, 2017

Welcome to our weekly summary of Syria Deeply’s top coverage of crisis in Syria.

Eastern Ghouta: The Syrian government stepped up attacks on the eastern Damascus suburbs, carrying out some of the heaviest bombardments of the Eastern Ghouta region in the last two months, despite the area being a de-escalation zone.

Early in the week, rebel group Failaq al-Rahman said it fired on Syrian government tanks just outside Eastern Ghouta, killing and wounding several soldiers.

Pro-government forces carried out aerial bombardments and shelling almost daily in the area, with particular emphasis on the Ain Terma and Jobar districts. There were at least 18 air raids Monday on the two districts and some 15 mortar shells were dropped in an area between them. Airstrikes and shelling in the area Tuesday killed at least two people and injured seven others.

The assault grew more intense Wednesday as Syrian government artillery targeted the districts of Arbin, Douma, Ain Terma, Jobar and the town of Kafr Batna, killing at least five people and wounding at least 10 others. In the following 24 hours, the government launched some 42 ground-to-ground missiles in the area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). At least three people were killed in shelling on the Hamouriyah district Thursday, according to SOHR.

The increase in bombardment has rebels worried that this is a precursor to a ground assault in areas under opposition control in a government attempt to retake the Damascus suburbs.

Southern Syria: Syrian army forces and allied fighters captured at least 19 miles (30km) of the Syrian border with Jordan from rebels.

Pro-government forces seized control of all rebel checkpoints and border posts along the frontier in the southern province of Sweida, after launching an attack on rebel groups – some of which are backed by Western and Arab states – in the eastern countryside.

This development contradicts earlier reports of cease-fire and safe zones in the southern province. Sweida was initially thought to be included in the July cease-fire brokered by Russia, the U.S. and Jordan. However, reports circulated within the first 24 hours that pro-government forces had violated the cease-fire in Sweida.

Reuters reported Thursday that Sweida province is not included in the cease-fire agreement. It remained unclear, however, whether or not the province was included in the southern de-escalation zone that Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to in May.

Northern Syria: The Syrian Democratic Forces encircled the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) in central Raqqa Thursday, but the U.S.-backed forces say that finishing the entire offensive could take much longer.

“It could take another three to four months to finish Raqqa,” Haval Gabar, the 25-year-old commander from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia directing the assault on Raqqa’s Old City, told Reuters.

On Tuesday, military reinforcements for the SDF arrived in the northern city of Raqqa, and fighters moving from the east of the city were able to join forces with their counterparts advancing from the west, effectively cutting off ISIS’s last remaining route to the Euphrates.

The ongoing offensive against ISIS’s former de-facto capital has taken a devastating toll on civilians in the area. Since the operation began in early June, at least 595 civilians, including at least 136 children and 84 women, were killed in Raqqa city and surrounding areas, according to SOHR.

An assessment done by the REACH initiative in late July reported that civilians are continuing to flee Raqqa, the population of which is now estimated to be between “10,000 and 25,000, compared to 20,000-50,000 three weeks ago.”

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Syria Justice and Accountability Centre: International Sanctions Are Not a Substitute for Accountability in Syria

August 11, 2017

SJAC Update | August 10, 2017

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The Panama Papers showed blacklisted companies and individuals, including Bashar al-Assad’s cousin Rami Makhlouf, bypassing sanctions through dealings with the law firm Mossack Franseca. | Source: Pixabay

International Sanctions Are Not a Substitute for Accountability in Syria

On July 17, the European Union (EU) sanctioned 16 members of the Syrian government accused of facilitating chemical weapons attacks. British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson announced that the sanctions send a “clear signal” to the government that its actions have consequences. However, only one month prior, President Emmanuel Macron of France – a key member of the EU – suggested that Bashar al-Assad’s removal is not a precondition in Syria because “no one has showed me a legitimate successor.” His remarks were a departure from the foreign policy objectives of Macron’s predecessor, François Hollande, and other EU member states, sparking concern that the bloc is not unified in its call for Assad’s exit. More importantly, these types of statements undercut the strategic effectiveness of sanctions and make sanctions seem like an end in and of itself instead of one way towards eventually achieving meaningful justice for victims.

The EU is not the only western actor sending mixed messages. In April, the United States sanctioned 271 Syrian government employees accused of facilitating chemical attacks. Responding to the EU sanctions, a US State Department spokesman stated that the combined sanctions of the United States and EU demonstrate “a continuing effort in the international community to hold the Assad regime responsible.” Despite this rhetoric, the Trump administration stated in March that Assad’s possible retention of power is a “political reality that we have to accept,” a sentiment echoed by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in July, only two months after the United States claimed Syria was responsible for a chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun. In doing so, the United States – like France – is implying that sanctions are sufficient punishment for grave violations of international law and once the conflict ends, Assad can continue to legitimately serve as president of Syria.

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