Syria Deeply Weekly Update: Fight Against ISIS Ramps Up, U.S. Rules for Syrians Change

WEEKLY UPDATE
February 3, 2017
Dear Readers,Welcome to the weekly Syria Deeply newsletter. We’ve rounded up the most important stories and developments about Syria and the Syrians in order to bring you valuable news and analysis. But first, here is a brief overview of what happened this week:The Syrian army, Turkey and the United States-led coalition continued their separate offensives against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) group in northern Syria. The Syrian army plans to move on militants in the northern Aleppo countryside. In recent weeks, they advanced to within 4 miles (6km) of the ISIS-controlled city of al-Bab, where Turkish military and Ankara-backed Syrian rebels are also fighting militants.The Syrian Defence Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces, are advancing on ISIS’s de facto capital, Raqqa. As they get closer to encircling the city, the SDF is also planning the next phase of the operation in other ISIS-controlled areas such as neighboring Deir Ezzor province to the south. The U.S. is assisting the operation with airstrikes, which reportedly destroyed a pipeline near Raqqa, cutting off the water supply to the militant stronghold, and by providing supplies. An SDF spokesman said on Tuesday that the coalition provided them with armored vehicles for the first time.In Idlib, infighting between rebel groups reached a tipping point over the weekend, when several Syrian Islamist armed groups announced a merger with the former al-Qaida affiliate in Syria, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS). The new alliance, named the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Liberation of the Levant Committee), is now fighting against Ahrar al-Sham, a powerful rebel group on the ground.As fighting continues on the ground in Syria, the United States dealt a devastating blow this week to those trying to escape the conflict. Syrian nationals are now banned from entering the United States, after U.S. president Donald Trump signed an executive order barring the entry of nationals from seven countries in the region for 90 days. The order also suspends the entry of all refugees for 120 days, but Syrian refugees are banned indefinitely.We will be keeping a close eye on diplomatic developments next week as Iran, Russia and Turkey are set to meet for the second round of peace talks in the Kazakh capital of Astana on Tuesday. They will discuss how the cease-fire in Syria is being implemented, Kazakhstan’s foreign ministry said in a statement. The talks will be followed by the next round of U.N.-sponsored Syria peace talks in Geneva, which has been scheduled for February 20, after being briefly postponed last week.

After Trump Order, Syrian Family Endures Anguish of Changing Rules

Following Trump’s executive order barring Syrians indefinitely from the U.S., Tania Karas reports on how its chaotic implementation hit one Syrian family who were already in transit as the order was inked.
Hanan, 8, and Lian, 5, were meant to be reunited with their father, Fadi Kassar, last Saturday, after years of a meticulous procedure that legally qualified them for family reunification. But Trump’s ban barred them and their mother, Razan, from entering the U.S. Family Photo

Afrin: Kurdish Town Isolated by Siege, Geography

The predominantly Kurdish district of Afrin in northwestern Syria has been under near-continuous siege for four years but remained relatively calm, attracting hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Now, it is under threat from Turkish military operations in Syria.
Rebel fighters of the Syrian Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) pay their respects during a funeral ceremony in the village of Afrin, August, 2013. AFP/STR 

Trump Order on Refugees Is ‘Amateur Hour’: Konyndyk

The whirlwind of executive orders from the new administration risks alienating the bureaucrats needed to implement them. Former USAID senior official Jeremy Konyndyk says U.S. government bureaucracy is now entering uncharted territory.
Jeremy Konyndyk

Additional Reading:

Top image: Protesters take part in a rally to oppose President Donald Trump’s executive orders. AP/Elaine Thompson

For new reporting and analysis every weekday, visit www.newsdeeply.com/syria.
You can reach our team with any comments or suggestions at info@newsdeeply.org.

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: Atrocity Alert: Iraq, Yemen and Philippines

Atrocity Alert is a weekly publication by the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect highlighting and updating situations where populations are at risk of, or are enduring, mass atrocity crimes.

Iraq

On 29 January reports emerged that the Iraqi provincial government in Salah ad-Din governorate had enacted a new policy of evicting families accused of ties to members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from their homes. At least 345 families in the city of Tikrit have been sent to Al-Shahama camp for displaced persons outside the city, while another 200 families are reportedly being held in a school and at Rubaidha camp. Several of those forcibly displaced reported that Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) had demolished their houses because of a family member’s alleged ties to ISIL.

Local authorities have said this policy of collective punishment is intended to force members of ISIL to pay a personal price for joining the organization. However, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi has criticized the policy. The targeting of civilians who have taken no active part in hostilities, including the families of terrorists, is illegal under international law. As the ISF continue their military offensive against ISIL, the government must actively prevent reprisals against Sunni civilians and pursue accountability for human rights violations committed by all parties to the conflict.

Yemen

Despite efforts by the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, to encourage parties to the conflict to recommit to peace negotiations and a ceasefire, fighting between Houthi rebels and pro-government forces has escalated in southern Yemen. On 31 January the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Jamie McGoldrick, raised concerns regarding civilians fleeing violence in Al Mokha and Dhubab, in Taizz Governorate, calling upon all parties to meet their obligations under international humanitarian law. As many as 30,000 people remain trapped in Mokha, where civilians have been killed by airstrikes, shelling and snipers. Fighting also continues in northern Yemen along the border with Saudi Arabia.

On 27 January the UN Panel of Experts for Yemen submitted their annual report to the UN Security Council, documenting attacks by the Saudi-led military coalition that “may amount to war crimes.” The report reminds all members of the coalition and its allies of their responsibility to uphold international humanitarian law.

Philippines

Over 7,000 people have been extrajudicially killed in the Philippines as a result of a seven-month “war on drugs” initiated by President Rodrigo Duterte. On 1 February Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II responded to evidence that the killings amounted to crimes against humanity by declaring that drug offenders are not “part of humanity.” On 31 January Amnesty International reported on the role of police and armed vigilantes in extrajudicial killings. To date no police have been held accountable for their actions.

Linus G. Escandor II/PRI

Syrian Network for Human Rights: 781 Civilians Killed in January 2017
I. Introduction
The report includes only the death toll of civilians that were killed by the main six influential parties in Syria:
• Syrian regime forces (Army, Security, local militias, Shiite foreign militias)
• Russian forces
• Self-management forces (consisting primarily of the Democratic Union Party forces, a branch for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party)
• Extremist Islamic groups
• Armed opposition factions
• International coalition forces
• Other parties

The Day After: Local Truces and Forced Demographic Change in Syria

Local Truces and Forced Demographic Change in Syria 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        

February 2, 2017

Contact:  Razan Saffour

Email:     rsaffour@tda-sy.org

Phone:    +90 (552) 216 35 82

 تجدون أدناه البيان في اللغة العربية 

TDA released the first-ever survey of Syrians’ views on local truces – offering lessons for how future truces can avoid past mistakes.

“As world powers fill the airways with opinions about what is best for Syria, we thought it important to find out what Syrians themselves think,” said TDA Executive Director Mutasem Alsyoufi. “In our new survey, Syrians from the regions where local truces have been attempted thus far identify significant flaws with these agreements that any nationwide peace proposal will have to avoid in order to succeed.”

TDA surveyed 1,261 Syrians March 1 – April 19, 2016, to solicit their views on local truces between the regime and residents. Of those surveyed, 1,031 were located in areas where truces have been agreed in Rif Damascus (Barzeh, al-Qaboun, Babibla, Yalda, Bait Sahem, al-Tal and Madaya) and in Homs (al-Wa’er).  Two hundred and two respondents were former residents of these areas, but forced to leave due to truce terms, and are now residing in the northern suburbs of Homs or Hama.

Among the most important findings of the survey is that most Syrians view the local truces as savage war tactics which force civilians to succumb in the face of starvation and siege, as opposed to viewing them as sustainable peace efforts. “Given the one-sided nature of these truces, respondents do not believe they will lead to real peace – offering a cautionary tale to policymakers seeking to craft a nationwide agreement,” Alsyoufi said. Further findings from the survey support this view in alluding to the regime’s main objective of establishing a ‘useful Syria’, whilst pushing all armed and non-armed opponents to the northern countryside in which they remain exposed to the attacks by both regime and ISIS.

Read the full report here.

الهدن المحلية والتغيير الديمغرافي القسري في سوريا

 

 نشرت منظمة اليوم التالي دراسة هي الأولى من نوعها، حول آراء السوريين بالهدن المحلية، تقدم صورة موسعة وتوصيات حول كيفية تجنب الهدن المستقبلية لأخطاء الهدن السابقة.

 

“في الوقت الذي ينشغل الرأي العام بطروحات القوى الدولية حول ما تراه مناسباً لمستقبل سوريا، وجدنا أنه من المهم استكشاف آراء السوريين بمصيرهم ومستقبلهم” كما يقول المدير التنفيذي لمنظمة اليوم التالي معتصم السيوفي، “بحسب نتائج هذه الدراسة، أشار غالبية المستطلعين من أبناء المناطق التي طبقت فيها تجارب الهدن المحلية إلى عيوب خطيرة شابت تلك الاتفاقات، وإننا نعتقد أن هذه العيوب ستعرقل وتفشل أي اتفاق سلام وطني شامل في حال لم تعالج ويتم تلافيها مستقبلاً”.

 

شملت دراسة اليوم التالي 1261 سوريا تمت مقابلتهم، بتاريخ الأول من آذار وحتى 19 نيسان 2016، لاستطلاع آرائهم حول الهدن المحلية بين النظام والسكان، توزعوا على عينتين رئيسيتين اثنتين، الأولى (1031 شخص) تم استبيان آرائهم في مناطق الهدن في دمشق (برزة – القابون – ببيلا – يلدا – بيت سحم – التل – مضايا)، وفي حمص (حي الوعر)، فيما تضمنت العينة الثانية (202 شخص) من المبعدين عن مدنهم وبلداتهم إثر اتفاق هدنة (المقاتلين – أفراد عائلة مقاتل –مدنيين)، تم إجراء المقابلات معهم في مكان إقامتهم الحالي في ريف حمص الشمالي (بعد تهجيرهم من مناطق أخرى منها حمص وحماة).

 

من بين أهم نتائج الدراسة، أن معظم السوريين ينظرون إلى الهدن المحلية على أنها تكتيكات حرب وحشية تجبر المدنيين على الاستسلام في مواجهة الجوع والحصار، بدلا من النظر إليها على أنها جهود مستدامة للسلام!، “نظرا للطبيعة أحادية الجانب لهذه الهدن، لا يعتقد المشاركون في الدراسة أن تلك الهدن ستؤدي لسلام حقيقي” يضيف السيوفي، كما أن نتائج أخرى من الدراسة تدعم هذا الرأي في إشارة إلى الهدف الرئيسي للنظام من إنشاء (سوريا المفيدة)، في حين يتم الدفع بكل المعارضة المسلحة وغير المسلحة إلى شمال سوريا في ريف إدلب، حيث سيبقون عرضة لهجمات النظام السوري وداعش.

 

The Day After (TDA) is a Syrian civil society organisation working towards democratic transition in Syria, and focuses on work in the following sectors: rule of law, transitional justice, security sector reform, constitutional design, electoral system design, and post-conflict social and economic reconstruction.

Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect: R2P in Focus: R2P and the new UN Secretary-General

R2P in Focus

R2P in Focus is a monthly publication from the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect designed to highlight recent events and political developments concerning the Responsibility to Protect (R2P).

R2P and the New UN Secretary-General

UN Photo Mark Garten

On 1 January 2017 H.E. Mr. Antonió Guterres assumed his position as the 9th United Nations Secretary-General. During his first formal remarks to the UN Security Council on 10 January, the Secretary-General described plans to reform the UN system and focus on fostering greater cooperation. He also argued that “preventive action is essential to avert mass atrocities or grave abuses of human rights. International cooperation for prevention, and particularly translating early warning into early action, depends on trust between member states, and in their relations with the United Nations.”

Prevention lies at the core of the Responsibility to Protect. Integrating the UN’sFramework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes, which provides a comprehensive set of risk indicators, into the day-to-day operations of the UN is an essential step towards making conflict prevention and mass atrocity prevention a strategic priority.

In his “Notes for the Next Secretary-General,” Global Centre Executive Director Simon Adams proposes actions that the UN can undertake to help prevent and halt atrocity crimes.

The Responsibility to Protect and The Gulf Cooperation Council’s Response to Mass Atrocities

On 23 and 24 January the Global Centre co-hosted a workshop with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar on the “Responsibility to Protect and the Gulf Cooperation Council’s Response to Mass Atrocities.” The conference was the first of its kind to take place in the Middle East. Participants included representatives from various Gulf Cooperation Council governments. During the meeting participants discussed the conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well as the need for better mechanisms for accountability, humanitarian assistance and prevention of mass atrocities.

Any Other Business

  • Statement on United States President Trump’s “Extreme Vetting” of Refugees. On 28 January the Global Centre released a statement on US President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees fleeing atrocities in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and elsewhere. In the statement the Global Centre called for the ban to be repudiated and rescinded.
  • Atrocity Alert No. 39: The Gambia. On 18 January the Global Centre released an Atrocity Alert focused on the crisis caused by President Yahya Jammeh’s refusal to hand over power in The Gambia. The heads of state from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met with President Jammeh multiple times in an attempt to facilitate a peaceful transfer of power to president-elect Adama Barrow. On 19 January ECOWAS forces entered The Gambia to secure a democratic transition and on 21 January President Jammeh agreed to leave the country.
  • Aleppo Has Fallen. Will the UN Be Next? In this piece for the International Peace Institute’s Global Observatory, Simon Adams explores how new UN Secretary-General Guterres can revitalize the UN after the failure to protect civilians in Aleppo.